Sandy Hook is a 2,044-acre barrier beach peninsula at the northern tip of the New Jersey Shore. The park includes seven miles of ocean beaches, salt marshes, hiking trails and a maritime holly forest. Historic sites include the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, the oldest surviving lighthouse in the United States. There have been forts on Sandy Hook since the 1800s to guard the entrance to New York Harbor. Historic Fort Hancock defended the harbor from 1895 until 1974. The Hook was also the site of the first U.S. Army Proving Ground. Ocean beach, parking fee.