Ramsey, NJ Road Trips

Bergen County is one of the four original counties in New Jersey. Before New Jersey was what it is today, its earlier borders extended to what are now Passaic and Hudson county. Bergen County is 239 sq mi (620 km2) of land in the northeast corner of the state, and its population is just over 900,000 people. Bergen County is #16 out of the top 20 wealthiest counties in America, behind New York as #2, Westchester as #7, and San Francisco as #10.

County parks Ski, skate, jog, cycle, golf, picnic, camp overnight, tour a zoo, visit a Revolutionary War site, swim, hike, play softball and tennis. Bergen County parks offer golf courses, horseback riding stables, an environmental center, a zoo and plenty of places to picnic and play. Darlington County Park: Mahwah. 2 swimming lakes with sandy beaches, changing rooms, snack bar, picnic areas, sand volley ball courts, fishing lake, tennis, handball and basketball courts. Bergen County Zoological Park in Van Saun County Park (Forest and Continental Avenues in Paramus): a train ride, extensive playground, and the zoo which is home to a wide variety of wild and domestic animals, and different species of birds. Campgaw Mountain County reservation, Campgaw Road in Mahwah: camping, alpine skiing, snowboarding, night skiing, snow tubing. Children's Programs and Lessons. Ski info: +1 201-327-7804 The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus: Historic house museum that incorporates an 18th-century stone house that was visited during the Revolutionary War by George Washington and is the site where Aaron Burr met and married Theodosia Prevost. Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, showcases the natural world. It includes wildlife art and big game collections. New Jersey Children's Museum, Paramus, has 30 neat exhibits including a kid-sized grocery, the World of Animal Senses, a fire truck, New Jersey's largest kaleidoscope, and a medieval castle where children dress up as knights, princesses, fairies and kings.

Because Bergen County is such a "family" place, there isn't much of a crazy night life in town. A short 20-minute drive takes you to Nyack, the "it" place to be for a trendy night life. If you like the pub/bar scene, in Pearl River, New York, which borders Park Ridge in Bergen County, you can go to The Saloon for a more townie, toned down place to have a drink. If you're still itching for more, New York City is close: take the George Washington Bridge or the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel to downtown NYC for great restaurants and bars. The local place for LGBT nightlife is Club Feathers in River Edge.

To get to Bergen County, you can take many different means of transportation. If you're flying, you can fly into Newark International Airport for commercial flights and Teterboro Airport (TEB IATA) for private flights. If flying into New York makes you happier, you can fly into La Guardia Airport or John F. Kennedy International Airport. All of these airports are within 40 minutes from Bergen County. Anywhere south, get onto the Garden State Parkway North — any of the exits between 160 and 172 will be able to take you to Bergen County. There are some other highways that can also take you there, but this is the most direct and least confusing way. If you're coming from the north or east, like New York City, Massachusetts, or Connecticut, you can take the George Washington Bridge (NJ/NY lingo "the GW") or the Tappan Zee Bridge. For the GW, follow signs coming off the bridge for Rt. 4 E, then for Rt. 17 N, then signs for the Garden State Parkway N. If you're taking the Tappan Zee, when you get off, follow signs for I-287 W, then take the 14A exit towards New Jersey. After that, merge onto the New York State Thruway, and take the School House Rd. exit which will lead you into Montvale in Bergen County. There are also lots of great hotels to stay in that are all over BC. Depending on your price range, there are plenty of Holiday Inns to stay at or you can check in to a Hilton or Mariott. There are Holiday Inn Expresses in Ramsey and Paramus and a Hilton and Mariott in Woodcliff Lake.

The best way to get around Bergen County is to drive, and there are lots of places to rent cars for a weekend, otherwise you're stuck taking public transportation which only takes you to "working" parts of the area, not the fun parts. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Newark Intl Airport, 162 US Highway 1 and 9, Newark, +1 973-242-3400 At La Guardia: Avis +1 973-961-4300 or +1-800-230-4898 Hertz +1 973-621-2000 or +1 800-654-3131 Although there is no train service in the eastern parts of Bergen County, a project is underway to extend the Hudson Bergen Light Rail north to Englewood.