Birding spots · New Jersey

Best Birding Spots in Sussex County, New Jersey

Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge leads Sussex County's birding spots with 213 species reported, best in fall. 69 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge	213	2,362	90	169	152	176
Paulinskill River Wildlife Management Area	187	1,041	78	172	108	122
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (Owens)	172	527	70	124	92	107
Culvers Lake	159	710	60	138	57	83
Hainesville Wildlife Management Area	157	516	56	140	71	101
Kittatinny Valley State Park	157	406	49	120	87	111
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (south)	152	665	76	97	76	104
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area	151	316	57	106	65	113
Swartswood State Park	146	714	74	115	46	101
Kittatinny Valley State Park (Twin Lakes)	136	291	47	91	76	101
Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area	122	1,431	34	104	68	73
Sussex Branch Trail	122	559	42	102	77	64
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (Independence Corner)	119	101	38	59	76	42
Allamuchy Mountain State Park	116	450	42	95	70	56
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (Papakating Creek)	116	298	39	90	77	68
Appalachian Trail	116	190	30	102	55	64
High Point State Park	114	204	0	104	82	39
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (Wantage)	113	204	34	94	65	59
Whittingham Wildlife Management Area	108	176	32	96	6	5
Paulinskill River Wildlife Management Area (west)	108	172	39	78	61	47
Cedar Swamp	107	275	5	94	75	40
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (Papakating)	107	236	37	86	65	73
High Point State Park (Montague Lake)	107	123	6	99	64	19
Sparta Mountain Sanctuary	105	153	7	87	84	13
Wawayanda State Park	104	84	22	94	44	34
Allamuchy Mountain State Park (Waterloo)	101	120	43	67	40	49
Appalachian National Scenic Trail	99	125	24	80	64	30
Swartswood State Park (Spring Lake)	98	92	22	63	45	54
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (northeast)	98	68	4	91	50	0
Stokes State Forest (Criss Brook)	97	91	0	89	51	8
Lake Ashroe	94	70	10	88	41	8
Evergreen Park	92	111	31	70	34	56
High Point State Park (northwest)	92	85	0	85	61	0
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Little Flat Brook)	92	80	18	80	4	10
Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area (Edison)	91	99	4	82	63	24
Lake Ocquittunk	91	97	0	83	46	24
Crater Lake	90	84	5	76	43	20
Stokes State Forest (Parker Brook)	88	116	0	82	50	10
Kittatinny Valley State Park (north)	88	97	27	44	55	40
Blue Mountain Lakes	88	82	4	78	61	2
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (northeast 2)	88	66	6	62	24	54
Culvers Lake (Big Muckshaw Pond (historical))	86	113	14	65	0	42
Sussex Branch Trail (Warbasse)	85	103	23	61	44	27
High Point State Park (south)	83	82	0	75	48	5
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (Wallpack Center)	83	71	1	71	52	0
Swartswood State Park (Duck Pond)	83	57	0	55	35	37
Stokes State Forest	82	132	0	24	31	55
Lake Musconetcong State Park (Port Morris)	81	182	37	48	20	43
Sawmill Pond	81	121	5	71	54	7
Whittingham Wildlife Management Area (Big Spring)	80	64	21	61	43	8