Livingston offers a variety of ways to spend your stay: a museum with regular monthly opening hours, artist studios with two annual visitor events, and trails through wooded parks. When choosing your hotel, consider whether you want to focus mainly on history and art or set aside time for outdoor trails. If you plan to visit the museum or studios, their respective opening dates are important points to consider.
History and Art in Livingston
Old Force Homestead is a museum and the home of the Livingston Historical Society. The Force Homestead Museum at 366 S. Livingston Avenue is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month. Volunteer museum guides from the Historical Society offer free tours there. If you plan a visit, take the monthly date into account and check visitor information before you arrive.
The Barn Museum contains tools and artifacts from earlier times. These objects give the historical themes a tangible, material dimension. Another glimpse into Livingston’s history is Riker Hill Art Park: The site was once a United States missile-tracking facility. The buildings were converted into 38 artist studios.
For art lovers, the studios’ visitor dates are especially important. They are open twice a year: An open house and art sale take place on the first weekend of June and November, respectively. This means you can treat the art events and museum visit as separate items in your travel plans, without assuming they share the same opening hours.
Wooded Parks and Trails
Prospect Park is a 29-acre wooded park. Its interpretive, accessible hiking and biking trails combine nature experiences with information along the way. At East Hills Park, a 1.5-mile trail runs through the woods. This description emphasizes something different: the route through wooded terrain.
At Memorial Park, an interpretive trail starts at Littell’s Pond and follows Slough Brook for ¼ mile. The details for East Hills Park and Memorial Park differ considerably in length and route: one is a longer trail through the woods, while the other is a shorter route along the brook. If you’re choosing based on distance, you can compare the two lengths directly; no information about how long either route takes is provided.
Historic Routes and Other Activities
The Livingston Historic Trail is a 4.2-mile, self-guided walking or driving tour of Livingston’s historic resources. A longer hiking option is the Livingston Historic Hike: Designed by Boy Scout Troop 16, this ten-mile loop includes and extends the Historic Trail. It begins at the Livingston Historical Society’s home at Force Homestead. The two options differ in both length and mode of travel: the Historic Trail is described as a walking or driving tour, while the Historic Hike is a hiking loop.
The Livingston Skate Park adds skateboarding, inline skating, and BMX riding to the options. The facility is intended for these activities and is used at your own risk. Livingston’s options range from historic visits and art events to a variety of park trails and a facility for skating and BMX.
Discover more destinations: Newark, Maplewood, East Orange, Roseland, City of Orange, Fairfield, Montclair, Millburn.
For the broader travel overview: Essex.
