Sandy Hook, in
Highlands, dominates a major channel into the New York harbor, contains a lighthouse, and a series of forts since the Sixteen- and Seventeen-hundreds. The last of the colonial forts is now the
Fort Hancock Museum, and is still largely intact, as are the great gun emplacements that defended the harbor entrance in
Monmouth County. The remains of the Sandy Hook Proving Ground, where new U.S. Army weapons were tested from 1874 until 1919, may be seen.
The Atlantic Ocean shore provides swimming and surf fishing on the peninsula. Behind the beach there is a superb resource for exploring history and nature, including a holly forest.
