Bergen County, NJ - where to run?

April 16, 2005 10:35 PM

I'm looking for good parks in Bergen County, New Jersey where I can run. Preferably around Paramus, NJ.

I don't like running on the road, or anyplace else where I can get run over. I'm also looking for a park where I can go at least two miles before covering the same ground.

posted by exhilaration to sports, hobbies, & recreation (5 comments total)

is Van Saun Park still around there? That is very close to Paramus and even has a tiny little zoo.
posted by neustile at 6:26 AM on April 17, 2005

This is a good place to start. Has thubmnails of each Bergen County park.
posted by nj_subgenius at 7:22 AM on April 17, 2005

Um, this might not work, but then again it might: when most of the malls open there's nobody there but a bunch of old folks walking around. They like the climate-controlled atmosphere, and because it's early, lack of darned kids. I'm not sure if you're allowed to actually run, however, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more comfortable environment.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:03 AM on April 17, 2005

The Otto Phele park in Saddle Brook connects to the Rochelle Park Area listed on the Bergen County parks list, a little like a stretched out figure-8. That loop is definitely the type of length you're looking for. There's an entrance to the Rochelle Park Area that's actually in Paramus, or at least it's very close to the Paramus malls--I used to ride my bike that way to get to the Garden State Plaza when playing hooky in junior high.

In this Google map, the gigantic concrete blight in the upper right corner is the Plaza mall, the black oval in the upper left corner is Otto Phele Park in Saddle Brook, and the woodsy river running from the lake towards the lower left is the Rochelle Park section.

To cross the river at the south end of the Rochelle Park park and continue along the loop, you DO have to go out onto the sidewalk for a wee bit. Like half a block, maybe. But that's it.
posted by bcwinters at 11:16 AM on April 17, 2005

Thanks, everyone.
posted by exhilaration at 8:21 AM on April 18, 2005