Shark River Park is a county park in coastal New Jersey that spans Neptune, Wall, and Tinton Falls and is divided by the Shark River, from which it takes its name. Established in 1961 when Monmouth County purchased 946 acres formerly used as a construction staging area for the Garden State Parkway, it became the county’s first county-owned park and an early landmark in local public recreation and land preservation. The park now offers woodland trails, fishing by permit, picnic areas, playgrounds, a shelter building, and 8.3 miles of hiking trails. Its river is also locally known for fossils, especially prehistoric shark’s teeth sought by schoolchildren on field trips.