Nothing like camping overnight in rustic county parks with outdoor recreation. Nice to know that Mahwah offers such a place -- an easy drive from most anywhere in Northern NJ. If you have youngsters and want to get their camping feet wet just a little bit -- this is a great place for a first experience.
Ok -- so Glen Gray 'aint Yellowstone or some equally impressive National Park -- but what it lacks in "gee whiz" visual appeal is more than made up for by its convenience, cleanliness, affordability and variety of hiking and camping experience.
GGC is -- first and foremost -- a boy scout oriented facility -- so it is set up like one -- with a trading post -- full time "Camp Master" -- and circular camp sites with wooden tent floors -- organized for a larger pack or troop. Each site has a fire pit, dining area (including one with a roof in the event of inclement weather) and a basic -- gender neutral latrine for washing your mess kit and such.
No showers -- but hey -- who needs showers when you can go off the grid with a lake and canoes -- right?
And this 'aint tailgating folks -- so you need to park your car at the lot near the entrance -- and be prepared to hump your gear to a campsite which -- depending on where you choose to stay -- could be a couple of miles away.
But fear not. For a nominal fee -- the Camp Master or one of his minions will drive you and your coolers to and from the site -- no worries. ;)
I enjoyed the weekend I spent here with Junior and his scouting mates. We humped in and back with our packs -- fished (one of our group landed a large mouth bass -- but its a catch and release lake - bummer) feasted on MRE's, sardines, franks & beans and s'mores -- and had a blast fending off the bear and raccoons that dropped in to pay a visit.
GGC also offers cabins and lean-to's -- so you can regulate exactly how much nature you want in your camping experience -- including what sort of weather you want to endure -- since they are open all year 'round.
Top Tip: Glen Gray only allows overnight camping by prior reservation and access comes with a variety of restrictions -- including no pets, bicycles, booze and so forth. (see: http://glengray.org/faqs.html ). read more