Last week I wrote about some of my favorite quiet, no-toll, no-traffic drives in New Jersey — and something happened I did not expect. That piece found an audience well beyond anything I anticipated. Apparently a lot of New Jersey people are tired of the Parkway and looking for a reason to slow down.

So here is part two. And this time I am staying close to home.

Everything in this list runs through South Jersey — from Wharton State Forest south to the Cape and the Bay. These are paved roads, no sandy Pine Barrens trails, just some of the most genuinely beautiful and overlooked driving in the state. I have included a place to stop on each one, because a great drive is always better with somewhere worth pulling over.

SEE ALSO: Part 1 — NJ’s most peaceful drives 

Route 542 | Google Maps

Route 542 | Google Maps

Six South Jersey drives worth your Sunday afternoon

Route 542 — Batsto Village to Green Bank, Burlington County

This one builds on the Batona Trail piece I wrote last week. Route 542 runs right through the heart of Wharton State Forest and it is as close to a Pine Barrens drive as you can get on a paved road. Cedar water bridges, pitch pines leaning over both sides of the road, and almost no traffic. The drive between Batsto and Green Bank is roughly eight miles of pure South Jersey peace.

Stop here: Batsto Village, right on Route 542. The 1846 ironmaster’s mansion, the original worker’s cottages, the gristmill all preserved, all open to walk through. There is nothing quite like it in the state and most people fly past without stopping. Do not do that.

Route 559 Mays Landing-Somers Point | Google Maps

Route 559 Mays Landing-Somers Point | Google Maps

Route 559 — Mays Landing to Somers Point, Atlantic County

I grew up in Mays Landing. I know this road the way you know the inside of your own house. Route 559 south from Mays Landing runs alongside the Great Egg Harbor River — a National Wild and Scenic River, 129 miles of protected water that most people have never heard of — all the way down to Somers Point. The marshes open up as you get closer to the coast. The light changes. You start to smell the salt.

Stop here: Somers Point has several waterfront options right at the end of this drive, including waterfront bars and seafood spots along Bay Avenue where you can sit outside and watch the boats. End the drive right at the water.

Route 49 — Salem to Bridgeton to Millville, Salem and Cumberland Counties

Route 49 is an officially designated New Jersey Scenic Byway and it earns that title. It runs 53 miles from Deepwater near the Delaware Memorial Bridge southeast through Salem, Bridgeton and Millville before ending in Tuckahoe. The stretch through Salem County is genuinely stunning — farmland, saltwater marshes, the Salem River, little downtowns that feel completely unchanged. This is South Jersey’s version of a country drive.

Stop here: Bridgeton. Most people drive through it without realizing they are passing through the largest historic district in New Jersey — more than 2,000 Victorian, colonial and federal-era homes in a single city. Pull off Route 49 and walk a few blocks. The Cohanzick Zoo, New Jersey’s first zoo, is right there inside the city’s park system and it is free. If you want to keep it simple, the Salem Oak Diner on West Broadway in Salem is an honest South Jersey diner that has been feeding people along this road for decades. Either way, Route 49 rewards the people who stop.

Route 47 — Millville south through the Bayshore, Cumberland County

Route 47 south from Millville through the Cumberland bayshore is one of the most underappreciated drives in New Jersey. The road follows the Bayshore Heritage Byway through fishing villages like Port Norris, Bivalve and Shellpile — places where the oyster industry once defined an entire way of life and where the Delaware Bay opens up wider than you expect. The scale of the water surprises people who have never been here.

Stop here: The East Point Lighthouse, just off Route 616 a short detour from Route 47. Built in 1849, it is the second oldest lighthouse in New Jersey, sitting right on the Delaware Bay. The views at sunset from this spot are extraordinary. Almost nobody knows it exists.

East Point Lighthouse | Google Maps

East Point Lighthouse | Google Maps

Ocean Drive — Somers Point through Sea Isle to Avalon, Cape May County

Pick up Ocean Drive from Somers Point heading south and you have one of the great slow drives in New Jersey. Ocean Drive connects the barrier islands through a series of drawbridges — the Longport Bridge, the Corsons Inlet Bridge, the Townsends Inlet Bridge — each one opening up a new view of the bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other. There are small tolls at several bridges but they are worth every cent. This is the Shore as it should be experienced — not the Parkway, not the Expressway, but road by road, bridge by bridge, marsh by marsh.

Stop here: Avalon’s dune beach access points along Dune Drive for a walk. Or if you want something to eat, Stone Harbor has everything you need a few miles further south and the quality is reliably high.

Route 9 South — Cape May Court House to Cape May, Cape May County

Route 9 through the lower Cape is not a secret exactly, but most people use it as a connector rather than a destination. If you slow down and pay attention it is beautiful — farms, horse properties, the Cape May County Zoo tucked along the side of the road, the landscape flattening and greening as you get close to the southern tip of the state.

Stop here: The Lobster House at Fisherman’s Wharf in Cape May. It has been here for generations, has its own fishing fleet, and in season you can sit on the deck of the Schooner American moored alongside and have a drink while the boats come in. There is no better end to a South Jersey drive than that.

Cape May Ferry | Google Maps

Cape May Ferry | Google Maps

And if you still want to keep going

Here is one more option. If you make it all the way to Cape May and you are not ready to turn around, you do not have to.

The Cape May-Lewes Ferry runs from the terminal at the southern tip of Cape May to Lewes, Delaware — 17 miles across the mouth of Delaware Bay, about 85 minutes each way, with views of the open water and the Cape May Lighthouse behind you as you go. I have lived in and around South Jersey almost my entire life and I have never taken it. That is a confession I am not proud of, but it is the truth.

This is the year I fix that. The season is just starting. The Delaware beaches are right on the other side. And sometimes expanding your horizons means nothing more than getting on a boat at the end of a great drive and seeing what is on the other side.

The turnpike gets the reputation. These roads get the soul.

Delaware Bay Beaches in Cumberland & Salem Counties

Saturday February 21, 2026 was a gorgeous day along the Delaware Bay in Cumberland and Salem County NJ. It was the calm before the storm. When everyone else was attacking the supermarkets, I had a quiet day snapping photos along what I call Jersey’s forgotten south west bay shore.

Gallery Credit: Eric “EJ” Johnson