Verterans Park is a nice sized park that's easily accessible from multiple points. The park is…read morewell equipped with various sporting facilities, including tennis courts, volleyball nets and even a small, ver basic, skate park. There's even a location for roller hockey. There are play areas for kids, and picnic tables (including covered picnic locations) for families looking to spend some time out of doors. It can be very crowded on a nice weekend, which is both good and bad, as I'm glad that they park is being used by the Township's citizens, but at the same time, you always want the nice places all for yourself. There are parking areas on different sides of the park, and I prefer to park on the Hamilton/Whitehorse Road side, but that spot is pretty small, is popular with runners, and fills up especially fast on weekends. To make matters worse, for some reason the City recently installed E-Car charging stations there (sure, pick the smallest lot--nice work, Hamilton), so parking in those four spaces is no longer available for anyone, as the even the e-cars must leave after charging. There are well paved paths that lead through the park, and there are park maps located in a few places along the main paved paths. There are also dirt trails that lead through the more wooded areas in the park, but sadly, they are very poorly marked--meaning almost not at all, and it's up to you to figure them out. However, the park isn't so big that you can really get lost, so...go out and try to get lost, and you'll figure out the dirt trails soon enough. They aren't nearly as popular as the paved trails, so they should be your destination if the sensation of having the park to yourself is a goal. There's a dog park located by the Kuser Road entrance. There's a fenced in area for large and smaller dogs, but to be brutally honest, both areas are tiny compared to the expansive dog park located at Rosedale Park in nearby Pennington. That said, if you just want to bring your dog to a place where they can socialize and you're not worried about them having a place to run, it's fine. Just make sure you walk them through the main park itself before or after so that they can get some exercise. On the negative side, other than the poorly marked dirt trails and the underwhelming size of the dog park, the main problem in Veterans Park, which is pretty much the main problem in every park in the county. The city recently put up signs saying there will be improvements made to the paths that include separate bike lanes. It's a good idea, and a necessary one , but I'll be surprised if the people on feet respect the bike lines. Prove me wrong, Hamilton!

Great facility visited here for a USTA tennis tournament. Parking is limited, but they have…read moreextended parking options. There are restrooms within the park. They do have pickle ball courts. The surface of the tennis courts could be maintained well. They do have a hitting wall. I see a lot of dog walkers in the club.

This park is filled with wonderful treasures! They have held so much within this park, I don't know…read morewhere to begin but I will say, there is something for everyone! They have a great field for baseball. Please note, Freehold Little League is held here so if there is a game, parking will be hard. They also have many playgrounds for kids. They seem to have themed playgrounds so that if you are meeting other parents, just say, "we'll convene at the blue or pirate ship playground" and everyone will find it. They have a fenced in skateboard ramps for tweens and up which I personally think is a fabulous idea. The ramps are spaced and curved only for skateboards. Longboards should definitely stay only on the paved paths where they belong. Speaking of trails, their trails are mixed between paved and dirt. You can safely go on a light walking trail here either solo or as you are walking your dogs. They also provide a few stations with plastic bags for the owners to clean up after their dogs. They also have basketball courts, dog runs, picnic areas, a spray ground on hot summer's days and my favorite, a sports field with obstacle courses. Perfect for the bigger kids with lots of energy and to build coordination. I went in March where things are just somewhat starting to bloom. I can only imagine the splendor in late June where everything will be fully bloomed and the grass will be lush. I look forward to revisiting this park, especially when it's Freehold Township Day where there will be plenty of fireworks, rides and the Vets car show!

FREEHOLD: Take your dog for a walk on the fitness trail that loops around the park for about 3…read moremiles and alternates between pavement and dirt with views of baseball and soccer fields and plenty of greenery. The path is mostly flat with a mix of sunny and shady areas with water fountains to cool down. Also, check out the baseball field on the east side of the park that is popular for some off-leash play in a fenced area (be sure to make sure all gates are shut).

Live coming here. It is peaceful, calm, such great way to be in nature. There is a little zoo,…read morelake, playground, fields, courts and picnic areas. You can reserve picnic areas for your events like birthday parties, baby showers or any other small gatherings. You can get food trucks with permissions.

Nice trails both for hiking and mountain biking. The best sledding hill in the area during the…read morewinter.

