Parks and Nature

Poricy Park Walking Trails

A wooded nature preserve in Middletown with easy walking paths, more rugged forest trails, open fields, ponds, and plenty of different routes to explore

Take Me There
Dog policy Leashed Dogs Welcome
Cost Free
Best time to visit Year Round

Poricy Park has enough trail variety that you don’t have to do the same walk every time. Some paths are wide and easy, winding through shady woods and open fields, while others head deeper into the preserve toward Poricy Pond and Poricy Brook with bridges, stairs, and steeper sections along the way. You’ll also pass the historic Murray Farmhouse and a little frog pond on some routes. It feels much more tucked away than you’d expect for Middletown, and you can keep the walk short or piece several trails together for a longer afternoon outside.

Plan your visit

Address
345 Oak Hill Road
Middletown, NJ 07748
Hours
Dawn to Dusk
Phone
(732) 615-2260
Get directions

Know before you go

  • Poricy Park covers 182 acres and has a mix of easy and more rugged trails
  • Murray Farm Trail is an easy grassy loop past the 18th-century Murray Farmhouse and frog pond
  • Bird Watcher Trail is longer; it runs through fields and woods toward Poricy Pond and includes some steep steps. Riparian Trail is more primitive, with steeper inclines around the pond
  • Cotton Tract Trail runs through the woods and crosses Poricy Brook on several bridges, but it is accessed from the Ivy Hill neighborhood, not the main Nature Center parking area.
  • Most trails begin near the Oak Hill Road parking lot, although there are additional access points from Ivy Hill Road and behind Wilmort Park.
  • The Poricy Brook Fossil Beds are not at the main trailhead. They have a separate parking area on Middletown-Lincroft Road, a short drive from the Oak Hill Road entrance.
  • Restrooms and trail maps are available at the nature center during weekday business hours.
  • Middletown’s trail guide specifically warns about ticks and Lyme disease, so this is one where I’d definitely do a tick check after walking through the wooded and grassy sections.

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