About North Brigantine Natural Area
The North Brigantine Natural Area, added to the state’s Natural Area System in 1967, was established to preserve salt marsh habitat, coastal dunes, and rare species habitat. It features an unmanicured natural beach with open shelly areas and an unmodified inlet, providing critical nesting grounds for beach-nesting birds that lay eggs directly on the sand and for diamondback terrapins, which come ashore to deposit their eggs in the dunes.
Together with the adjacent Holgate and Little Beach areas of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, it forms the longest continuous stretch of undeveloped barrier island beach on the New Jersey coast. Seasonal vehicle closures help protect these sensitive habitats, but pedestrian access along the oceanfront remains open year-round.