Best RV Parks & Resorts near Downe, NJ

Not Much of a ‘Resort’

We stayed at Shady Pines MH& RV Resort for a one-night getaway just for the camping experience. 

The park was easy to find and located just under 3-miles from the Garden State Parkway. 

The front office staff person was polite and prepared for our arrival. 

I reserved this site using Campspot. The rate was$65 plus$23 in fees for a total of$88 for one night. 

Even though I provided accurate dimensions for our motorhome, the site was inadequately sized to accommodate the full length. The much bigger problem was that it sloped so much it was impossible to level. I didn’t have enough blocks to prop up the leveling jacks enough to level the RV. I called the front office and was given another site to try. That didn’t work any better. I called back and was given a third site which was the worst so far. Then, at the fourth attempt we could get level. The site was still on a decline, but not as bad as the other three. 

Our site (#71) was too short for our 37’ motorhome. I made it fit, but measured just 3-inches of air between the back of my RV and the back of our neighbor’s RV. Three inches! The site had not been checked since its last guests left because there was refuse(used bandages, a used propane canister, etc.) that should have been cleaned prior to check-in by new guests. The water, 50-amp electric, and sewer hookups worked fine.

Other than a small swimming pool and a small fenced area for dogs, there were no amenities.

In speaking with our neighbor, it became apparent that there are several people working on assignment for a nearby decommissioned nuclear power plant who live at this campground. Shady Pines caters to long-term and year-round guests as well as manufactured homes/trailers that are permanent. We were the only motorhome in the entire park. This is ok, but a sign that while this place suits their needs, it doesn’t do much to attract couples and families on overnight trips and vacations.

Due to the sloped and not-so-clean sites, lack of amenities, and full-price rate charged, we won’t be back.

This is our first stay at this Thousand Trails resort.

We had a reservation that we made using the App. The app did not allow us to book a stay starting on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday so we checked in on Sunday. The reason i mention this is that when set up in our site our neighbor told us that there were plenty of empty sites all the previous week - he stays here frequently and recommended calling rather than using the Thousand Trails app.

Next note - the resort did not reserve a particular site and suggested that we drive around and select the one we liked. That was ok and we got a nice level site with a concrete pad under the picnic table. Partially shaded. Consideration - As we have a class B unit we will be in and out of the site - we needed some way to designate that the site was taken if we went out. The resort did not plan for this ( see later note ) but they did come out and give us a length of caution tape to us to block the site.

This is a fairly large place. The sites are clean but small. Far and away this resort is used by seasonal and cabin campers. They only have a few ( maybe 25 or so) transient sites which they seem to allocate on on a first come first serve basis. If you have a class b and plan to go in an out i recommend you bring some sort of indicator to mark your site as occupied.

We came in late September so the pool was closed but the lake side beach was still open. The beach was clean and had beach chairs.

The camp store has limited offerings, was not open on Mon and Tue, and closed at 4. This may have been because we were late in the season.

We weren't sure about this campground. We booked through Thousand Trails and you can't reserve sites. Our trailer is 37 feet long, so there is always the concern we won't find any sites will fit in (we actually cancelled the membership for this reason). While we didn't have a problem finding sites, the first night we stayed our neighbors were partying late into the night- not good when we have two young children with us. We moved the next morning and our next site was wonderful- much larger and quieter. The girls loved swimming in the lake and the pool. We were only a short drive from the beach, as well. It was a very nice campground.

This is more like a long term stay place that has a couple of short term sites. The staff was accommodating for getting my husband closer to the bath house, but of the three sites available, none of them were good. There was trash in our fire ring and on our site, we were surrounded on all sides by permanent RVs.

Tried to reserve a site for August. Was told they only do long-term rentals.

I want to start off by saying that I did not camp here. I live close enough though that I thought I would make the drive and check it out since it was not previously reviewed.

This is a run down hotel with "long term" rv campers.

I felt unsafe enough and uncomfortable enough that I never even got out of my car and didn't bother getting photos. I'm actually happy I didn't bring my kids with me to check out this site.

Would avoid at all costs if possible.

We stayed in the small tent loop at this private, primarily RV resort. First, the good stuff: The tent loop was empty for our 5 night stay with the exception of night 1. We were at site F17.

Bathrooms were cleaned multiple times each day, showers were warm.

There is a laundry facility. It's about $6 to wash and dry a load. There is no change machine that we could find.

If you have kids that are aged 6 and up, they are going to love this place.

Staff were nice and made several trips to the tent loop to make sure all was well.

