Atsion Family Camp — Wharton State Forest

We did 2 weekday nights with our dog and 19’ RV in Aug ‘24.

The dog friendly sites are limited & not the sites with lake access. It will also cost an extra $5/night.

Check in was confusing as it is across the street & closes promptly at 4pm. (Not at the recreation area where we pulled in first)

Site 34 was close to the road with regular traffic noise & car headlights even shined in the camper at night. There is also a fair amount of plane traffic from a small local airport…and several other campers were running generators so it was not exactly quite camping.

Bathrooms are the typical old nj state park set up- it does the job but it’s seen better days. Dump station works well with trash & recycling drop off next to it. The roads are soft sand and can get rough after a rain storm.

If you are looking to kayak or canoe on the lake it has a ramp to drop in. That is the main attraction here & there is a beach on the other side of the lake.

Overall- nothing too special It’s not a site I would return to unless we could get water front, but dogs are not allowed there - so we won’t be rushing back because of that & the proximity to the road .

First time staying down in the extremely sandy pine barrens. We arrived to camp after a torrential rain; many sites, including ours, experienced flooding. Luckily, within a couple of hours this cleared up.

The grounds were lovely and a majority of the sites were generously sized. We stayed at site #47, which had great canopy cover, while allowing nice bits of sunshine. Great size. Private. Site #48 next to us was massive, and at least double the size of ours; that one also offered great shade and privacy, and would be great for larger groups. Really, the only site I wouldn’t recommend is #11- it is super tiny and wide open with little privacy.

Some things to note, potable water pumps didn’t work. Also heard that the men’s showers were a little unkempt. Women’s seemed decent, though outdated is an understatement. It’s not exactly clear how this campground is managed because there are no rangers on site. The bathrooms at least get cleaned in the morning, and there are occasional drive-bys of state park police. Otherwise, there’s certainly no enforcement being done and the noise from other campers got a bit crazy.

Atsion Family Campground

Off US 206 and about 1/2 a mile up Atsion Road in New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest, you’ll find the Atsion Family Campground. The facility is run by the Dept of Environmental Protection and offers Tent, Trailer and Group Sites. There are also Cabins for rent as well, but only available during the summer months, After Memorial Day until October. AFC is one of several campgrounds in WSF and is the largest with 50 camping sites. Amenities include a handicapped accessible restroom/shower building, several drinking water spigots, and a waste dump for trailers. There are no electric hook ups and cell service is low, but manageable. Plenty of sun (shady too) so bring your solar powered generators and cell signal boosters if you need to stay connected. AFC is also pet friendly, so bring your 4 legged furry family members, after registering them with the camp site.

The individual sites are spacious with a pic-nick table and fire ring grill. Some sites have lake-side water access, so bring your canoes and kayaks and reserve these sites (4, 8, 10, 12, 20 and 22) early as they are popular. The ground is sandy and relatively level for easy camp set up. Some sites are close to a roadway, so you do get some car noise, and like all unmonitored camp sites, loud, unruly campers can be lurking among the pines. Be sure to get your fire wood from the guy that lives across the street from the campground entrance. 5 bucks, on the honor system, a good amount of wood, open 24/7.

Nearby is the Atsion Recreation Area, which offers fishing, walking, biking and horseback trails, a life guard monitored beach by the lake with restrooms and snacks (Summer Months). Only 15 minutes away, a quick drive, is Batso Village, an old iron and glass community from the late 1700s to early 1900s. NJ State Park Rangers are working hard keeping the area clean, rehabilitated, and educational center allowing you to walk through the old buildings and time as you image what life was like back then. Wharton SF is huge, over 122,000 acres of sandy terrain, towering pine trees, lakes/rivers and off roading trails!! Y’all should come and play in the Pine Barrens

A low-key, low amenities sandy spot in the NJ Pinelands. This was a nice large site in the“pet-friendly” section(sites 26-34) of the campground. Site 34 is close to Atsion Road, so there was car noise, but it wasn’t really an issue to us. The restroom/shower facility was very clean. There is access to potable water, though there is no dishwashing station, so you need to create your own system at your campsite. Directly across the street from the entrance to the campground is a family that sells firewood for$5 a bundle for you to carry away. 

Only criticism relates to poor communication on how to check-in. On the day of our arrival, the Wharton State Forest Atsion Office(not on-site), where we thought we were supposed to check-in, was closed and a sign on the door said to use the Batsto Office—a phone number was provided, but multiple attempts at calling resulted in a constant busy signal. Couldn’t make it to the Batsto Office in time(it closes at 4pm). We just gave up, as the site is paid for and they have our information. 

Lots of really huge sites at this campground and some with lake views and access for kayaks/canoes. 

Stayed over Sunday into Monday, and felt like we had the place to ourselves!

Went during the week, there were 4 sites taken adjacent to me, the rest of the campsite barely had anyone. Unfortunately 2 of them were taken by a large family group who were pretty loud until midnight - no fault of the campsite, just note that this place will have a higher frequency of this type of visitor. 

I had a waterfront site, although you can't really see the water from the site itself. Two paths led down to the lake, about 20 feet. There was a bag tied to a tree with someone's trash in it. Speaking of trash, there was a lot of little bits scattered throughout the site, I spent my camp setup time also picking out the worst offenders (bottle caps, broken glass, zip ties, broken off plastic bits of kids toys etc.)

Size-wise, very spacious and open - which is good in some ways but I had to account for shade as well as a place to rig a ridgeline for my tarp (i.e., all the trees ring the edge of the site in the brush). Picnic table and fire ring were in good shape. 

The boundaries between neighbors are pretty much non-existent. Water isn't too far from any site and the bathrooms were in good shape. Unlike Brendan Byrne, this one had some hooks to hang your bags on.  

The campsite runs along a local road that doesn't get much traffic, but you'll definitely hear cars going by at 50 mph.

Across the street from the entrance is a home that sells sundries and firewood. Down at the Atsion office a mile away they can sell you firewood as well. Picalilli Inn isn't far, they have great wings. Batsto is a 15 minute drive. Hikes start either there or you can access from Atsion as well. There are little trails around the campsite too.

All in all a decent place, solid facilities, and convenient

I haven't seen a review since 2017 and that should have been my first clue. Let me start by saying the check in area was nearly 12 miles away from the site. At the site there were no bathrooms. One outhouse which smelled like death for the entire camp site. I would say there had to be about 60 people using one outhouse NO FLUSHING! Ewwwwwwwwwwwww Camp sites were one on top of the other. There were no clearly marked roads and several cars got stuck in the sand area, one car even drove through our site during the night. Luckily we werent run over. There were no picnic tables either. If you didnt have a table and/or chair you stood all weekend. The road leading to the actual site was full of twists and turns and we nearly smashed into a tree coming out of a turn doing about 20 mph. The police patrolled at 730 pm, 930 and then 1130. THERE WAS NO INTERNET, CELLULAR SERVICE. That didnt bother me but the fact that if there was an emergency there was no way to contact police was pretty alarming. I honestly didnt think the mosquitos or bug situation was bad. There was a questionable tick but didnt see much more than spiders and ants. The lake/beach area also 12 miles away was really nice. You could rent a paddle board, canoe or kayak for a reasonable fee. We will not be back because of the unkempt roads, no running water.(Hey if you want only port a potties ok but put enough to be sanitary for the 60 or so people you jam in on top of each other.) and no way to reach the outside world in an emergency.