Ellis Island was incorporated as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument on May 11, 1965. Between 1892 and 1954, approximately 12 million steerage and third class steamship passengers who entered the United States through the port of New York were legally and medically inspected at Ellis Island. Reopened on September 10, 1990 after a massive restoration, the Main Building on Ellis Island is now a museum dedicated to the history of immigration and the important role this island claimed during the mass migration of humanity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

During two critical winters of the Revolutionary War, 1777 and 1779–80, the countryside in and around Morristown, New Jersey, sheltered the main encampments of the American Continental Army and served as the headquarters of its commander-in-chief, General George Washington. The National Park Service at Morristown National Historical Park preserves sites in the Morristown area occupied by the Continental Army and interprets the history and subsequent commemoration of these encampments and the extraordinary fortitude of the officers and enlisted men under Washington’s leadership. General Washington twice chose Morristown due to its strategic location, including proximity to New York City, defensible terrain, important communication routes, access to critical resources, and a supportive community. The park encompasses ground occupied by the army during the vast 1779-80 encampment, and the site of the fortification from the 1777 encampment. The Ford Mansion, where Washington made his headquarters, is an important feature of the park and recalls civilian contributions to the winning of independence. The national park consists of four non-contiguous units: Washington’s Headquarters with the Ford Mansion and Headquarters Museum, the Fort Nonsense Unit, the Jockey Hollow Unit, and the New Jersey Brigade Area. The Jockey Hollow Unit includes the Wick house (headquarters of General Arthur St. Clair), five reconstructed soldier huts, and approximately 27 miles of walking trails.

The New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route was established in 1988 "to provide for public appreciation, education, understanding, and enjoyment" of significant natural and cultural sites associated with the coastal area of the State of New Jersey. The Coastal Heritage Trail is divided into five regions linked by the common heritage of life on the Jersey Shore and Raritan and Delaware bays. Five themes define different aspects of coastal life: Maritime History, Coastal Habitats, Wildlife Migration, Historic Settlements, and Relaxation and Inspiration. The trail is intended primarily for vehicular tourism. The New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route extends south for nearly 300 miles from Perth Amboy to Cape May and westward along the Delaware Bay to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

The lower Delaware River region contains immense resource diversity, combining an area of high population density with a wealth of natural, cultural, and historical resources and recreational opportunities. The river valley houses cliffs rising 400 feet above the rivers that provide for magnificent scenery and habitat unique to the region. The south-facing, desert-like slopes are home to the prickly pear cactus, while the north-facing slopes display flora and fauna usually only found in arctic-apline climates. The river itself provides habitat for American shad, striped bass, and river herring and is an important component of the Atlantic Flyway, one of four major waterfowl routes in North America. From a historic veiwpoint, the river is one of the most significant corridors in the nation, containing buildings used during Washington's famous crossing, historic navigation channels, Native American and colonial archeological sites, and 19th century mills.

For more than forty years, the laboratory created by Thomas Alva Edison in West Orange, New Jersey, had enormous impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide. Out of the West Orange laboratories came the motion picture camera, vastly improved phonographs, sound recordings, silent and sound movies and the nickel-iron alkaline electric storage battery. Edison National Historic Site provides a unique opportunity to interpret and experience important aspects of America's industrial, social and economic past, and to learn from the legacy of the world's best known inventor.

Starting as a trickle near Berlin, NJ, the Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River gradually widens as it picks up the waters of 17 tributaries on its way to Great Egg Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. Established by Congress in 1992, nearly all of this 129-mile river system rests within the Pinelands National Reserve.

Gateway NRA is a 26,000 acre recreation area located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area. The park extends through three New York City boroughs and into northern New Jersey. Park sites offer a variety of recreation opportunities, along with a chance to explore many significant cultural and natural resources.