Electric hookups at every site!

Baby turtles were hatching when we arrived.

And now the stuff we didn't like:

Well, it's an RV resort. The tent loop is crowded, site-wise, and I cannot imagine how packed together you'd be if every site was full.

The signage is almost non-existent. We drove right by the tent loop twice and there are no obvious "Loop A" etc signs. The tent loop is all the way in the back next to the pond.

If you are arriving after office hours, 6pm or so, you have to call to get a gate code. Otherwise, you are locked out.

Everyone has a golf cart and will drive into the tent loop to look at you as if you are a wildebeest and they're on safari.

Parents of small children and toddlers: the tent loop is surrounded by water on 3 sides. There is no safety fence. The water is mostly standing water so expect mosquitoes.

Site F 17 is the lowest point of the tent loop,which won't be a problem unless it rains. Unfortunately, it rained 3 inches one day and I literally dug a trench around the tent to keep it dry. F15 is on the high side and slightly larger site, request it if you can.

On Saturday night, there is a DJ and a dance party from 7-10 pm. It is extraordinarily loud and somewhat impossible to navigate a car through that many people. Plan on staying out of the resort or completely inside if you are up for it.

(I'm sorry for the photos; I didn't have my phone and had to use someone else's phone to take photos.  It was also torrentially raining so I didn't venture outside of the canopy!)

I liked this place. Despite the shutdowns with Corona, they made every attempt to hold activites every day. You had to sign up for pool slots, but there was plenty of openings. Pool was lovely and well maintained. There is an 11 mile rail trail across the street as well. The negative would be the number of long term sites, but the campground was overall clean and the staff were all very nice.

This campground is on Dover Air Force Base so you must be able to access the base with a Department of Defense identification card. There are only 10 sites, all are full hook-ups - water, electric & sewage. There is also a bath house with 2 toilets & 1 shower in the men’s & women’s area and a laundry with one washer & one dryer (coin operated). It is $20 a night and reservations are accepted up to 90 days in advance.

We wanted a chill-out weekend and are so glad we spent it at Spacious Skies Country Oaks. This was our third visit to this campground and it’s obvious that the current owners are making efforts to spruce it up. 

We stayed in pull-thru site#12 which was level, covered in clean gravel, had a concrete patio with picnic table and Adirondack chairs, and a nice fire ring. The site was big enough for our motor home. Full hook-ups with 50-amp service all worked fine. 

There’s nothing much to do in the area without driving 45+ minutes away, so make this your destination of you’re looking for a restful time away from home. 

The Wi-Fi actually worked great. When was the last time you could actually say that? 

Bottom line: We enjoyed our time at Spacious Skies Country Oaks and can’t wait to go back! 

THINGS I REALLY LIKED: 

1. Super friendly and helpful staff, especially Michelle and Sadie 

2. Nicely maintained and clean 

3. Level, gravel and concrete site with small grassy area too

Finished the season at this state park in MD with full hook up (20, 30, and 50 amp, water and sewer) and the water was still on in November. Bathhouses were open with hot water. Nice clean bathhouses. Sites were level, spacious, spaced apart, with packed gravel surface. Back in and pull through sites available. Near the state forest with a rifle, archery, and handgun ranges including skeet shooting. In summer there is a beach on the North East River for swimming and the Turkey Point Lighthouse is nearby. The town of North East is close and is a quaint town with a Main Street and great little shops. Woodys famous crab house is there along with other restaurants. Turkey Point Vineyard is nearby. There are views of the Elk River from many sites. Stayed in the North East loop and there are mini cabins available as well.

Stayed on the full hook-up North East loop (incline or decline into some of the sites, well spaced). Cleanest state park bathroom in all of MD! Activities included: the town of North East (15min away), loop hike to the Turkey Point Lighthouse at sunset, and hanging out on the Elk river (fishing/kayaking). At least four play grounds throughout the camp loops. The North East River, where the park’s main beach area is located had failed it’s latest bacteria level test. Check out theswimguide.org for the latest water quality tests. Only 1hr away from Baltimore and you don’t have to cross the Bay Bridge.

Nice state park. Tons of campsites. One loop has full hookups. Careful of choosing a site if you have a big rig. The loop has tight turns and some seriously non level sites. Trails are nice and well marked. The pond loop has some amazingly old growth mountain laurels and patches of ghost flowers. The Turkey Point lighthouse hike is popular go early or late to avoid waiting for a parking spot on nice weekends. Swimming and boating on the river are popular activities too.