Ocean County is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain in central New Jersey. Toms River, in Dover Township, serves as the County Seat. Ocean County is the second largest county in the state, consisting of 638 square miles of pine barrens and barrier islands and a coastline of 45 miles along the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean County has been one of the fastest growing counties in New Jersey for the past 40 years.

The Jersey Shore - from its most unspoiled form to the very definition of the 20th century beach and boardwalk experience, is well represented in Ocean county. With some 3000 acres of beaches and nature trails, the sprawling enclave of Island Beach State Park dominates the central part of the county's coast. It should be at the top of any nature lover's itinerary. Island Beach State Park is the perfect place for bird watching and hiking on self-guided trails. Canoe tours are offer on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

Despite the large growth in population and employment, Ocean County maintains a vast amount of protected open space which will ensure the balanced land use of the area in the future. Much of the area west of the Garden State Parkway contains large tracts of State Parks, Forests and Wildlife Management Areas. In addition, approximately 20,000 acres east of the Parkway are protected under the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. The Barnegat Bay and Little Egg Harbor, which stretch nearly the entire north-south length of the County, were recently added to the US National Estuary Program and will be the subject of continuing environmental protection efforts.

To its north, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, and Point Pleasant Beach are classic shore towns with rides, arcades, amusements, and plenty to do. To the south is Long Beach Island, with its numerous seafood restaurants, great crabbing, and the Barnegat Lighthouse and Long Beach Island museums. Some of the most magnificent estate like homes along the Jersey Shore are located in Mantoloking, just south of Bay Head on Route 35. Turn west on Gerbert Street and cross over the bridge for a scenic drive through the quiet communities along the Metedeconk river.

Although Ocean County has been settled since colonial times, its presence as a separate political entity is of relatively recent origin. The County was created from lands divided from Monmouth County in 1850. For much of its early history, the County was a rural, agricultural and fishing center. During the latter part of the 1800's and through the 1900's, the resort industry of the New Jersey Shore was developed, and the commercial activities associated with seasonal resorts quickly became the County's economic mainstay.

Beware of lighthouses - You can climb up the 165 foot red and white Barnegat lighthouse which was used as a lookout during world war one. There has been more than 200 shipwrecks on the Barnegat Shoals. General George G. Meade rebuilt the lighthouse in 1857 after the first one toppled over. The Tucker's Island lighthouse fell into the sea in 1927 affected by years of tides and storms.

Lakehurst was the landing site for the German airship Hindenburg. In 1937 the ship caught fire and crash to the ground killing 36.