We took a week vacation down to Cape May, New Jersey back in October. Visiting the south Jersey Shore during the early weeks of the FALL season is one of the best times to go! The big crowds are gone and the weather is cooler, but yet still warm enough to get outside to enjoy thing. During the daytime shorts and a tee are fine…the cooler evening hours you’ll need a light jacket. Perfect weather for me.
While we were down we went to visit the new Cape May Nature Trail at Lafayette Park. It sits behind the elementary school on Lafayette Street. There’s a free parking lot after the school (keep driving) that you can park in. You’ll want to dress appropriately for current weather conditions and wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring along your camera for some great picture-taking opportunities.
This walking trail is an easy walk. My mobility-challenged wife was able to easily walk the trail. It’s on a wooden boardwalk on level ground. There are wooden hand rails along both sides along with park benches in several spots that you can sit down on to rest. One of the things I really appreciated were the free-to-use binnoculars in three different areas that you can look through to see the wildlife out in their natural habitat.
From start to finish we spent 30-40 minutes walking the Cape May Nature Trail. We took our time and stopped at several viewing points to look at some of the wildlife that we saw. Example: Shore birds, small crabs in the marsh water and a rabbit hopping across the one trail. You get some beautiful scenic views of the marsh area behind the elementary school. Nice to see this area preserved for the local wildlife.
We really enjoyed walking the Cape May Nature Trail and will definitely walk it again when we’re in the area. Thankfully for us, we go down to Wildwood and Cape May in New Jersey several times every year. Highly recommend that you check out the new walking trail.