The Maurice River and its tributaries drain the southwest portion of the Pinelands National Reserve, providing a critical link between the Reserve and the Delaware Estuary. The Pinelands Commission considers the entire Manumuskin watershed an ecologically critical area, with the vast, unspoiled Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer underlying most of the region. State and local governments, and conservation organizations own significant acreage for preservation purposes. The rivers and associated wetlands serve as nurseries for ocean-going wildlife, offering food and habitat for resident and migrating species, many of which are considered endangered. Each year, huge flocks of birds alight within the watershed to enjoy the area's natural bounty. The Maurice River corridor is rich in natural, cultural and historical significance. Its tributaries, and the bay beyond, not only shaped the lifestyle and livelihood of the region's past inhabitants, but they continue to support the areas' economy and the lifestyle of many residents today. Early industries relied on the river water channeled swiftly into flowing mill races. Some residents built dikes so they could farm the often boggy land close to the river. Others worked in maritime occupations. Local ship builders provided vessels for fishing and for carrying local products to distant markets. The region's entire glass making industry emerged because of, and still depends on the sandy deposits found throughout the watershed. Cumberland County's heritage is steeped in the history of the Lenni-Lenape people, a nation that numbers some 6,000 inhabitants at the time of the earliest colonial explorations of the Delaware Bay region.

The Pinelands National Reserve includes portions of seven southern New Jersey counties, and encompasses over one-million acres of farms, forests and wetlands. It contains 56 communities, from hamlets to suburbs, with over 700,000 permanent residents. In 1978 it was established by Congress as the country’s first National Reserve -- a Reserve being an area of nationally significant resources that are protected through a program of local land use management supported by federal financial and technical assistance. In the Pinelands, specific areas have been designated for environmental protection, forestry and agriculture, with growth being directed and encouraged in and around areas capable of accomodating further development. Its people are distinguished by a unique relationship with their environment, and the environment is distinguished by being habitat for over a thousand species of plants and animals--almost 100 of which are threatened or endangered.

The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area encompasses 70,000 acres of ridges, forests, lakes and rivers on both sides of the Delaware River in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Delaware River, the only remaining undammed river in the eastern United States, is part of the National Wild and Scenic River system; its exceptional quality waters provide both recreation and drinking water for millions of people in neighboring metropolitan areas. With habitats ranging from rivers and ponds to dry ridge tops, Delaware Water Gap is home to a variety of animals, from black bears weighing up to 800 pounds to ruby-throated hummingbirds, only 3-4 inches long. The Delaware River and its tributaries are home to more than 60 fish species, including both species that make the park their permanent home and migratory species such as eels and American shad that travel between the upper reaches of the river and the Atlantic Ocean. Great blue and green-backed herons wade in shallows looking for fish, frogs, and crustaceans for a meal. Otters glide silently through the water. On the river's floodplain, rich soil supports bountiful farm fields. Visitors can commonly see white-tailed deer and wild turkey searching for food. After nightfall, the park comes alive with a whole new set of animals: foxes, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, and, in the night sky, owls, and six species of bats.

The National Parks of New York Harbor represents a collaboration, or organizational network, of these parks: Gateway National Recreation Area, Governors Island, Manhattan Sites and Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island, as well as one affiliated site, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. These remarkable places include Jamaica Bay, the largest continuous piece of open space in all of New York City and icons such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, recognized the world over. The parks also include the cradle of our nation at Federal Hall on Wall Street, places in Manhattan where Presidents have lived and breathed and been interred and memorialized, and Governors Island, the newest national park on New York Harbor.

This park preserves 40 miles of the middle Delaware River and almost 70,000 acres of land along the river's New Jersey and Pennsylvania shores. At the south end of the park, the river cuts eastward through the Appalachian Mountains at the scenic Delaware Water Gap. A one-day auto tour of the park can include waterfalls, rural scenery, and historic Millbrook Village. Visitors can also canoe, hike, camp, swim, picnic, bicycle, crosscountry ski, and horseback ride. Fishing and hunting are permitted in season with state licenses.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a 2,180-mile footpath along the ridgecrests and across the major valleys of the Appalachian Mountains from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in northern Georgia. It traverses the scenic, wooded, pastoral, wild, and culturally resonant lands of the Appalachian Mountains. Conceived in 1921, it was built by private citizens and completed in 1937. The trail traverses Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.