Trenton Parks and Gardens

(Trenton, New Jersey - NJ, USA)

As the city of Trenton has evolved over the years, forward-thinking city planners have always ensured that there was ample urban green space available to the locals for recreational purposes.

Dotted around the center of Trenton are a number of small parks, pretty squares and landscaped gardens. As you head outside of the downtown district, you will soon encounter much larger public parklands. Many of these follow the route of the Delaware River and make the very most of the attractive riverside scenery wherever possible.

Columbus Park is particularly central and spacious, being bounded by Chestnut Avenue, Division Street, Kent Street and Hamilton Avenue. These rectangular grounds are rather dominated by a giant bronze statue of famous explorer Christopher Columbus, while there are a series of recreational attractions based here, such as a playground for children, shaded lawns suitable for picnicking, flower gardens and a baseball field used by the Chambersburg Little League.

General Information

Lying on the western side of Trenton and fronting Parkside Avenue is Cadwalader Park, which covers an area in the region of 40 hectares / 100 acres. This is actually the city's oldest public parkland and its establishment began in the late 1880s, when its initial layout was designed by renowned American landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted (1822 to 1903) of New York's Central Park fame.

A major feature here is the grand mansion housing the Trenton City Museum, while there is also a large paddock with deer, a lake with ducks, literally hundreds of mature trees providing valuable shade, endless pathways, sports facilities and play areas.

Standing right next to the Delaware River and the John Fitch Way, in central Trenton, the Waterfront Park is called home by the Trenton Thunder Baseball Stadium and is close to the Cooper Field. This is a great place to catch a game of baseball at a reasonable price, although the regular evening fireworks displays and seasonal events are additional major draw cards.

The vast John A. Roebling Memorial Park is to be found on the southern side of Trenton, where it was donated to the city in the middle of the 20th century and is a part of the Abbott Marshlands. This sprawling parkland cum wildlife haven is now intersected by interstates I-195 and I-295, meaning that it is easy to reach from out of town. Attractions based onsite include the historic early 18th-century Watson House, as well as a boating lake, picnic tables, bird watching, fishing, and endless plant and tree specimens, making it rather like an arboretum at times.

Located to the northeast of downtown Trenton and owned by the city since the 1970s, the Mercer County Park is easy to reach via Greenwood Avenue / Edinburg Road. Mercer Lake forms the centerpiece, being accompanied by the Mercer Oaks Golf Course and a wealth of attractions, such as almost 20 playing fields suitable for ball games, tennis courts, basketball and volleyball courts, cricket pitches, playgrounds, boating, fishing spots, nature trails and even ice skating. The parkland encompasses more than 1,000 hectares / 2,500 acres and is where you will find the training center of the US Olympic Rowing Team.