This is a friendly and clean state park campground where you can choose your own environmental experience. Camping with kids and enjoy interacting with other camping families? Then the 100 loop with large playground (lots of sites with electric hookups, though not a lot of shade) is for you!…Interested in a less social scene, then the 200 loop (has electric hookups) or the 300 loop (no hookups) might be for you…we stayed at campsite 217 (level site with 3 shade trees and just 2 sites away from potable water), which had a shared lawn space with the inner loop sites. It had a lot of joyful kid activity on the weekend, but quieted down like a library on the Monday night we stayed over. The bathhouse in the 200 loop with bathrooms and showers are up-to-date and SUPER CLEAN. (Note: No dishwashing station in this loop, so bring your own system. Also, the camp store is closed on Monday and Tuesdays even in July.) It cannot be overstated that the sunsets over Lake Ontario from the “Sun Lawn” (at the very back of the 100 loop) are absolutely spectacular and every clear night you will see an exodus of campers headed there. No bells and whistles here, but a lot of friendliness and the simplicity is well done. (Note of gratitude: Our rental pop-up had severely under-inflated and worn/cracked tires. The staff at reception told us we could stop at the park’s maintenance garage for compressor air on our way out. The man who gave us air helped us back in, pumped the air in himself, noted the cracks in our tires and told us if we had any problems headed out to our camper drop off (20 minutes away) that we should call him and he would come out to help. THANK YOU!)

Great arrival experience—the office has their act together—but registration closes at 4pm. This was our second visit to the sleepy NJ park and campground and our first time renting a shelter along with a campsite to accommodate different levels of camping comfort. The shelter has two sets of bunk beds. Combining campsite 54 with the adjacent Shelter C gave us the opportunity to spread out and have a great area for all of our gear including our badminton set. Shelter C is surrounded by many lovely trees so there is lots of shade. Campsite 54 has no trees and is nestled up against a thicket of bushes which is home to many birds, rabbits, and deer—a great site if you bring your own shade.

This is a relatively rustic campground though it does offer a dishwashing station. The bathrooms need to be renovated—busted up fixtures—and are not well-tended/cleaned, though the staff is very friendly. (It didn’t seem like they were equipped with good cleaning equipment/products to achieve good results.)

Prices above are for NJ residents—$48 for shelter, $20 for campsite.

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!