Belleplain State Forest - Your Passport to Adventure - Woodbine, NJ - State Park Passport Locations on Waymarking.com

The NJ Parks and Forests Service came out with a passport book for collecting stamps for visiting a select sampling of our states parks, forests and historic sites. Many fine places did not make the list but many beautiful and culturally important sites did make the list so I suppose it all evens out in the end. The passport book is divided into 3 sections, north, central and south Jersey. This stamp and Belleplain State Forest represent the third listing for the Southern N.J. section. If it was not for the release of a puzzle cache a few years ago and my obsession at the time for first to finds, I would never have visited all 24 sites of central and southern NJ. The puzzle cache is called Passport To Adventure (South Jersey Challenge) and can be found HERE. The stamp and the passport books are free. To find out more about our fabulous passport program please visit HERE. The stamp for this park features a girl fishing over Lake Nunny. It is the center of the forest's recreational activities and provides an area for swimming and a serene setting for boating and canoeing.

The coordinates are for the main office and interpretive center. This is where one would get the stamp for the Passport to Adventure booklet. The left page, opposite the stamp reads "This forest is a camper's paradise with hiking and natural trails, softball fields and swimming at Lake Nummy. You may or see signs of native animals, including Bald Eagles, coyotes, bobcats, foxes and beavers. Much of the park was shaped by the work of the men in the CCC, who constructed many of the buildings, roads, bridges and dams that are still being used today."

Each page has fast facts beneath the narrative (see accompanying picture). Fast facts for this forest include the transformation of a cranberry bog into Lake Nummy by the CCC. Also, Lake Nummy is named after the last Lenni Lenape Indian chief to rule in Cape May County. Finally, there is a mile-long fitness trail with 10 challenging exercise stations.

Belleplain State Forest Information

This state forest is the most southernmost we have in NJ, near Cape May. It is just beyond the Pine Barrens so it has much better soil and a much better diversity of flora. I saw lots of pine trees like the Barrens, but also ran into some white cedar and oak trees of all things. Although the CCC was responsible for the construction and development of this park, I did not see any signs of there presence. Our other parks have interpretives and memorials; I saw none here.

When I visited, there were lots of geocaches and I planted one of my own back in '06. There were lots of trails, horseback riders, dirt roads, a cool lake and damn too. There are camp sites, lean-tos, cabins for groups and of course kayaking, canoeing, and swimming. I think what is unique, compared to our other parks, Belleplain offers Winter sports like ice fishing, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. The only down side for some might be the allowance of hunting in certain areas during certain times.

I checked the website for the park and it seems there is a $5 charge during the week and $10 on the weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I remember not paying a cent the few times I went so I guess I am not sure.