Burlington County, NJ Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Rule
- Rule 6, "Smoking and Tobacco" heading
- Adopted
- Added May 22, 2013, Resolution No. 2013-00224
- Scope
- Indoors and outdoors, all park property
- Includes
- Parking lots, playgrounds, trails, buildings, festivals
- Designated smoking areas
- None provided in the rule
- Enforcement
- Disorderly person, escort, trespass prosecution
Summary
Rule 6 of the Burlington County Parks System Rules and Regulations bans smoking and tobacco use everywhere on County park property, indoors and outdoors alike, including parking lots, playgrounds, trails and festival grounds. The Board of County Commissioners added the ban by resolution in 2013 and it covers every park, trail and canoe trail the County runs.
Smoking and the use of tobacco and tobacco products are prohibited on or in all Parks System properties, whether indoors or outdoors, including, but not limited to parking lots, playgrounds, trails (park, regional and canoe trails), buildings, exhibits, programs or festivals.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: the cited page had not changed since it was quoted.
Full Breakdown
Rule 6, under the heading 'Smoking and Tobacco,' provides that smoking and the use of tobacco and tobacco products are prohibited on or in all Parks System properties, whether indoors or outdoors, including, but not limited to, parking lots, playgrounds, trails (park, regional and canoe trails), buildings, exhibits, programs or festivals. The ban was added on May 22, 2013 by Resolution No. 2013-00224, according to the amendment history printed with the Rules and Regulations, and it has stood unchanged through the document's later amendments, including the April 23, 2025 update, Resolution No.
2025-00249, covering park facility use and encampments. Because Rule 6 names 'parking lots' and 'trails' specifically alongside 'buildings' and 'exhibits,' there is no outdoor exception: a visitor cannot step outside a park building or off a trail to light a cigarette, and vaping and other tobacco products are swept in along with traditional smoking. The rule does not carve out a designated smoking area anywhere in the Parks System, unlike some municipal outdoor bans that allow smoking in marked zones. As with the rest of the Parks System Rules and Regulations, violations are handled under the general enforcement provisions: Rule 36 bars remaining in a park against Board-posted conditions, Rule 37 makes a rule violator a disorderly person who will be escorted from the park, and Rule 38 allows prosecution of anyone who refuses to leave as a defiant trespasser to the fullest extent of the law.
Violations & Fines
Lighting a cigarette, vaping, or using any tobacco product anywhere on Parks System property, including parking lots and trails, violates Rule 6. Staff can order the smoker to leave under Rule 36; refusal makes them a disorderly person under Rule 37 who is escorted from the park, and continued refusal is prosecuted as a defiant trespasser under Rule 38.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke outdoors in a Burlington County park?
When did Burlington County ban smoking in its parks?
Is vaping allowed if cigarette smoking isn't?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Burlington County
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