Parks & Facilities
Parks
Kramer Manor Park
Rt. 22 Ball Field
Union County Vo-Tech
Park Amenities
| Playground | Pavilion/Picnic Area | Baseball/Softball Field | Grass Field | Turf Field | Field Lights | |
| Brookside | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Farley | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Frazee House | ||||||
| Green Forest | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Greenside | ✔ | |||||
| Haven | ✔ | |||||
| Jerseyland | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Kramer Manor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Memorial | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Ponderosa | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Rt. 22 | ✔ | |||||
| Southside | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| UC Vo-Tech | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Basketball Courts | Tennis Courts | Pickleball Courts | Sprayground | Walking Path/Trail | Restrooms | |
| Brookside | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Farley | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Frazee House | ✔ | |||||
| Green Forest | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Greenside | ✔ | |||||
| Haven | ||||||
| Jerseyland | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Kramer Manor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Memorial | ✔ | |||||
| Ponderosa | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Rt. 22 | ||||||
| Southside | ✔ | |||||
| UC Vo-Tech |
Ponderosa Sprayground
The playground at Ponderosa is open year-round, but the water comes on Memorial Day Weekend and stays on until Labor Day Weekend. Between this time frame, the water will be on from 9:00 am - 9:00 pm daily. There is no cost to use this amenity and no reservations are needed !
Field Rentals
Field time is allocated by priority:
1. The Recreation Department
2. Allied Associations
3. Resident-Based Groups
4. Non-Resident-Based Groups
*Allied Associations: 2021 Summer Facility Permit Applications are due by June 1, 2021*
Picnic Rentals
All bookings for Ponderosa Park are done through the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation.
Phone #: 908-527-4900
Before submitting a Picnic Rental Form, please call the Recreation Department to make sure the date is available.
Phone: 908-322-6700 x 223
Scotch Hills Country Club
9-Hole Golf Course
Scotch Hills Golf Course opened in 1920 as the Shady Rest Golf Club, the first African-American Golf and Country Club in the United States. The Club was home to John Matthew Shippen Jr., the first American born African-American Golf Professional.
The 9-hole course features 2,247 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par 33. The course rating is 33.3 and has a slope rating of 106 on blue grass.
Hours of Operation:
- Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Friday - Sunday, 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
Address: 820 Jerusalem Road in Scotch Plains
Membership Information
To purchase a membership, please call the Pro Shop at 908-232-9748 or visit the Scotch Hills Golf Course website:
https://www.scotchhillsgolfcourse.com/request-membership/
18-Hole Miniature Golf Course
Scotch Hills Country Club also features an 18-hole miniature golf course. The course wanders around streams and stepping ponds with small shrubs and trees accompanying them, with a picturesque waterfall as the centerpiece.
Hours of Operation:
- Monday - Thursday, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Friday - Sunday, 7:00 am - 6:00 pm
*The mini golf course closes 1 hour before sunset
Let us host your next party! Contact Greg Ward, Director of Sales & Marketing, for pricing and a customized package that will suit all of your party needs.
Email: gward@kempersports.com Phone: 908-241-8700 x 308
Miniature Golf Rates
Shady Rest at Scotch Hills Country Club
A Brief History of the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club
by the Preserve Shady Rest Committee
The Shady Rest Golf and Country Club is the oldest African-American golf clubhouse in the United States. The building was once a dwelling of a Revolutionary War hero. In the 20th Century, it was home to John Matthew Shippen, Jr., the very first American born golf professional to play in the U.S. Open.
The Clubhouse, originally the Ephraim Tucker Farmhouse built in the 1700's, became the George Osborne Tavern in 1882. In 1900, the Westfield Golf Club converted the farmland into a 9-hole golf course and the farmhouse into a clubhouse. After the Westfield Golf Club merged with a club in Cranford to form the Echo Lake Country Club in 1921, a group of prominent Black investors purchased the property and organized Shady Rest Golf and Country Club.
The private club became a center for African-American society at the time. The Shady Rest offered amenities in addition to golf such as tennis, horseback riding, and skeet shooting. Club members hosted events that brought to Scotch Plains such luminaries as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Count Basie lead their bands there; tennis great Althea Gibson played tennis; African-American golf pros Teddy Rhodes, Bill Spiller, and Joe Louis teed off there.
Today, this historic building is often used for group meetings, wedding receptions, and other social gatherings.
DUE TO COVID-19, SHADY REST IS CLOSED AND WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING RENTAL APPLICATIONS AT THIS TIME.
