Manasquan Reservoir Fall in Howell, NJ: Hours & Closures

Tonight is the last night the Manasquan Reservoir stays open until 8 p.m. Starting tomorrow, October 5, the gates close at 7:30. On November 1 they close at 5:30, and the morning opening moves from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. More than a million visitors come to the reservoir each year, which makes it the most visited site in the Monmouth County Park System. It doesn't close on a single day. Each activity has its own cutoff over the next eight weeks, and one building won't reopen until sometime in 2027.

Here's what closes, in order.

The Countdown, Date by Date

1. October 5. Closing time moves from 8 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
2. October 31. Last day for rowboat and kayak rentals at the Visitor Center. The last rental of the day goes out at 4 p.m.
3. November 1. The park opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 5:30 p.m.
4. November 17. Casual Birder, a free bird walk. With the Environmental Center closed, programs like this one run outdoors.
5. November 30. The boat ramp closes for the season.
6. December. The Visitor Center bait shop closes until the end of February.
7. 2027. The Environmental Center is expected to reopen. The county hasn't set a date.

October 31 is the date with the longest wait behind it. Once it passes, rowboat rentals don't return until April 1 and kayak rentals until May 1. Miss the end of October and you're looking at five or six months without a rental.

Your Last Four Weeks on a Rented Boat

Rentals run out of the bait shop on the lower level of the Visitor Center at 311 Windeler Road. Renters must be 18 or older, and boats go out first-come, first-served. These are the posted prices. The county last updated them in January 2025 and they don't include sales tax:

Bring cash for the deposit: $10 for a one-hour rental and $20 for four hours. The rental itself can go on cash, check, Visa, MasterCard or Discover, but deposits are cash only.

Watch the clock on the four-hour rentals too. Rentals start at 7 a.m. all season. In October the last boat goes out at 4 p.m. and has to be back by 5 p.m. In the summer, May through August, you had until 6 p.m. to rent and 7 p.m. to return. So in October, a four-hour electric rowboat has to leave the dock by 1 p.m. to get its full time before the 5 p.m. return.

The narrated boat tours are done for the year. The Park System ran them on weekends and holidays from May 23 to September 7, and the county calendar added another one on September 20. The reservoir page tells visitors to check back for new dates. Tours last about 45 minutes and cost $6 for adults and $4 for kids.

Why the Nature Center Has Been Closed Since 2024

The building on Georgia Tavern Road gets its own section because so many people assume it's just closed for the season. It isn't.

The Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center at 331 Georgia Tavern Road closed to the public in 2024, while the exhibits were being designed. According to the county's project sheet, the old displays went in 2001, had outlasted their planned lifespan and were overdue for a rethink. A planning committee began working on themes in 2020, and Hilferty & Associates got the exhibit design contract in late 2022.

The building needed more than new exhibits. Before anything new goes in, the work list includes removing the old exhibits, upgrading the electrical and HVAC systems, repairing the roof, new flooring and windows, mold remediation and repainting.

The redesign covers the lobby, three pavilions, the bird-viewing area and the serpentine hallway that connects them. The new exhibits focus on the watershed and local ecology, with hands-on activities and new animal habitats. The Asbury Park Press reported on August 26 that visitors will walk the redesigned hallway past investigation stations to a new Encounter Pavilion built around a large central tank.

The opening date hasn't been set. As of the August 4 project sheet, the design was finished but the project was still in county bid review. The county expects to finish in 2027 and will announce a firmer date once the contract is awarded. Until the county announces an award, take any specific 2027 month you hear around town as a guess.

While the building is closed, the Park System runs programs outdoors and at other sites. The October calendar has nothing at the reservoir. The one November program is Casual Birder on Tuesday, November 17 at 9 a.m. It's a free bird walk of about 90 minutes, and it meets in the Environmental Center parking lot.

What Keeps Going After the Rentals Stop

Not everything on the countdown closes for good this year.

Fishing is open all year. The reservoir is stocked with largemouth and smallmouth bass, hybrid striped bass, tiger muskie, bullhead catfish and panfish. Anglers 16 and older need a New Jersey fishing license, and the reservoir doesn't sell them, so buy one at a local tackle shop or through the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife before you go.

The ramp stays open a month after the rentals end. If you have your own boat, you can launch through November 30. All boats launch from the east ramp at the Visitor Center. A day pass is $7 and a season pass is $50. Boats must be at least 8 feet long, motors must be electric, and everyone on board has to wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket.

The trails stay open. The site covers 1,381 acres, and the reservoir itself is 770 acres. There's a 5-mile perimeter trail and a 1-mile nature trail. The Park System recently opened a Braille Trail, and there's a bike repair station with a tire pump and tools at the main trailhead kiosk near the Visitor Center. The Visitor Center's second-floor observation deck looks out over the whole site.

Hunting season affects parts of the site. The county says portions of the reservoir will be open for deer hunting during the 2026/2027 season and has posted a table of hunting dates and boundaries. Check the table before a weekday walk on the far side of the loop. It's posted as a PDF on the reservoir's park page.

The Township Calendar Runs on the Same Dates

Howell's own fall events land on many of the same weekends as the reservoir cutoffs. On a few days, both happen at once.

• Thursday, October 15. Registration deadline for Howell-o-ween, the township's Halloween house-decorating contest.
• Saturday, October 17. The Howell Car Show & Fall Fest runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Soldier Memorial Park, 587 Lakewood-Farmingdale Road. The same afternoon, a free Build a Rain Barrel Workshop runs 1 to 3 p.m. at Echo Lake Park. Registration is required and it's capped at 25 people. The listing gives two different street numbers on Maxim Southard Road, so confirm the address when you sign up.
• Thursday, October 22. The township's Trunk or Treat. The township's spring schedule lists the date, but the time and location haven't been published.
• Saturday, October 31. Last day for rowboat and kayak rentals. Halloween falls on the same day, so if you want one last paddle, go in the morning.
• Sunday, November 15. Two events on the same morning. The Howell Turkey Trot, a 5K and a 2-mile run/walk, starts at 9 a.m. at 300 Preventorium Road. Each distance costs $25 and you have to register ahead of time. The Howell NJ Farmers Market Harvest Market runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Echo Lake Park. The race starts an hour before the market opens, so you can do both.
• Saturday, December 5. A free Band of Two Rivers concert at 2 p.m. at the Monmouth County Library's Howell branch, 318 Old Tavern Road. By then the reservoir's boat ramp has closed and the bait shop has shut for the winter.

Letters from Santa will be postmarked between November 9 and December 4. As of this writing, we haven't found a published date for the tree lighting.

The reservoir runs on fixed dates, and so does a home sale. If you want to know where your house stands before you pick a date, Alexis Fraistat will give you a straight number based on what's selling in Howell right now. Get Your Free Home Valuation.