The Squan Tavern provided inspiration for a great Hike and Slice™ at Shark River Park

As a part of our Hike and Slice™ series, we set out to stay healthy by doing a 5k (at least) by hiking through nature and then indulging on some pizza from some of the more famous, or infamous, pizza joints. Sometimes we’re not sure which is more challenging…the trails or the pizza!

How do we decide what trail to hike and what pizza to consume? We get asked that a lot. Quite often it is simply that there is a pizza place that everyone is talking about, where we have never been, and so we find a trail nearby to do the 3.1 miles. Or, there is a trail that we would love to do, and then find a pizza place in close proximity, hopefully one that, again, everyone is talking about, and where we have never been.

This time it was all because of a Facebook post of mine on the Jersey Pizza Joints page. I don’t even want to acknowledge what it was about and give that place more publicity, but there was a comment posted by Joe Bossone that said, “We will gladly take care of you for that the next time at Squan Tavern.”

And so Melissa and I just HAD to get to Squan Tavern. But we had to find a nearby trail to hike. There are a number of places where we have been, but we pulled up Shark River Park on the border of Wall Township and Neptune. Surprisingly, although I have spent a lot of time in the area, I had never known about Shark River Park, and we even had some trouble finding it when we Googled the directions as it took us to a parking lot on Gully Road. The main parking lot and starting point of the trailheads is at 1101 Schoolhouse Road in Wall Township.

Shark River Park is 946 acres that was actually established as Monmouth County’s first county-owned park in 1961.

The Park is bisected by the Shark River – hence its name – and is the source of fossils for field trip excursions by the local elementary schools, where students search for prehistoric shark teeth.

There are six trails of various lengths from 0.4 to 2.4 miles, in addition to a fitness trail carved out among them. We looked at the trails on a map that we found and figured out that Hidden Creek, Cedar, and Rivers Edge Trails added up to a loop of 3.15 miles.

We started in the main parking lot, crossed Schoolhouse Road, and began on Hidden Creek Trail worked counter-clockwise.

Each of the three trails offered different features. Hidden Creek Trail had a number of areas covered with planking like boardwalks.

Cedar Trail had some elevation and was a tad wider in some sections.

The Rivers Edge Trail was as described, following along the Shark River and had a few steep wooden stairs to navigate.

The one thing that they all had in common were the large root systems protruding from the paths. The scenery was enjoyable but it is not advisable to take your eyes off the ground in front of you…especially with the downed leaves camouflaging much of the raised roots.

The loop we hiked was diverse and finishing on the Rivers Edge Trail was a real treat as it offered some great photo ops. Definitely a family friendly trail system, but caution is definitely required due to the roots that you can and can’t see.

The Squan Tavern pizza dates back to 1964.

The Bossone Family began “serving pizza and sandwiches from a small corner in the back of a bar called the Squan Tavern.” The reputation grew and the family built the kitchen and expanded in 1969, and bought out the bar in 1975 to establish what you see today at 15 Broad Street in Manasquan.

Like the trails at Shark River Park, the Squan Tavern is also very family friendly. Calling it a tavern is a bit deceptive because the offerings on the menu are plentiful and are more like an upscale Italian restaurant than a place that merely serves “pub” food. In fact, when we saw the menu, we were tempted to forego the pizza and try any one of a number of dishes…but we were there for a reason….the pizza. After all, we just did the hike so…

We ordered a medium 14-inch pie. And since we love sauce, we asked for extra sauce. Melissa had a glass of wine and I got a local IPA.

We didn’t have to wait long at all. The pie came out rather quickly and it was a great bar pie. The crust was thin but not TOO thin and it was not burnt. The sauce was sweet and a nice consistency; the cheese was not too little nor too much and, most importantly, no grease. And no flop. LOVED it.

And while we absolutely loved the pizza, and would definitely go back for more, that menu is so enticing and we will be heading back for dinner sometime soon.

Oh…and we will have to get you guys together again and have a Hike and Slice™ event here. Thanks for the invite Joe Bossone!