Campground recommendations in/near NJ?

[ChrisinNJ]

We want to do a lot of weekend trips, may be a few 3-4 day weekends. We live in central jersey/ jersey shore area. Any campground recommendations that are not too far away? (thinking 2-4 hour drive).

All it seems most of the campgrounds in the shore area require 1 week reservations in season. Which is unfortunate as we enjoyed our weekend in Cape May and it was only a 2 hour drive which is ideal. We like to fish and kayak, and the kids of course love to swim and play on the playground. We are not set up to tow a car, so looking for destination campgrounds to go relax and hang out at in NJ, NY, PA or CT area. Any thoughts?

We would like to try Knobels, maybe Hershey, a friend recommended KOA in Newburgh NY. I just want to GO!!!

 

[Ds4angels]

Knobels is great because you're right there by the park, but there's only electric hookup you have to fill your tank when you check in. Hershey Meadows buses you to the park , bit I've heard you don't want to be at he back of the campground because a freight train runs through at night.
Jelly stone in Quarryville is nice as well. There's a nice waterpark there and lots of activities for the kids

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Knobels is great because you're right there by the park, but there's only electric hookup you have to fill your tank when you check in. Hershey Meadows buses you to the park , bit I've heard you don't want to be at he back of the campground because a freight train runs through at night.
Jelly stone in Quarryville is nice as well. There's a nice waterpark there and lots of activities for the kids

I think Knobels has a second campground with full hookups. It is a bit further, but I think they provide buses.

That Jelly Stone park looks nice, and there is another one in Elmer NJ as well.

 

[gritzel4]

We also live in Central NJ.

The campground that we use when we go to Knoebles is Splash Magic in Danville, PA. It is an easy 20 minute ride to Knoebles. Here is the link:
http://www.riverandfun.com/

 

[SunshineTK]

We love staying at the Beachcomber or Holly Shores near Cape May/Wildwood. You might be able to book a shorter stay with less notice. I've been able to book a site for 3-4 nights with 2 weeks notice. It helps them fill gaps between reservations.

Jellystone in Quarryville is nice but is overrun with skunks. Everyone we spoke to had stories about skunks surrounding tents and campers. Our popup was surrounded (around and under) without leaving our trash outside. It was pretty scary and the kids don't want to return.

Hershey Highmeadow is a great campground! Everytime I book a site, they give me an exact site number so I know if its by the train. I'm pretty sure you can still hear the train from all the sites though. It doesn't take long to get used to though.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

We love staying at the Beachcomber or Holly Shores near Cape May/Wildwood. You might be able to book a shorter stay with less notice. I've been able to book a site for 3-4 nights with 2 weeks notice. It helps them fill gaps between reservations.

Jellystone in Quarryville is nice but is overrun with skunks. Everyone we spoke to had stories about skunks surrounding tents and campers. Our popup was surrounded (around and under) without leaving our trash outside. It was pretty scary and the kids don't want to return.

Hershey Highmeadow is a great campground! Everytime I book a site, they give me an exact site number so I know if its by the train. I'm pretty sure you can still hear the train from all the sites though. It doesn't take long to get used to though.

Thanks for the info. We are kind of spur of the moment people, so I would definitely call to see if they had open spots. I will check out Holly Shores.

Good to know about the skunks!!! My dog has been skunked enough that just hearing that is enough to keep me away!

I want to go to Hershey, but I thought I heard it is hard to get into? I will have to call them and see what we can book... If I can get my hubby to sit, look at a calendar and decide on dates.

 

[amylevan]

In Pa, I can recommend Lake Raystown Resort - lake for fishing & swimming, a small waterpark.

Knoebels owns 2 campgrounds - 1 attached to the park and 1 a bit farther away with bus transportation. The 1 attached to the park does not have hook ups, but their other one (Lake Glory) has full hook ups. Both can be hard to get reservations, but if you call you might get lucky.

There are several in the poconos that have lots to do on site: Mountain Vista is the one we're familiar with. They have TONS of stuff to do.

 

[ctpooh]

We just stayed at Allaire State Park in NJ, it was a 20 minute ride to sixflags. No hook ups though but it was $22. Very nice and handled our Travel Trailer well. If you want one with hook ups that is $27 a night there is Turkey Swamp and it is about 15 minutes to six flags. Both very nice and peaceful.

 

[phillymummer]

I think Knobels has a second campground with full hookups. It is a bit further, but I think they provide buses.

That Jelly Stone park looks nice, and there is another one in Elmer NJ as well.

Parvin State Park is in Elmer. It is nice- you can swim, rent canoes, hike, fish, etc. There are no electric hook-ups, though.

 

[phnguyk]

Hospitality Creek in south Jersey, not deep south but about an hour south of Toms River. Really nice nice, kinda pricey, but a lot to do.

 

[loislane]

We stayed at Hershey Highmeadow last summer and it was good. You can definitely hear the train - some places louder than others - but with the AC on, it wasn't really noticeable at night. During the day, there is enough other activity and noise you don't really notice it. Overall the campground was really nice, well maintained and clean. We liked that we also got bonus hours in Hershey Park - the night we arrived, we got to go into the park for a few hours in the evening for no extra charge and we got to enter the park earlier in the day, before the general public. The whole park wasn't open, but we were able to ride several things with hardly any wait (I think the two oldest kids rode Skyrush like three times in a row) and we were well positioned when the rest of the park opened to get things done.

Haven't been to Knoebel's, but it's on our "to do" list.