Gateway National Recreation Area

You can camp at all three units of Gateway, in the shadow of NYC.
Spanning 27,000 acres from Sandy Hook in New Jersey to Breezy Point in New York City, the park is both the gateway from the ocean into New York Harbor, and the gateway to the National Park Service for millions of visitors every year. Gateway offers green spaces and beaches alongside historic structures and cultural landscapes. Every day, Gateway is open for you to explore, envision, and enjoy!
Map showing location of park.
Gateway National Recreation Area Selected as a 2025 Leave No Trace Spotlight
Middletown, N.J. – The Leave No Trace organization has selected Sandy Hook as a 2025 Spotlight site. As outdoor areas, including Sandy Hook, continue to experience the impacts of record visitation, this new initiative from Leave No Trace shines a light on communities rising to meet this challenge with multi-day, onsite education and restoration initiatives. From June 19-21, 2025, Leave No Trace will be in Middletown, NJ with Gateway National Recreation Area to work with the community and local land agencies to deliver Leave No Trace education as well as partner on restoration and stewardship projects.
Jacob Riis Park Access Restrictions 2025
Gateway National Recreation Area will continue to close sections of Jacob Riis Park Beach due to hazardous conditions. Significant beach erosion occurred along the eastern shoreline of Jacob Riis Park Beach. The erosion exposed deteriorated wooden groins, rockwork, and other structures. Access restrictions established in 2024 will continue at Bays 1 and 4 due to these unsafe conditions from beach erosion. Bays 1 and 4 will remain closed to access and swimming.
Tent at  Floyd Bennett Field campsite in Gateway's Jamaica Bay unit.
Photo by NPS Photo
Visitors enjoying the sun and sand at Jacob Riis Park
Photo by NPS Photo
The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
Photo by NPS Photo
The Sandy Hook lighthouse and keepers quarters
Photo by NPS Photo
Battery Weed is the fort under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island.
Photo by NPS Photo