Best Equestrian Camping near Manahawkin, NJ

   We stayed in New Jersey for our 5th campground on the East Coast: Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold. This is a County park.

 Near some Revolutionary War battlefields.

 I really liked this park! They have 2283 acres. A 17 acre lake. Some hiking trails & a nice campground! The sites are all pullthrough. There's lots of vegetation for "privacy". We had a site on the perimeter, which are forest views. Only problem is none of the roads are paved. All are packed sand. We could tell it rained recently because of the muddy tracks. Fortunately it didn't rain while we were there!

  Shower/bathrooms are clean, but dated. They're checked regularly. The bath house is for the entire campground. 3 out of the 4 women's were working. There's a shared dressing area. 

There's a laundry that doesn't take quarters. EPay. 

There's a nice playground in the campground.

 They have 3 cabins for rent, with forest views.

 The lake has fishing & boat rentals. No gas motors. There's no swimming at the lake. Cell service was fair.. No WiFi. 

They have an archery range. 

    This was my favorite campground on our trip! I really enjoyed camping here! There's a rustic retro quality to the place. I adored the campsites & I didn't see any really bad ones.

Well maintained campground and facilities. Lot of trails nearby, though some of the trails are shared with motorized vehicles/bicyclists.

Nice weekend at a new-to-us campground, August 2020. Each campsite has a firepit/ring, picnic table, and lantern hook. Privacy depends on the campsite, some have more trees and plants than others. We chose a corner site to hopefully have less interaction with neighbors during the pandemic. We stayed at the campsite mostly, burning stuff and listening to music. Water spigot is nearby. Short walk to the bathrooms. Whether was very warm, then it rained. The pine barrens are very different from the mountains we normally camp in upstate.

Campsite sells fire wood. Clean bathrooms with flush toilets and showers, masks required for the pandemic. Also has a center washroom or laundry room, but it was closed for the pandemic.

Oh, got a bit lost on the way. Internet had us take unpaved "roads" directly to the campsites, when it would have been better to go past the ranger station and stick to paved main roads through the park.

Spacious campsite, although the closest water spigot wasn't working. Not a big problem as there are plenty of others. Bathrooms were clean. Showers were a little spidery but kind of expected at a campground. Ticks were very active on this visit be sure to remember your bug spray and tuck your pants in your socks! Overall a great time.

First off, I will start by saying you have to drive a good amount of distance to get into the campground and that is something I really enjoyed! Made me feel super secluded and disconnected from the outside! The bathrooms and showers here were in really good condition, well cleaned and stocked, and was pleasant to use! The campsites are a little bit close to each and didnt offer much privacy but they were right in top of each other. Only weird rule I saw was that fires can only go from 6pm till 7am which was odd but wasn't a deal breaker. Seasonal rangers drove by a handful of times and there was a dumpster at the entrance of the campground area which was nice. Overall, I would 100% go to this campground again and I really enjoyed my site. Also, there is a good amount of trails and a wawa down the street if you forgot anything for your trip

A bit close to each other but we winter camp so it was empty super clean and easy to get too

This was definitely a unique camping experience for me. The forest is absolutely beautiful, but not by any design. Instead, nature is just doing its thing. Sand roads crisscross the whole area and navigation can be a bit tricky the first time around.

The campgrounds are clean and simple. Some reviews mentioned that the borders between sites are a bit murky, which I agree with. In the larger loop, one site easily blends into another. I stayed in the smaller loop (1-13), which was simple and a bit more private. The bathrooms nearby were immaculately clean, which hasn’t been the case at many other state campgrounds. There was some occasional road noise, but nothing that kept me up at night. However, there was some low flying air traffic going in to the joint base nearby. It wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely noticeable.

In a pinch, there’s a Wawa about 5 minutes away from the campground. Beyond that, there’s a bar and a gas station a bit further away. Anything else is a bit of a hike. If you want to get away and feel like you’re truly in nature, this is a good spot to visit.

We stayed on a mon/tues at the end of August and the campground was fairly empty and quiet except for a few generators running & air planes/ helicopters going over. There is an air force base in the area.

Site 33 is the back corner so we did get a bit more traffic going past to get on the sand trails. There is also background noise from the road, but not too loud. There are not many RV sites in the 3 loops - just a handful which is a shame because many of the sites marked as tent only look like they could easily accommodate most RVs, especially smaller rigs.

The dump station is locked so get the combo from the office if you want to use it. The ranger station is a bit of a drive from the camping area so if you don’t have cell service make sure you get it at check in.

Go down to the pond and check out the carnivorous plants- one of the most unique things in this area!

Several choices for hiking, but it’s the pine barrens so it is flat and sandy and ticks can be overwhelming at some times of the year.

Overall this is one of the nicer & quieter options for pine barrens camping

Quite site with pretty foliage.

Flat site, no tent bed, enough space to park two cars. Campsite decent size, but some don't have clear boundaries to neighbors, and sometimes not optimally configured (e.g., the site next door's fire pit was placed on the edge of its site/right next to my site). Could hear the traffic on Rte 72 at night despite being a half mile away.

Bathrooms were clean and stocked, warm/hot water available. No issues with firepit, water, plenty of tinder nearby. Bought firewood at the office for $7, but there is plenty of dead wood lying around outside the campsite. Picnic tables were somewhat hacked/battoned for kindling, but many sites had a log lying around for such purpose.

Went during the week and there were only 3 other campsites in use, ran into very few people on the trails. Ticks were definitely present but wasn't too crazy - found 2 on me in 3 days, no mosquito bites... thanks permethrin!

Good size site. Plenty of room to park two cars. Firewood available for purchase at the park office but you have to make sure it will be open depending on your arrival time. Lots of trails that were well marked. Clean bathrooms. Went to a program about beavers that included a hike around Pakim Pond to see their dam, very informative. Looking forward to visiting again.

Not a ton of RV’s or children for the most part. Clean and quiet spot.

Nice and quiet, sites are spaced out enough to offer privacy. Good trees for hammocking! Plenty of room for a few tents at each site. 1 bathroom a short walk from the sites, and hiking trails are walkable.

Great place for a weekend getaway. Very well maintained campsites and facilities.

Went in April. Allows dogs after a deposit. Must purchase their firewood. Good bathrooms/showers. Great location for hitting the 4x4 trails.

Camped here many of times. Very Decent Camp in the Pine Barrens, Lots of potable water hydrants around the campground so not far of a walk to fill any water needs you may have. Showers and bathrooms are ok, kept pretty clean. Lots of good hiking trails, most the sites have pretty decent privacy from the other ones.

I grew up at this camp ground. Spent every summer here. Some of my favorite things about this place are 1) it's far away from traffic noise. You can't here any cars or any other noise from civilization at all. It's at least 10 miles away from anything more than a single house in the woods. 5 miles away from the main road. It just makes for better camping. 2) it's in the great NJ pine barrens. This place is fantastic! The smells, the sounds, the wildlife. Love it. 3) the walking trails! There are probably hundreds of miles of trails through the woods and bogs to explore. Can't tell you how much I love it. Could spend a whole vacation just with these trails and never leave this state park. 4) clean bathrooms to take a shower after your adventures. Well...pretty clean by camping standards. 😉 Hot showers are there. Everything you need.