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All United States New Jersey

The Atlas Obscura Guide To New Jersey

146 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in New Jersey

Updated May 26, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
Jersey City
Entrance to the Museum is through Paranormal Books & Curiosities
Asbury Park
Atlantic City
Life mask of Benjamin Franklin.
Princeton
Shaky Bridge.
Trenton
Hamilton Township
All Cities
  1. Asbury Park
  2. Atlantic City
  3. Cape May
  4. Edison
  5. Hamburg
  6. Hamilton Township
  7. Highlands
  8. Hoboken
  9. Holmdel
  10. Jersey City
  11. Manchester Township
  12. Matawan
  13. Morristown
  14. New Brunswick
  15. Piscataway
  16. Princeton
  17. Rutherford
  18. Trenton
  19. Wall Township
  20. West Orange
  21. Wildwood
Attractions
Food & Drink
Map
Leaderboards
Stories
Lists

Unusual Attractions in New Jersey

The colorful, glowing rocks of Sterling Hill

Ogdensburg, New Jersey

Fluorescent Rocks of Sterling Hill Mine

Hundreds of glow-in-the-dark objects light up a museum in a historic zinc mine.
Entrance to the Museum is through Paranormal Books & Curiosities

Asbury Park, New Jersey

Paranormal Museum

A storefront museum in Asbury Park honoring the Jersey Shore’s deep history of mystery—including the Jersey Devil.

Hamilton Township, New Jersey

Grounds for Sculpture

A unique sculpture park that specializes in the huge and bizarre.
Batsto Village

Egg Harbor City, New Jersey

Batsto Village

This historic iron-working village is now a ghost town so immaculate that it looks as though it was recently built.

Jersey City, New Jersey

Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal

Hidden in plain sight on the Hudson River is an abandoned train station where nature has taken over.
A wheelchair in the abandoned building

Glen Gardner, New Jersey

Abandoned Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital

A recently abandoned psych ward at the end of Sanatorium Road.
Amatol ruins

Hammonton, New Jersey

Amatol Ghost Town

In the woods of New Jersey lie the ruins of a munitions village abandoned after World War I and the remnants of a 1920s wooden racetrack.
The Deserted Village of Feltville

Berkeley Heights, New Jersey

The Deserted Village of Feltville

This tiny New Jersey village has lived many lives but seems determined to remain a ghost town.
See All 146 Things To Do in New Jersey

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in New Jersey

Hamilton Township, New Jersey

Rat's Restaurant

Step into Monet's world at this fine-dining restaurant in the middle of a New Jersey sculpture park.

Bloomfield, New Jersey

Holsten's Brookdale Confectionery

This old-fashioned candy shop, ice cream parlor, and diner served as the setting for one of TV's most controversial series finales.

Jersey City, New Jersey

White Mana Diner

This unassuming retro burger joint was billed as “diner of the future” at the 1939 World's Fair.

Milford, New Jersey

The Famous River Hot Dog Man

The only thing better than tubing down New Jersey's scenic Delaware River is doing so while eating a hot dog from a giant floating stand.
See all 8 Places to Eat in New Jersey
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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

7 Spots to Explore New Jersey’s Horrors, Hauntings, and Hoaxes

In New Jersey, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. In 1909, newspapers published accounts of a monster known as the “Jersey Devil” said to be prowling the Pine Barrens. In 1938, a radio broadcast declared that aliens were invading the small community of Grover’s Mill. And today, streets and signs suggest ominous origins with names like Ghost Lake and Shades of Death Road. If you know where to look, the Garden State offers stories far stranger than any Springsteen song or scene from The Sopranos. Here are seven sites to explore the hauntings, horrors, and supernatural phenomena of New Jersey. As the pandemic continues, we hope this virtual trip helps you explore America’s wonders. If you do choose to venture out, please follow all guidelines, maintain social distance, and wear a mask.

View Itinerary

Explore New Jersey

History 13
Animals 12
Ruins 11
Abandoned 11
Military 11
Museums And Collections 8
Statues 8
Monuments 8
Homes 8
History & Culture 7
Collections 7
Architectural Oddities 7
Unique Restaurants & Bars 4
Places To Stay 2

New Jersey Leaderboard

Places Added

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Join the Ranks!
Add an unusual place to New Jersey.

Places Edited

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Recent New Jersey Activity

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Stories About New Jersey

In Asbury Park, New Jersey, summer visitors are known as "bennies." On the southern Jersey shore, the same visitors are "shoobies."

Are You a Shoobie or a Benny?

When summer visitors arrive, so do the colorful and sometimes perplexing local nicknames.
by Laura Kiniry
May 26, 2023

Podcast: Fluorescent Rocks of Sterling Hill

A light show, courtesy of a historic New Jersey mine.
by The Podcast Team
November 30, 2022
An illustration (1930-1945, exact date unknown) of the original Palace of Depression and its creator, George Daynor.

How Rebuilding New Jersey's Palace of Depression Became a Family Legacy

Built from recycled materials by an eccentric con artist in the 1930s, the curious creation was demolished—and then reborn.
by Michelle Harris
August 23, 2022
Cheryl Holbert's elaborate shlissel challah has a sunburst motif.

This Challah Is Key to Good Fortune After Passover

Shlissel challah is a centuries-old Jewish tradition.
by Karen Chernick
April 20, 2022
A smashed pumpkin might be the trick, regardless of the presence of a treat.

Why Is Mischief Night Different From All Other Nights?

How a local tradition has hung on for centuries.
by Dan Nosowitz
October 21, 2021
Tama Matsuoka Wong in a field of wild violets.

New Jersey's 'Meadow Doctor' Wants You to Eat Your Weeds

Tama Matsuoka Wong makes house calls to help people maintain their native grasslands.
by Meagan Shelley
August 16, 2021

Podcast: Hitler’s Toilet

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange stories.
by The Podcast Team
May 20, 2021
Dracula's Castle, on an amusement pier in Wildwood, New Jersey.

When the Jersey Shore Was the Epicenter for Haunted Attractions

In the 70s and 80s, beachgoers delighted in low-budget frights.
by Laura Kiniry
March 5, 2021

Lists Featuring New Jersey

(Flickr/andreakw)
The bathroom
Some of the decorations include broken crockery that have been priced back together

11 Homes Transformed Into Amazing Mosaics

If you own your property, why not bedazzle it?

11

Including Wyckoff Street Mosaic, La Maison Picassiette, and House of Mirrors

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