Swartswood Lake State Park is always a relaxing place to walk, sit or just roam around the trails…read more Today, was overcast and misty and still had a relaxing time.

This state park holds a very special place in my heart, as most of my childhood summers were spent…read morehere. I still revisit it now, and it's like a beautiful time capsule for me. There are so many activities that you can do here: camping, fishing, ice fishing, picnicking, swimming, birding, boating, canoeing, biking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and my favorite, hiking. The four main trails are: Duck Pond Trail, Spring Lake Trail, Bear Claw Trail, and the Grist Mill Trail. Know Before You Go: There are entrance fees charged per vehicle.(Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day) Weekdays: $5.00 for NJ resident/ $10 (non-resident) Weekends: $10.00 for NJ resident/$20 (non-resident) There are plenty of secluded picnic tables and areas for grilling. And if you're like me and don't want to bother with grilling, food concessions are available during the summer months. Also, there are shower facilities by the main restrooms to rinse off after swimming in the lake. Go and enjoy this beautiful park that was New Jersey's first state park. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Great hiking there as usual. Took short hikes up to the Appalachian Trail…read more Saw some trail magic, so added to it for through hikers.

SHOTWELL -- I camped at a lean-to at Showell camp grounds. The shelter was great, had plenty of…read morespace for my queen sized bed and my double seater folding chair. I used my small portable generator for power/lights. Wood purchased at the ranger station seemed to burn better than any wood I found around the campsite so I used purchased wood to start camp fires then used wood found around camp. What I didn't like was the shower facilities are at another camp entirely, Lake Ocquittunk, and that kind of sucked especially when I went looking for it at night. It's about 6 miles away but it gave me the opportunity to pull off at the gas station for some snacks, still it's location is super inconvenient. This place is great for winter camping and although the shelters are relatively close to each other, it's so cold that nobody is out bothering anyone. I plan on visiting this place in the summer to see how the tent sites are but I'll bring a portable toilet since the bath rooms are relatively far from the better more private camp sites.

Easy access to Delaware River - bring your tube. Cleanest bathrooms/showers. Great itinerary of…read moreactivities and events. A very engaged & friendly camping crowd. Crazy how there are lots of campers but still so quiet at night. Pool, kayak/canoe rental, camp store. Only drawback was the shower/bath house closest to our campsite was closed for cleaning from 7-8am every day (which is prime wake & potty time).

It's a very nice campground. Beautiful area. Staff is very friendly. IMO - They need to…read moreupgrade the electric. We prefer 50 amp. Also- THIS is IMPORTANT- DO NOT leave anything of value outside. It WILL be stollen. Evidently this campground has a reputation of theft. Wish I knew that before I stayed. I get it- the risk you take sorta thing. Will still camp here, we just won't leave anything of value out or over night. Sadly - No campers code of ethics here! Edit: I've been made aware that the campground takes theft very seriously. You should make them aware when something goes missing from your campsite. They log missing items & take steps in trying to find the culprits. Thank you Driftstone for addressing my concerns. Outstanding!

This was my 2nd stay at Dingmans. We really liked it the last time and were excited to come back…read more First, they have an excellent camp store, entrance area, beautiful well spaced sites, river access and great services, like wood delivery. All those parts are fantastic. There were a few cons. First, there is zero cell service at the park. While I know it's not the camps fault, it makes communication very difficult. The store/check-in area has Wi-Fi, which causes people to congregate there and clutters up parking, etc. A few nicely placed Wi-Fi zones would really help. There are not enough bathrooms overall. The folks in the no amenity areas need a functioning bathroom. The Porta pot is disgustingly, so they walk to one of two bathrooms. There are 3 toilets and 2 shower stalls, per gender. This is not enough for all the use. This was evidenced this weekend as the septic system filled and the restrooms was closed from 6pm Sat until 7:30 am Sun when the poop truck showed up to pump it out. There is nothing like being woken up by a poop truck running next to your tent listening to the pump. Everyone has the right to use the bathroom however there are just not enough functioning facilities for the value of people in all the sites Finally, my group of 8 reserved 3 sites. We all spaced out and followed quiet times. The 2 groups surrounding us must have had 6 tents each on their sites. Their kids were unattended, playing badminton on the roads, football in the sites and up till 11:30 yelling and blasting music. No one cared. Because there's no Internet, it was like a parade of cars and headlights throughout the night for people to go up to the office. You knew this was happening because they had to yell at everyone in their site that they were going up to the office to use the Internet quick. I think this camp has so much potential. If they could just make some of these improvements, it would be a complete game changer. Beautiful camp, excellent hosts around the office, but just needs a little more attention in some of the more 'necessary' areas.

