Barnegat Bay

Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
	Looking north-northwest from Barnegat Light toward mainland New Jersey.
	Barnegat Bay
Location	New Jersey
Coordinates	39°49′12″N 74°07′34″W / 39.820°N 74.126°W
Type	Bay

Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 42 miles (68 km) long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island Beach State Park (colloquially called a "barrier island"), as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island, popular segments of the Jersey Shore. The bay is fed by several small rivers, including the Toms River, the Forked River, the Metedeconk River, Cedar Creek, Oyster Creek, Mill Creek, Westecunk Creek, and Tuckerton Creek, all of which empty into the bay through small estuaries along its inner shore. The communities of Toms River, Silverton, and Forked River sit along the river estuaries on the bay.

The bay connects with the ocean through the Barnegat Inlet, along which sits the Barnegat Lighthouse. The bay is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, entered on its north end by the Point Pleasant Canal and connecting on the south end with Little Egg Harbor via the small Manahawkin Bay. In a broader sense, Barnegat Bay is sometimes considered to stretch to the south end of Long Beach Island and to include Little Egg Harbor.

Three bridges span the bay from the mainland to the peninsula: the Mantoloking Bridge from Brick Township to Mantoloking, and the Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges from Toms River to Ortley Beach. The Barnegat Division of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge comprises wetlands along the inner southern part of the bay. Along the outside of the bay, on the peninsula, is the Island Beach State Park. Various islands within the bay are a part of the National Wildlife Refuge or the Sedge Islands State Wildlife Management Area. The northern tip of Long Beach Island includes the Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.