Where Exactly Are We? Medford Township 101

First, the basics. Medford Township sits in Burlington County, edging up against the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Inside the township you’ll find both what people casually call “Medford” — the part associated with Main Street and most day-to-day errands — and the Borough of Medford Lakes, a separate municipality built around cedar cabins, docks, and a network of lakes.

On paper, they’re distinct. In conversation, locals might say “Medford” and mean any combination of township neighborhoods,
lake colonies, or Medford Lakes itself. If you’re new here, it’s helpful to know: the mailing address doesn’t always match the way people talk.

Main Street: Small Town Center With Real Weight

Unlike a lot of post-war suburbs that were built without a true town center, Medford has an actual Main Street.

It’s where you grab coffee, ice cream, dinner, or a gift, and where community events, parades, and small-business life are most visible.

Third Thursday Food Truck Round Ups, seasonal festivals, and community gatherings turn this area into more than just a place to run errands. For many residents, it’s the mental “center of town,” even if they live a few miles away among the pines or along one of the lakes.

How People Actually Live Here

While visitors might only see the downtown, most people in Medford Township don’t live on or even near Main Street. They live:

• in wooded neighborhoods with ranches, colonials, and split-levels,
• in lake-centered communities with private clubs and beaches,
• or in the Borough of Medford Lakes, where cabins and docks are part of the everyday landscape.

Daily life is a mix of cars, trees, and water. You drive to Main Street for coffee or dinner, but you come home to a street lined with tall pines, a cul-de-sac, or a house that looks like it used to be someone’s summer camp retreat.

The Pines at the Edge of Town

Medford sits at the edge of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, and you can feel it. The tall pines, sandy soil, and quieter nights are part of the backdrop. Some streets look like any other suburb; others feel like you’re already halfway to the woods.

That Pine Barrens influence shows up in everything from the architecture (cedar siding, big porches, deep backyards) to the
way people talk about the weather, wildlife, and weekend plans. It’s suburban, but the woods are always just a short drive away.

Medford Lakes: Cabins, Badges, and “The Colony”

Just up the road from Main Street, Medford Lakes takes that woods-and-water idea and turns it into a whole identity.
The borough grew out of a network of lakes, cedar cabins, and camp-style communities that slowly became year-round neighborhoods.

Locals have their own language for it:

• “I’m heading to the lake.” — usually means one of several nearby lakes, context assumed.
• “We’re going to the LPCC beach.” — that’s the Lake Pine Colony Club beach.
• “The Colony has a big event.” — that’s the Medford Lakes Colony Club, which manages 22 lakes and a full seasonal calendar.

Not all lakes are managed the same way. Some, like Pine Lake and Taunton Lake, have their own private colonies or clubs
with resident access. The largest system in the area is the Medford Lakes Colony Club, which organizes events, maintains beaches and docks, and quietly shapes the social calendar for a big part of the community.

We’ll take a deeper look at Burlington County’s lake culture — and how these colonies and clubs work — in a dedicated feature this spring, when the docks go in and the badges come out.

Housing: From Ranches to Cabins

One of the things that surprises newcomers is how much housing variety there is inside one township:

• Post-war ranches and split-levels on wooded lots,
• Traditional colonials on quiet streets,
• Cedar-sided cabins and camp-style homes around the lakes,
• Older homes closer to the historic core.

The look and feel of a house in Medford Lakes can be very different from a house closer to Main Street or along one of the township’s larger roads, even though they all share the same general area and school system.

Schools, Commute, and the Practical Stuff

Medford and Medford Lakes are part of the network of Burlington County communities where families often cite schools, space, and access to nature as reasons for moving here. There’s a mix of local elementary schools, regional middle/high school arrangements,
and nearby private and parochial options.

Commuters typically head toward:

• Route 70 and Route 73 for Cherry Hill, Marlton, and major highways,
• 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike for regional travel,
• and often into Philadelphia for work, sports, or culture.

This isn’t a train-town in the way some older suburbs are; it’s a drive-first, car-dependent community with pockets of walkability around Main Street and inside Medford Lakes.

Local Flavor: Coffee, Donuts, and “Let’s Meet in Town”

For all the lakes and trees, everyday life still includes a lot of small, local businesses. From coffee shops and bakeries to restaurants and specialty stores,
Main Street and the surrounding area give residents a reason to say, “Let’s meet in town.”

Third Thursday events, food trucks, and seasonal festivals layer on top of that, so “going into town” can mean anything from grabbing donuts and coffee
to catching live music or just people-watching on a busy evening.

The Bottom Line

Medford and Medford Lakes sit at an interesting intersection: part small-town New Jersey, part Pine Barrens edge, part
lake-community culture. Medford Township gives you Main Street, schools, and more conventional neighborhoods; Medford Lakes and the surrounding lake colonies add cabins, docks, badges, and a summer rhythm that’s hard to explain until you’ve lived it.

For some people, that combination of woods, water, and community is exactly the point. Whether you’re already here or just starting to look at Burlington County from the outside, understanding how Medford and Medford Lakes fit together is a good first step.