Somerset County, NJ Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Sections 9 through 11 of the February 20, 2020 Park Commission Regulations lay out the county's park-hours framework. Section 9 gives the Commission general authority to set operating hours for particular areas or facilities and to close sections of a park entirely to address use, maintenance, or resource-protection concerns; the text specifically flags that trail systems may be closed, rested, or even re-routed for years if erosion or other degradation appears. S. Weather Bureau for the Somerville area, unless the Commission has posted a different opening time by signage for a particular park or facility.

Section 11 mirrors that structure for closing: parks close one half-hour after sunset by the same Somerville-area sunset tables, except where the Commission has designated specific closing hours by sign. Because sunrise and sunset shift through the year, the effective gate times move with the season rather than sitting at fixed clock hours, and a visitor relying on a printed schedule from a different month can be inside the park after the posted closing without realizing it. Section 13's parking rule reinforces the curfew by barring any vehicle from remaining parked in a park after dusk except where the Commission designates, so a car left behind after closing risks towing on top of any exposure for remaining in a closed park.