Minor League Baseball…read more Home of fried food, cheap tickets, a racing pork roll mascot and, oh by the way, there is actual baseball going on too. I love this stuff because it's an experience. The promos, the seating choices and every now and then you actually see some good play on the field as well. Each team is a slightly different variation from the next. Our experience here was fairly basic but overall nothing surprised me. We came for a Wednesday game in mid-June and even though all of the premium seating down front was "sold out" (i.e. it's sold to season ticket holders that are rarely there so most nights the seats while sold, go empty) the overall physical attendance was maybe 2000 tops. 101-103 was completely empty the same as 113-115. The place was dead. For a backup plan I chose the firepit seating. Some good and bad here. The good is that even though you are way the heck out past the LF wall, the sightline isn't bad. Regarding the fire pit seats - I. A few of the fire pits didn't work and couldn't be lit or in the case of ours (#5) it took the better part of the top of the 1st for it to finally get going which was good since it was cool and breezy out. II. In principle you don't need tickets for these seats to sit at them. A few of the fire pits went unsold yet magically people were sitting at them all night. Yes, the staff won't light them but they also won't stop you from sitting at them. It really defeats the whole point. I guests next time here if I see an unused seat right behind the plate I'm moving in for the kill. The food we experienced was total trash. Cooked in the fires of hell overdone chicken finger baskets that had various amounts of fries meaning some of the orders had a lot and some barely had any. Total ripoff. What works here are the obvious things. Ticket prices are reasonable, the parking charge is in line with what you pay at most minor league parks and the stadium is small enough that all seats are good seats. Locationally it's also an easy on/off the NJT. Oh right, the baseball. Well, you get what you get for High A ball. A few throwing errors, two pop-ups that were dropped and more of what is killing the sport as a whole with a combined K total for both teams of 20+. All in all it was a good time and a good experience. Was it my favorite minor league park? Not by a longshot but it's good enough and I assume we'll be back in the future.

Went to a game the other night - American Legion Day! Our seats were excellent and the weather…read moreactually cooled off a little bit as the game progressed. The game started with a parade of Legion Riders on their motorcycles - impressive. The experience did not disappoint as we were to experience the normal entertainment on and around the field - there was even a game! The Blue Claws lost, however, even though we were able to witness three individual home runs. It was a special night, for sure, as the Blue Claws welcomed their 8,000,000th spectator! I was spectator # 7,900, 949! An overall good experience and an opportunity for families to see some young men playing their hearts out for their chance at a brass ring. Prices are definitely affordable.

I grew up at Etra Lake Park! I played soccer there multiple times a week and the home base for my…read moresummer travel camp was here. They have a great running trail with workout equipment along the way and a great park, picnic area and open space. While visiting NJ this weekend I took my dog here. He loved the opportunity to burn off some energy and play ball. The only complaint about this park which hasn't changed much is all the goose poop! Other than that, I will continue to bring my dog here when I visit and take the occasional run on the trail.

Nice local park. There's a playground, basketball court, soccer fields, picnic areas, grills for…read morebarbecuing, and a trail. Great for nature walks and biking. The trail even leads to the backside of Twin Rivers. A lot of people enjoy fishing at Etra Lake which is a decent sized lake adjacent to the park. There's three parking areas: one adjacent to the lake, one near the fields, and another large parking lot across the street. During non-Covid times, they usually host the East Windsor Fourth of July fireworks every summer and there's fun entertainment and food vendors. Overall a nice place to enjoy the outdoors!

Drove the 45 minutes here to take my kids to a splash pad since there are none where we live. This…read moresplash pad is part of the Montgomery Township recreation center and is free. It is really nice, lots of water features and a newer playground within it. My kids were entertained and could have stayed all day. As far as amenities, there are some shaded tables and a public restroom. Defintley would recommend for young kids.

Clean family fun. We had a great time playing in the spray park. Small playground right there also…read more Bring water shoes as the surface dies get hot.

I took my family here, and it was amazing that we had a great time. My 16 year old and my 8 year…read moreold loved it. I got some great photos of my wife and kids. Lots of photo opportunities

Kind of a letdown. $12 admission for something that takes 15 minutes - max, to walk thru. It was…read moreok. I imagine if you had children, it'd take longer but definitely not on my list to go back to

Beautiful park in this quaint town. Several really nice restaurants and bars line the waterfront…read moreas well as ice cream parlors. They also have a few antique shops and even a distillery that serves some good liquor. The town is culturally diverse and hold numerous activities during the summer. On this day they had a DJ playing music with a bounce house for kids. It is a very pretty place to visit.

The playground is fenced in, which is great since it's so close to the road. The playground also…read morehas safe flooring which makes a big difference compared to other parks/playgrounds. The favorite part for us was the toddler/baby swing and an adult seat so you can enjoy the excitement together with views of the bay. Everything is in working condition and plenty of things to do.

