As if we needed any more good reasons to spend a day exploring Batsto Village or hiking along the Rancocas Creek, all 50 state parks are free to enter for the foreseeable future. Included in the state’s proposed 2023 budget, Gov. Phil Murphy has dropped park entrance fees for both New Jersey residents and out-of-towners.

If you’ve already purchased a 2022 annual State Park Pass, no worries. You’ll automatically receive a full refund. Other individual park fees remain in place, including those for camping, interpretive programs and mobile- sport fishing permits. And unfortunately, you still have to pay for the gas – but at least you don’t have to pump it.