An August Weekend in Wantage: The Ridge, the Route 23 Farm Stands, and the State Fair Down the Road

By the first weekend of August, the ridge road up to High Point smells like cut hay and warm pine. Route 23 slows down around the farm stands. And nine miles south on Route 206, the Sussex County Fairgrounds is running its loudest week of the year. If you already live in Wantage, this stretch of the calendar is the one where the township outperforms every place you could drive to.

Here is the argument for staying put: the State Fair is not the reason to build your weekend, it's the neighbor making noise while you build it. The real weekend is on the ridge, along the Route 23 farm corridor, and out at Lusscroft after the crowds thin. Below is how to actually run it.

The fair week that reshapes everything else

The New Jersey State Fair / Sussex County Farm & Horse Show is scheduled for Friday, July 31, through Saturday, August 8, 2026, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road, in Augusta. The 2026 fair opens Friday, July 31, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and weekday hours are noon to 10 p.m. Adult admission is listed at $16, senior admission at $10, children ages 6 to 12 at $5 and veterans or active military at $7.

That schedule matters even if you never step through the gate. Route 206 southbound clogs from mid-morning on the weekend days, and the back way through Beemer Church Road becomes the smart shortcut for anyone trying to reach Newton or Sparta without sitting behind a horse trailer. Discounted admission at 20 percent off the gate price can be purchased through July 30th, which is worth flagging because the residents who actually go are almost always the ones who bought tickets a week before their out-of-town family showed up.

A Lake Marcia morning before the traffic wakes up

The move on a fair-week Saturday is to be at High Point by 8:30 a.m. High Point State Park straddles the border of Wantage Township and Montague Township in Sussex County. The park covers 15,413 acres, and the highest point in the state of New Jersey, at elevation 1,803 feet, sits in the northern reaches of the park. Park entrance has been free since the 2023 season, and that has not changed for summer 2026.

Lake Marcia is the payoff for going early. The spring-fed waters of the 20-acre Lake Marcia are cool and refreshing for swimmers. Swimming is only permitted during the summer months when lifeguards are on duty. There are changing rooms and a snack stand adjacent to the beach, cash only at the snack stand, and there is no ATM available. Bring small bills. The lifeguard schedule shifts week to week, so it's worth checking the park page the night before if the beach is your whole reason for going.

If you want the view instead of the swim, the Monument Trail loops roughly 3.5 miles around the ridge with the 220-foot obelisk as its high point. On a clear morning you can pick out the Delaware Water Gap and the Poconos before the summer haze settles in.

The Route 23 stand-hopping loop

The stretch of Route 23 running through Wantage is a working farm corridor, not a scenic detour. The stands are where residents actually shop in August, and each one has a different reason to stop.

Green Valley is the anchor of the corridor for a reason. They host family events including a Pro Rodeo, BBQs, and a Fall Harvest Festival throughout their season. August lands between the spring rodeo and the harvest push, which means the market side is at its produce peak and the parking lot is calm on a Saturday afternoon.

If you'd rather do a single stop and hit a lot of vendors, the indoor Sussex County Farmers Market at the fairgrounds is open the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from June through October. That schedule puts a market Saturday inside fair week on August 8, the last day of the fair — a doubling-up that most residents don't realize is possible.

Lusscroft Farm after the ridge, before dinner

Lusscroft is the part of Wantage that feels furthest from the fairgrounds noise. Lusscroft Farm has a rich agricultural history, unique buildings, and breathtaking scenery that is open all year round. The farm contains 23 buildings including the Turner Mansion, the Manager's Dwelling, Dairy Barn, stables and other farm structures. The land includes gardens, fields, pastures, ponds and woodland with a network of marked hiking trails, some of which intersect with the Appalachian Trail.

The catch is worth knowing before you drive out:

Visitors are welcome to park and hike the trails at Lusscroft all year round. The buildings are only open during events. There are several Port-A-Johns located around the property for your convenience (there is no running water at this time).

Translation: the trail system is a daily-use resource, but if you're hoping to see the manor house up close, plan around the Friends group's event calendar at lusscroft.org. The address is 50 Neilson Road. Two hours in late afternoon is enough to get the AT-connected loops in and be back for dinner.

Space Farms as the family anchor

For a household with kids who need a full-day plan that survives a thunderstorm, Space Farms is the Wantage answer. Space Farms Zoo & Museum is a 100-acre zoo and museum complex located in Wantage, NJ, with over 500 live wild animals including lions, tigers, bears, leopards, jaguars, lemurs, buffalo, sheep, deer, goats, pigs, kangaroos, monkeys, llamas, hyenas, and snakes. The museum complex has 9 large museum buildings with over 50 antique cars, motorcycles, old horse-drawn carriages and sleighs, antique dolls, one of the largest private antique firearms collections, old farm machinery, and Indian artifacts.

The 2026 season pass is valid Sunday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entrance at 4 p.m. The museum buildings are what make it a rain contingency during fair week. If the forecast turns, the zoo becomes optional and the antique car halls become the plan.

How to chain a Saturday without doubling back

If the whole point is to enjoy Wantage while the fair is in town, this order keeps you moving forward instead of crossing your own path:

1. 8:30 a.m. Park at the High Point Interpretive Center. Walk the Monument Trail or a short piece of the Appalachian Trail before the sun gets high.
2. 10:30 a.m. Drop down to Lake Marcia for a swim. Bring cash for the snack stand.
3. 12:30 p.m. South on Route 23. Lunch stop and ice cream at Green Valley Farms, produce pickup at JADS on the way out.
4. 2:30 p.m. East on Route 519 to Lusscroft. Hike the trail network and photograph the barn cluster.
5. 5:00 p.m. Home before the fair's evening rush pushes traffic back up Route 206.
6. Sunday, if the weather turns: Space Farms, indoor museum buildings first, last entry by 4 p.m.

That itinerary keeps you inside the township for almost the entire day, only brushes the fair's traffic pattern on the drive home, and hits five distinct named places without any of them repeating a landscape you already saw.

Wantage rewards residents who actually work its calendar. The State Fair is loud, useful for out-of-town family, and gone by August 9. The ridge, the farm stands, and the Lusscroft trail network are here every weekend. Understanding that hierarchy is what separates a resident who lives here from one who just lives near here.

If you're weighing a move within the township, thinking about how a lakefront or farm-adjacent parcel would actually change your weekends, or planning to sell and want to know how buyers read Wantage's rural character in a listing photo, The Sold Collective works this corner of Sussex County every week. Book an appointment and we'll talk through what your address is actually worth in the way people who live here already value it.