Mercer County Park is a complete park that offers something for just about everyone's needs…read more Whether you're looking to take the kids to the lake for a swim, go kayaking, let the dogs off leash in the fenced in dog park, ride your bike along paths both paved and natural, or just go walkabout to enjoy the largest park in the county. There are even a small number of campsites that can be reserved during certain times of the year. There are also large playing fields that host tournaments throughout the year for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, etc., and rowing regattas are hosted on the lake. At 3.9 square miles, Mercer County Park is a whopping 1.7% of the total acreage in all of Mercer County. The NE portion of the park is part that I like best, as it's also the part that gets the least amount of traffic, with the only folks you see being people walking the trails, birdwatchers and BMX bike riders. I wouldn't advise taking a gravel bike on the paths in this part of the park. I used to come here often with my bike, but now I'm also enjoying the trails on foot. If you're a road bike owner who's just looking for a short ride, the paved paths that run the length of the park, and the broad shoulder of the main road offer a good conditions for a road bike, but you'll need to look elsewhere for a longer, challenging ride. Also, I've yet to encounter the entitled dog owners who think that the leash regulations don't apply to them. I'm sure that they're out there, but perhaps they're not as common as they are at places like Mercer Meadows or Mountain Lakes--fingers crossed.

Great family park, great for walking, running, a nice stroll, picnic in the summer, day date,…read moreplaying football, soccer and softball.

Saw this on my Facebook feed and had to buy tickets to it. I wasn't able to make the Sat morning…read moreaccession because I was out late on Friday but it worked out as balloons did not ascend that morning. We came for Sunday morning and had to wake up bright and early to make the drive down. The event is super well organized with many signs and people pointing to the parking lot. Be prepared with cash for the $10 parking. Yup people charging for parking in the middle of a field in NJ. Wish they would just add the price of parking to the ticket price. Also they are very strict about bottles of water and made us throw out our bottles even though barely any vendors are open for the morning accession. I had to rate it a 4 stars because of how much fun I had and I think if you don't get a chance to see the balloons ascend, it's pretty much a bust - so gambling on the weather for the weekend. Fortunately weather worked out for me - look at all the balloons. Love that they played music while balloons are inflating and when they are released - for example they played the Tasmanian devil soundtrack when it took off. There was barely a breeze on the ground but the winds higher up must have been wild because the balloons did not even hang around and quickly went out of view. Therefore I wasn't able to get the shot of probably like 40 plus balloons in the sky. Right after the balloons took off, they had a 5K and the human cannonball was the starting gong! Very exciting start to the race. We then went for a tethered ride which was 25 bucks for 2 minutes in the air and total 5 minutes (getting in and out and going up). Worth it to float above ground and get a sense of you feel comfortable in a balloon basket before spring for 200 per person for a real balloon ride. We didn't hang around for the rest of the day but your ticket allows you to re enter so if you did live nearby you could probably come back during the evening for the afternoon accession. Tips: - check the weather forecast before buying tickets (the organizers cannot control the weather and they need perfect weather for balloons to go up) - bring lots of cash - be open minded and have loads of fun.

This event is really a hit or miss and all about what kind of experience you want. I went last year…read moreand it was too windy for the balloons to ascend. It's unfortunate because your overpriced $40 ticket isn't valid to try again another day. They advertise the balloon ascension above all else so it's no surprise to me that people get upset every year when the weather isn't stable for the ascension. They do say it is weather permitting though. I visited this year only because I was one of the Yelp giveaway winners for 2 free tickets. They did not tell me that much in advance so my friend I would've invited already bought a ticket. Luckily I made an effort to speak with the Will Call staff (they did not even know there was a Yelp giveaway) and the supervisor came over to help find someone to buy my friend's ticket from her. That was very nice of her. Based on my experience last year and reading comments on their IG I made sure to bring toilet paper (sometimes there is none in the porta-potties), hand sanitizer, and a portable fan. I would not bring heavy things as it is mostly walking around to different vendors, but you can go back to your car if you want. They do not allow outside food or drinks, which is problematic since it's 80-90 degree weather and the water is like $4 each. Already knowing all this info I was okay and prepared though. Me and my friends walked around to different vendors. It seemed more of a variety from last year. We bought a few items from the vendor Abovo, a boutique. My friends bought some organic soaps from Beekman Copa Soaps and they picked up Playa Bowls. I had some chicken tenders and fries and they were a whopping $15 but a lot more than what was served last year and tasted good. There was also a Pinot Grigio sample stand and picture set-up. We saw the human cannonball event and found a place to sit to wait for the ascension, which was 30 minutes late. They were setting up when they were supposed to start. I thought they would set them all up at the same time but they did it scattered and it was less balloons than I thought, which is a common complaint I've seen. They have people posted up in the parking lot to direct when you're coming in but nobody to help people leave. It took us an hour to get out the parking lot and I was worried about accidents since everyone was trying to cut in. Overall I don't think it's really worth the $40 entry + $10 parking for an ascension that may or may not happen. If you come in with wanting to see vendors, pay more for bouncy castles, a helicopter ride, or tethered balloons, then this is great for you. They also have a balloon glow at nighttime but I had to leave.