Best Tent Camping near Long Branch, NJ

I stayed at Cheesequake at the beginning of August and had a very positive experience.

Campsite

Campsites are fully shaded and include a picnic table, fire ring, and hook to hang food supplies from (away from wildlife). The site was well kept and clean - I didn't have to look hard to find a nice secluded space for my tent.

Each site is separated from its neighbors by a small (about 5-10 foot) forested area, and are deep enough that you can pitch your tent away from the road and have some privacy.

The park is bisected by the Garden State Parkway. While the campsite is fairly well protected from highway noise, you're still going to hear it at least a little.

Amenities

The bathroom and shower facility is older and has limited stalls, but I didn't have any issues with lines or finding time to use it. They're closed for about an hour in the early morning.

Potable water is available at the bathroom and showers.

The lake has a small beach and swimming area, and a concession stand. On Friday the beach was pretty quiet, it was closed on Saturday due to water conditions however.

Access

The park is about 2 miles from the nearest train station and can be accessed on foot, but it may be difficult with camping gear. I took the train to the station and a rideshare the rest of the way to the entrance. The campsite is about a mile from the park entrance so it's easier overall to drive, but not required. Bringing a bike to travel within the park would be a good idea.

There are 20 tent sites spread across four loops. There is NO beach access. Some sites have shelters, others do not. Pay attention when reserving. All sites have a fire pit and picnic table. Sites are walk-in (only about¼ mile) and carts are available to haul gear. Two water spigots and bathrooms with flush toilets are also on-premise. No electric, hook-ups, or showers. The nearby beaches have outdoor shower facilities though. The racoons are fierce. They will eat through your tent. Use the bear lockers provided to store anything scented. 

Activities abound: hit the beaches for (non-motorized) water sports or sunbathing (Gunnison is the nude beach), learn about the military history of the area on an NPS tour, visit the oldest working lighthouse in the US, walk or bike the multi-use trails, go birding, and more! Nearby Hartshorne Woods Park (Monmouth County Park System) has great hiking and mountain bike trails too.

Flat ground, sand, dirt, moss, leaves. Enough space for 2-3 tents. Lots of trees for hammocks. Wheelchair accessible picnic table. Fire ring. First time I have seen roaches in the wild. Water spigot down the road a bit. Close campsites, no privacy. Close to the parkway, constant road noise. Okay bathrooms, flush toilets, sinks, showers, electric outlet. Payphone!? Playground. Campground sells firewood.

This campground was not my first choice. I would rather be in more secluded mountainous campsites. The upside to being so close to the parkway is that there are convenience stores nearby if you forget something. Campground sells firewood, they leave it outside the park office so you can pick it up whenever, Do they leave it out overnight? Would be great to know when I roll in after office hours Friday night straight from work. I was unnerved by the cockroaches, both in the bathrooms and at the campsites at night. I was afraid to bring them home, but they weren't evident when I packed up. My noisy neighbors were bothersome, until I realized I forgot my phone charging cord and they let me borrow one! Rained Friday during the day, so the ground was wet all weekend, but no puddles. Got a bit of a sunburn because I forgot cloudy days are deceptive. Otherwise, I had a nice time hanging out(literally, I love hammocks) at the campsite the whole weekend, journaling, reading, and listening to music.

Check in was smooth and informative. Arrived at the site only to find food (hotdogs, buns, carrot sticks) and garbage (drink box straw wrappers, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, food packaging) spread thru out the site. There was large dead limbs and branches over the only level area. I like to keep a tight camp setup so between the placement of the fire ring, the picnic table being attached to the ground, and the only level area being a hazard I was spread out more than I wanted to be. Super late check-ins were noisy and the flashlights in our eyes while they set up camp was annoying. As usual for the amount of use the bathrooms were horrible and showers were cold. I absolutely recommend doing a drive thru and decide on your spot in advance. Thankfully next months spot looks much better.

We stayed at Sea Pirate Campground in West Creek, New Jersey, for a week in mid-August We’re so glad we did! 

Our site (#201) was a level pull-thru with 50-amp electric, water, sewer, and cable. It was easy to pull in and can accommodate larger rigs. The hook-ups were all well-maintained and worked fine. We had plenty of room to fit our car too. The site included a picnic table and fire ring. 

The gated campground was clean and well-maintained. The heated swimming pool was large and the water crystal clear. The store was stocked with typical essentials like supplies, fire wood, and snacks. Daily trash collection was a nice convenience. Wifi service was strong and our Verizon cell service worked fine. 

The front office staff were all friendly and we love that, especially when checking in at a new campground. 

Drive time to Long Beach Island ranged between 3-40 minutes each trip we took depending on traffic. There are plenty of stores within a 5-mile drive if you should need anything including Walmart, super markets, convenience stores, and several restaurants. 

Our only minor negatives were that the firewood sold in the store was so wet it wouldn’t light and they charge an additional$5 if you want it delivered to your site. And our site was really sandy and dirty which created a bit of a mess, especially after some rain, but it is the Jersey shore. 

This is a great campground with a nice pool and good proximity to LBI. We’ll can’t wait to go back!

We had a breezy afternoon check-in with the fantastic & knowledgeable forest service ranger. Parking close to the campsites, but helps to use the provided wheelbarrows to get everything to your personal site. The power is currently out for a major reconstruction. our campsite had 10-15 holes in the ground with what appeared to be sand wasps flying in and around the holes. they have never caused me any trouble, they are just large and surprising. We knew they’d be sleeping at night. after camp set up, we used the bikes we brought to ride the well-kept trail about 2 miles to Beach D, spent a great afternoon sanding & swimming and a little ice cream at the carvel truck. Biked back and bought a few bundles of firewood to cook & get ready for the evening.

our campsite backed right up to a communal water source. when I went over to get some additional water once dark, roaches scurried when I turned on a light at the faucet tap. not totally surprised (people were washing food off pots there) but then when I walked back to my picnic table, I was ACTUALLY surprised to find HUNDREDS of roaches everywhere ….all over our equipment on the table, on our bikes, even on the marshmallow stick resting on the lit fire pit  … I mean everywhere. It’s like once it was dark they all came out, in numbers I have never seen anywhere. Am planning on giving feedback to the rangers as well in case the were not aware of the extent of the problem. We weren’t able to stay overnight in that environment unfortunately because everything else was truly super pleasant.