Love Dingmans campground! We start our camping season there and usually it's also our final one for…read morethe season. Sites are not too close, lots of woods, easy walk to the river, VERY clean bathrooms and showers, lots of great waterfall hikes and a really well equipped camp store/front office. If you like to go into towns, Milford is very close and we found a wonderful cafe - Cafe Wren with Indoor and outdoor seating with WiFi. Thanks for a wonderful experience!!

Thought I'd add a more current review. Came with my two intermediate level fisherman sons, one of…read morewhom really wanted to catch a trout in August, which is not prime trout season and thus difficult in public access areas now. I set them at a limit of 2 fish each because we wouldn't be able to eat or afford too many. They used lures, their own poles, and we were able to catch 4 one-pounders within an hour. The kids at first were targeting certain fish but then realized they weren't quite skilled enough to do that. There is a smaller, colder easier trout pond; a large less easy trout pond, and a bass pond on the side. Previous reviews complain about a mean lady, but the cashier/weigher was nice. We came on a Thursday, and it was not crowded. Fish looked healthy. Saw mainly rainbow trout, but some palominos and some sparse brook trout. I believe the bass pond had small mouth bass. Supplies for fishing were there for rental/purchase including worms, lures, rods. They have free buckets to use, but it would have been better also if they had some nets and pliers too as various others borrowed ours during our visit. You bag and pay for fish, and then can pay $1 for cleaning and 0.50 for fileting (or maybe the other way around).

We had a great time and caught many fish! The guy who cleaned and fileted the for us was so nice…read moreand they cooked up great!

Park is well kept and clean. The fields and landscape is nice . The playgrounds well kept and safe…read moreequipment and roomy. Beautiful duck pond near the picnic grounds . Plenty of parking.

Last Saturday I came to High Point State Park with a hiking group called hiking with friends. It…read morewas my first time visiting High Point State Park. It was $10 for admission into the state park. Luckily the $10 wasn't per person but per vehicle. We hiked the Monument trail to the High Point Monument which is a 220-foot stone obelisk honoring New Jersey's war veterans, located at the state's highest elevation within High Point State Park. The monument trail was moderately challenging in terms of the path being a rocky trail and plenty of mini hills. During the hike it wasn't very scenic until we made it to the area of the monument. If you don't want to hike to the monument, there is also an option to drive your car up to the monument. Once we made it to High Point monument we decided to climb the 200 foot obelisk. I believe it is 291 steps to the top. So it was a bit exhausting to do after a hike but a few of us decided to take the challenge. There were some nice views from the top as well. Overall, I definitely recommend high point State Park. I also love that there are public restrooms and no porta potties. One thing to note is that the park enforces a carry-in, carry-out policy, meaning visitors must take all their trash and recycling with them when they leave. I did not see any trash cans at the state park so the policy makes sense.

I love camping. For me it's a time of reflection and relaxation. I spent Labor Day weekend kicked…read moreback with a good book in hand and my thoughts for a few days. Past two years have been tremulous for me but with God back in my life I wish I had put God back in my life sooner because I'd be living a very different life. But I've come to accept the life God has given me as of today. As I sat in the woods this weekend I reflected on my life's path. I've been back in church, have become well known in my community and going to Bible school. I'll likely be married in the near future and everything happening in my life isn't what I would have envisioned five years ago. If someone told me I'd be sitting in the woods camping and studying for Bible school, I'd tell them you're nuts. But I'm on a path of four years of Bible school with a God loving woman in my life. As the wind blows and the leaves flap in the wind all I can reflect on is my favorite Bible verse of all time, Proverbs 19:21. I planned and wanted one life but God is directing me in the direction of a different life I never expected. With my weekend winding down I'm sitting at camp catching a whiff of stench in the air as the wind blows the horrid smell of the restroom nearby. I wish this camp location had better restrooms and running water. With the hectic holiday weekend and too many humans camping, the restrooms got horribly smelly. Many campsite are nice but some are horribly steep. Having been to this location several times I don't love it but I certainly don't hate it. All I want is more camping and Gods will be done in my life. To God be all the glory!

Definitely a great spot for a solo walk, group walk, or to bring the pups for a walk or swim. I was…read moresolo this time, but i will definitely be back with my pups. Well kept trails for sure, and there is a picnic spot as well. A great chill space.

What a wonderful outdoor space for everyone! Both…read morechallenging and easy walking/hiking as well as dedicated horseback riding and Viking trails. It also has wonderful picnic areas, wading and swimming for families and pets. My favorite park in the area and I Enjoy walking the trails at least weekly.