Ocean County Parks and Recreation is setting up a free drive-through holiday light display at Jakes Branch County Park in Beachwood. Lighting Up Nature runs four nights, Friday, December 11, through Monday, December 14, from 6 to 8 p.m., at 1100 Double Trouble Road.

The county bills it as a neighborhood-style display: the kind of loop a family might already make on a December night to see the lights on their own block, set inside a county park in the Pinelands. Visitors stay in their cars and drive the route.

The details

  • When: December 11, 12, 13 and 14, 6 to 8 p.m.
  • Where: Jakes Branch County Park, 1100 Double Trouble Road, Beachwood.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Format: Drive-through; visitors stay in their cars.

About the park

Jakes Branch County Park sits in the Pine Barrens in Beachwood. Its nature center has exhibits on Pinelands history, wildlife and ecology, including live reptiles and amphibians, and a five-story observation deck that looks out over the pines. Admission to the park and the nature center is free, and the county lists the park as open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk. A daytime visit and an evening drive through the lights make for one outing.

Other free county park events in December

The same county calendar has two more December dates nearby: The Affair at Cedar Bridge at Cedar Bridge Tavern in Barnegat on Sunday, December 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Winter Solstice Celebration at Cattus Island County Park in Toms River on Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with horse carriage rides and a visit from Santa.

Getting there

The park entrance is at 1100 Double Trouble Road in Beachwood. Questions go to the park at 732-281-2750.

Sources