Jersey City on Two Wheels: A Three-park Tour

This weekend I decided to string together three small parks into one bike ride/blog post. These parks are all within easy running distance, and I frequently visit them. Nearby and smaller than the previous parks, I overlooked writing a post on them. But I realized that including all three would give both my ride and the post enough distance and material. So, here are three parks tied closely to their respective Jersey City neighborhoods.




Van Vorst Park, a five minute ride from my apartment in the downtown historic district of the same name. Features include its gardens and gazebo, a playground and weekly farmer's market, and its proximity to the Jersey City Museum, Public Library, and Zeppelin Beer Hall/Garden.

the dog run, with farmer's market beyond

a well-used community bulletin board--love it!

Then, I took a two-minute ride up Jersey Avenue to the recently redeveloped Hamilton Park. Essentially, it's a larger version of Van Vorst Park, with more space for open lawns and bigger dog runs, as well as tennis and basketball courts. And much like that older park, the surrounding historic neighborhood embraces their public space. I even saw volunteers pitching in do some weeding. Gotta love community involvement.

After a stroll a cross the park, I then made my way to a park in my neighborhood, the Heights: Riverside-Fiske Park. Unfortunately, I did have to enter Hoboken briefly to reach the hilltop on which the park sits, thus marring what would have been an entirely Jersey City-bound ride. But such a sacrifice is well worth it in order to reach this view of the metropolitan area below and beyond.

the view of Hoboken and midtown Manhattan

where I work

Monument to WWI hero Capt. Fiske

Henry Hudson?!

a parting graffiti message