"A restored urban ecological oasis." That is how the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection describes the land on the Hackensack River side of Lincoln Park, between Routes 1 & 9 and the water. State agencies don't usually write like that about a place that was once an abandoned landfill.
If you live off West Side Avenue, you probably know Lincoln Park from the fountain side: the Sunday market, the running loop, the lake. This October, the park's dated events start moving west, over the highway, to a part of the park whose fall is just beginning.
The fountain side's Sunday routine has an end date
The Lincoln Park Farmers Market sets up at West Side Avenue and Belmont Avenue on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the city lists its season as June through October. The city's 2026 flyer names Circle Brook Farm among the vendors for this location. The city hasn't published an exact final date. If the market runs every Sunday through the end of the month, October 11, 18 and 25 are what's left.
The NYRR Open Run is still going. It's free, volunteers support it, and it starts at the Lincoln Park Fountain at 9 a.m. on Sundays, on a 2.7-mile route. The park also hosts cross-country this month: the Jersey City Cross Country Championship on Tuesday, October 6, and the Jersey City Middle School Cross Country Championships on Saturday, October 17.
That second date matters, because October 17 is also the biggest day of the season on the other side of the highway.
What sits on the other side of the highway
Hudson County puts Lincoln Park West at 123 acres along the Hackensack River, with preserved natural habitat, nature trails and Edgewood Lake. How it got that way explains why it looks so different from the formal park to the east.
NJDEP's project record describes an abandoned 80-acre landfill that state, federal and county agencies began discussing in 1998. About 267,000 cubic yards of solid waste were dug out of roughly half the site and piled onto the northern section. The county then closed that remaining portion and turned it into a nine-hole public golf course. Crews regraded the cleared half so the tide could reach it again. They lined it with two feet of clean dredged sand that arrived by ship, then planted about 100,000 native wetland and upland plants. The project restored about 34 acres of wetlands and 11 acres of transition area.
The funding included $10.6 million in federal recovery-act money from NOAA. NJDEP says this was the largest such grant NOAA awarded, chosen from more than 800 applicants. A tidal creek now connects to a man-made lake of more than 9 acres, and a weir keeps the lake level steady. A walkway was built for fishing, birding, walking and biking. The county lists Black Skimmers, Osprey and egrets among the birds you can see there.
Put simply, one half of the old dump became a salt marsh and the other half became a golf course. They share a shoreline, and the trail runs between them.
Getting there on foot
The route from the fountain side is easy once you know it, but nothing on West Side Avenue points you there.
- Head into the main park and follow Lakeview Drive west. TrailLink describes this as the way to cross above US 1&9 to West Park Drive.
- Follow West Park Drive to its end. The trailhead parking lot is there, next to Joseph J. Jaroschak Field and the other sports facilities.
- Pick up the Lincoln Park West Nature Trail. It runs 1.7 miles on crushed stone and gravel, mostly flat and about six feet wide.
- On the northbound stretch, a small pedestrian bridge crosses an inlet of the wetland.
TrailLink notes that weather can affect the surface, so after a rainy week, wear shoes you don't mind getting muddy.
If you're getting coffee first, Stormy Cafe at 738 West Side Ave opens at 7 a.m. every day. It closes at 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. According to the cafe, it opened on November 8, 2025, so it's coming up on its first full year on the avenue.
Both halves of the park, October through December
| Date |
Where |
What |
| Sundays, 9 a.m. |
Lincoln Park Fountain |
NYRR Open Run, 2.7 miles, free |
| Sundays through October, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
West Side Ave and Belmont Ave |
Lincoln Park Farmers Market |
| Tuesday, October 6 |
Lincoln Park |
Jersey City Cross Country Championship |
| Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
Lincoln Park West Wetlands and Nature Trail |
Shoreline Cleanup, registration required |
| Saturday, October 17 |
Lincoln Park |
Jersey City Middle School Cross Country Championships |
| Saturdays, November 7 and December 5, noon to 3 p.m. |
Lincoln Statue, Kennedy Boulevard |
City leaf-bag distribution, proof of residency required |
The Shoreline Cleanup is the one west-side date to plan around. The Hudson County Sierra Club, Jersey City Birds and Hackensack Riverkeeper run it together and call it an annual event. Volunteers meet at the wetlands and nature-trail lot near Jaroschak Field, and gloves and tools are provided. The Sierra Club recommends checking with the outing leader a day or two before to make sure the event is still on.
If you're looking for the Jersey City Birds fall migration walks, those meet at Historic Reservoir #3, not Lincoln Park West. The last two are Fridays, October 9 and 16, at 7 a.m.
The golf course on the capped half
Skyway Golf Course is the public nine-hole course on the capped part of the old landfill. Its operator says the course was created with the goal of a positive environmental impact. The practices it lists include excavating and capping the old landfill, restoring 35 acres to wetland vegetation and enhancing a 10-acre tidal pond. The operator also says the course became a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2024. The course has the Skyway Café, which serves food.
Hudson County residents can buy a resident card for discounted green fees. Card holders can book tee times seven days ahead instead of five. The rate table on the course's website is still labeled 2025, and the site doesn't list fall closing dates. Call the course at 201-763-7520 to confirm current prices and hours before you go.
The next way in is being designed now
NJDEP's record says the marsh walkway will eventually connect to a larger riverfront trail system. Hudson County is now working on part of that connection. Together with NJDOT, the county is designing a 0.19-mile segment of the Hackensack River Greenway. It would run from the existing Lincoln Park West trails to a new public access point at the western end of Duncan Avenue.
The design calls for an ADA-compliant path at least 10 feet wide, enough for two-way walking and biking. Benches, interpretive signs, solar lighting and native plantings are also planned. Funding comes through NJDOT's Transportation Alternatives Program. Today, the only described way onto the trail on foot is the trip over the highway. A Duncan Avenue entrance would add a second approach from the south.
The project is still in design, and the county's Greenway page has an open public outreach survey for comments, questions and ideas. If you walk the trail on October 17 or any weekend after, you'll have seen the ground the survey is asking about.
At Andrew Botticelli, we keep track of the details that shape daily life around West Side Avenue, from the park calendar to the projects that change how you get around. If you'd like to talk about what the Greenway work or other changes along the Hackensack River could mean for your block, please Contact Us.
