Mercer County Park is a recreational park located mostly within West Windsor Township, New Jersey

West Windsor Township, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of Census 2010, West Windsor had a population of 27,165. The median age was 39.6. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 54.9% White, 3.7% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 37.7% Asian, 1.0% some other race and 2.6% reporting two or more races...

. Mercer County Park encompasses over 2500 acres (10.1 km²) covering areas of the Townships of West Windsor, Hamilton

Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Hamilton Township is a Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 88,464...

 and Lawrence

Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Area residents often refer to all of Lawrence Township as Lawrenceville. Lawrenceville is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Lawrence Township...

. It is the home for the US Olympic Rowing Team's training center. The National Softball Association

National Softball Association

The National Softball Association “is a sporting governing body. The NSA gives softball teams the opportunity to play in qualifying tournaments for State, National Regional and World Series Tournament play. Also in certain NSA qualifying tournaments, teams are able to win a berth into the NSA...

 awarded the Mercer County Park Commission with its "Outstanding Parks Award" for the softball fields and facilities in Mercer County Park. It has served as the home field for the New Jersey Pride

New Jersey Pride

The New Jersey Pride were a men's field lacrosse team formerly based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. They played in Major League Lacrosse from 2001-2008.-Franchise history:...

 of the Major League Lacrosse

Major League Lacrosse

Major League Lacrosse, or MLL, is a professional men's field lacrosse league that is made up of five teams in the United States and one team in Canada.- History :...

 for one game in 2004, 2005 and 2006. On October 15, 2009, Mercer County Park was renamed for New Jersey State Senator Richard J. Coffee

Richard J. Coffee

Richard J. Coffee is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served in the New Jersey Senate and as chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.-Biography:...

.

History

The land was acquired between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. It consists of 50-plus pieces of property, which included many farms. Ground was broken for the lake in June 1971. Because of the construction of Routes I-95

Interstate 95 in New Jersey

Interstate 95 is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the full extent of the East Coast of the United States, from Florida to Maine...

 and I-295

Interstate 295 (Delaware-New Jersey)

Interstate 295 in New Jersey and Delaware is an auxiliary Interstate Highway, designated as a bypass around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The route begins at a junction with Interstate 95 south of Wilmington, Delaware, and runs to another junction with I-95 north of Trenton, New Jersey...

, the lake basin was excavated and paid for by selling gravel to the highway contractors, which in turn helped excavate the basin now known as Lake Mercer.

Facilities

• 17 athletic fields used for soccer, American football
  American football
  American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
  
  , and lacrosse
  Lacrosse
  Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
  
  
• ice skating
  Ice skating
  Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
  
   center
• tennis
  Tennis
  Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
  
   center (24 total courts - six of which are covered and are lit)
• cross country
  Cross country running
  Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
  
   course
• mountain biking
  Mountain biking
  Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
  
   area
• boat house/marina
• Finn Casperson Rowing Center
• crew
  Rowing (sport)
  Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
  
   course
• nature trail
• fishing
• hiking and jogging area
• bike trail and inline skating
  Inline skating
  Inline skating is a recreational sport practiced widely internationally. Inline skates typically have 2 to 5 polyurethane wheels, arranged in a single line. The in-line design allows for greater speed than roller skates and better maneuverability...
  
   trail
• picnic areas
• dog parks
• 3 sand volleyball
  Beach volleyball
  Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
  
   courts
• 2 cricket pitch
  Cricket pitch
  In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
  
  es
• 7 basketball court
  Basketball court
  In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...
  
  s
• 10 softball
  Softball
  Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
  
   fields
• Veterans Memorial Park
• parking facilities
• 7 washroom
  Washroom
  A public toilet is a room or small building containing one or more toilets and possibly also urinals which is available for use by the general public, or in a broader meaning of "public", by customers of other...
  
  s