swartswood state park

When you stay for the weekend at this state park, you get the best of both worlds- both camping and the beautiful beach. We love to take long walks throughout the campground. Great value for your money!

We spent visited and it was so tranquil and a great place to just walk by the water and sit and enjoy the scenery. It's a must see if in the area.

Just spent two days at site 41. Incredibly clean bathroom except for one morning when apparently someone used a shotgun to pass their stool. Showers are 1st class. Campsites are well-cared for and clean. Though fire rings need updating no real complains- worked fine. Beach was clean and wonderful. Rangers were friendly and helpful. We are definitely going again.

Went to the beach area on a weekday, was nice, not very crowded for such a hot day. Beach was real clean, however they need to put a little more effort in raking up weeds from the waters edge. Plenty of picnic tables, snack bar, restroom with showers and changing areas, and a couple of nice playgrounds. Only complaint, not enough lifeguards, they ended up closing down half the beach and packing us all into a very small swimming area.

The park is a wonderful place for a family reunion as there's a clean lake for swimming with lifeguards on duty, as well as a breezy pavillion with 2 grills for a BBQ. The park is very nice and the staff is friendly. We rented a yurt for 3 nights and due to the love of family and kindness of strangers, we (mercifully) didn't have to stay in it. The yurts are made of a plastic tarp and I wanted to cry when we began rolling up the outside shades and crickets and spiders ran out. The mildew smell was strong and we lamented not packing our own camping gear. Full disclosure - 2 boy scout leaders (with our party) stated that the yurt "wasn't that bad," which gave me a new respect for scouts. Also, a mama bear with 2 cubs was sighted during our visit, so you need to keep food in your car and make sure you don't smell like BBQ when you retire for the evening.

Went this past Memorial Day Weekend. Surprisingly tranquil. Maybe a few hundred people and the place can easily have hundreds more. Great little kayak/boat rental place, concession stand, bathhouse.

We camp here often throughout the year, winter too. We often come for hikes & swimming in the summer. The staff are great and take great care of the place. The camp spots are either in the open field areas, or the more private areas with enough trees & brush to separate spots so you don't feel like camping in a city of people. We live close by and it is still our favorite place for all around play. No matter what the season, there is always something to see and do here.

I searched for a last minute campground to take my two little boys. It was far enough away from NY that they had open sites. We were told we did not need a reservation, we could just come and pick out a camp site. We arrived at the campground and were able to find a nice spot. There was one staff member who got on our case all weekend, first he gave us a hard time about not parking in the proper spot when we checked in, then he took our stuff away when we left it outside because we didn't want to bring it into the bathroom. Finally he got on our case because we did not vacate the campsite at exactly 12N and threatened to charge us for another day even though the campground was pretty much empty. Having said that, I would much rather have an overzealous staff member riding us than have an "anything goes," out of control camping experience that we had last year at Kittatinny campground. Even though our "friend" might have been getting a kick out of harassing us, I was secretly smiling because he did seem to keep order and enforced the quiet hours very well. On another note, the lake was very nice. We rented a rowboat overnight and it was absolutely awesome to be able to take it out onto the beautiful lake at the break of dawn. There were a lot of people fishing but we didn't see anybody catching anything. The beach was clean and the sand well groomed. There was a nice concession stand with burger and such which is nice to know in case the bears got to our food. There were lots of warnings about keeping your food in the car in case of bears. We didn't see any bears :)

This is a place for all ages. I kayak here often, love the hikes, and the nice beach. Spend a morning or an entire afternoon. Admission charge from Memorial Day through Labor Day but it's nominal and covers everyone in the car.

Hard to find and traffic signals and signs for parking are like so many other parks in NJ just not there. You have to take navigation in your own hands and hope for the best. Once we found the main lake we thought that it was beautiful and we got some great fall (autumn) photos.

Went here for a day of fishing, swimming and picnicking. The lake is super clean to swim in. The sand is white and soft and you can see the bottom. No weeds or yucky lake smell. There were very few people here in the middle of the week. I am sure it gets crowded on the weekend. Plenty of shady picnic spots. We found one by the boat launch and fished and picnicked at our very secluded spot.Great place to take your kids. The lake does not get deep and there are 4 lifeguards. A playground and boating and fishing. Something for everyone.The facilities are super clean and the concession stand has decent food for a decent price. Big white sandy beach. Not a bit of trash. This is what a state park should be!

We love to go to Swartswood when it's not too busy. It's a very peaceful and quiet place to relax. We usually go after 3pm.

I am usually not a big fan of lake attractions given that it is usually dirty , unkept or too crowded.swartswood state park is however different than a lot of places i have been to. It is so scenic and about 40 minutes from I 80 to ge to. It is $ 5 per vehicle for the weekday and $10 per vehicle for the weekend. There is ample plus parking , and parking is not too far away from clubhouse / beach or lake which is nice if you have picnic baskets and beach toys to lug around.There are a few basketball courts , volleyball courts as well near the parking area. The clubhouse consists of the toilets which are kept clean and very nice facilities to shower and change.There is also a small snack bar with ice creams , hotdogs and snacks which is inexpensive and convenient.The lake itself is very large (you cant see the end of it) and teh mountains meet the lake which is very beautiful.The beach is clean and well kept with white sand (plenty of it) to play in and quite a enerous large area for many people to move around without feeling claustraphobic. Trees line the beach if you want to picnic under a tree while watching the kids play in the beach. there are plenty of picnic only areas with grills and you bring your own charcoals. Rangers are patrolling so everyone feels safe. Picnic areas are clean and well manicured.the lake itself is clean and calm, it is cordoned off for swimming and is not more than 3 feet for teh kids shallow area. there are 2 lifeguards at all times. very nice swimming experience and clear water abounds.A little walk away is a privately run boat house which rents , kayaks , paddle boats and other boats . Charges are somewhat high for boats i think it was $25 per hour , but the hour goes slowly and it is still very enjoyable.swartswood state park is well worth the entry fee and is a great day of fun and relaxation for everyone. You dont notice the crowds and it is a pleasant getaway.I highly recommend it .It is a NJ state park and well maintained.