Choosing the best kid-pleasing campground starts with understanding what keeps everyone around your campfire happy. While teens may enjoy high-energy fun — and require access to dependable wi-fi — younger campers may find joy in the simpler pleasures of feeding a family of ducks, or a splash pad to cool off in. New Jersey and the surrounding area offers a variety of camping experiences from rustic wilderness to beaches to amusement parks for camping families.
Ocean View Resort Campground
Ocean View, NJ
Open Mid- April through Mid-October, the 180-acre Ocean View Resort has enough adventure to keep kids occupied for an extended stay and enough convenience and amenities to keep parents from exhaustion. New Jersey’s largest privately owned campground has 1,173 sites available equipped with 20/30-amp electric service – many with 50-amp service — water, sewer, and cable TV as well as a fire ring and picnic table. With many large sites, Ocean View is also an ideal location for family reunions and extended family camping trips.
Once your RV is set up, kids can enjoy a new splash pad, huge swimming pool, stocked fishing pond, fresh water swimming and boating lake, three playgrounds, two game arcades, a miniature golf course, and ball fields. The property also includes a campground store as well as a café and lake-side pavilion for snacks and treats.
Ocean View Campground’s location midway between Atlantic City and Wildwood makes it perfect for day trips to some of the finest and safest beaches on the New Jersey shore. Also within a quick drive are golf courses, boating, kayaking, salt water fishing, crabbing, dolphin and whale watching, sightseeing cruises, water parks, The Cape May Zoo, The Cape May Point Lighthouse, Wildwood’s famous boardwalks.
Sea Pirate Campground
Long Beach Island, N.J.
If beach proximity with on-site recreation is important for your family camping, Sea Pirate Campground is located on the Jersey Shore, just a few minutes from Long Beach Island.
Family owned since 1970, Sea Pirate Campground offers camping in cottages and cabins along with well-appointed RV, trailer and tent sites. Along with organized activities such as movies, bingo, arts and crafts, ceramics, and hayrides, Sea Pirate Campground offers crabbing, fresh and saltwater fishing. An arcade, swimming pool, playground, volleyball court and horse shoe ring will keep all the kids in the camper happy.
Ever growing, expanding and improving, the campground now has over 250 campsites to accommodate campers large and small, and 37 rental units. The rental units range from basic and rustic to stylish comfort.
Many safety-conscious parents will appreciate the quiet nature of the campground and rules that keep golf carts off trails after 8 p.m., while kids will enjoy an in-ground pool and ice cream from the on-property ice cream and snack shop. If your camping family includes a dog, Sea Pirate includes a dog park.
Sea Pirate Campground opens the last weekend in April.
Cedar Creek Campground
Bayville, New Jersey
With a variety of accommodations and amenities and plenty of wide-open spaces, Cedar Creek Campground, located in Bayville in Ocean County, is the ideal venue for family reunions or camping with extended family.
Cedar Creek Campground is the perfect family place to enjoy the beauty of Barnegat Bay, Cedar Creek, and the Pine Barrens. Enjoy the region’s outstanding woodlands, creeks and streams using the family-friendly canoe rental and canoe livery service which operates right out of the campground. Cedar Creek Canoe and Kayak Rentals offers a variety of trips for the novice through the experienced paddler, from a leisurely one-hour paddle to an extended half-day adventure.
Hikers and bikers in the family will enjoy campground access to the 16-mile historic Barnegat Branch Rail Trail. Kayak and canoe enthusiasts can paddle along the tea-colored Cedar Creek while stand-up paddle boarders try out their skills on scenic Barnegat Bay.
Recharge and relax back at the campsite’s family-friendly Olympic-sized pool while the youngest family members enjoy the Sun and Fun swim zone and double water slides. Playgrounds, basketball courts, and sand volleyball cater to kids of all ages – and when the weather doesn’t cooperate the lodge is well-stocked with a modern arcade and old-fashioned games. A café, Perky’s Pizza parlor and a full-service ice-cream shop offer a respite from campsite cookery.
Campsites suitable for couples in tents with water and electric, to premium sites with cable and 50-amp hook ups, showers and cable, as well as group camping and cabin rental, are available.
Cedar Creek is open year around for travel trailer and RV camping.
Allaire State Park
Howell, in Central New Jersey NJ
If your kid campers love trains, head to Allaire State Park, near Howell. Allaire State Park is beloved for the historic Pine Creek Railroad, which features a working antique steam train. The Pine Creek Railroad is an example of rail travel at the height of the steam era and little ones can enjoy riding on the narrow-gauge trains that are operated by the NJ Museum of Transportation. Trains run every 30 minutes.
Allaire State Park is also home to the historic iron-making Allaire Village. Once known as Howell Works, the exhibits include a general store, blacksmith shop, carpenter’s shop, manager’s house, foreman’s house and a church. Guides at the village are dressed in historic costumes of the 1880s and interpret the exhibits for visitors. One of the workers’ row house buildings is now the Visitor Center and Museum.
Once the history lesson is over, kids will enjoy hikes on the easy trails around the park and boating and fishing on the Manasquan Reservoir. The Manasquan River flows eastward through the park offering scenic and tranquil setting for canoeists. Canoe rentals are available nearby. While lacking the long list of amenities found at commercial campgrounds, Allaire State Park offers 45 tent and trailer sites, four yurts and six rustic cabins. The campground is pet-friendly.
Allaire State Park is so loved for its natural beauty that many couples choose it as a wedding venue. This beautiful historic site and family campground is an ideal quick, quiet getaway for the littlest campers and is open year around.
Knoebels and Lake Glory Campground
Central Pennsylvania
Travel a little farther afield for some high-octane family fun with a little camping on the side. Knoebels is an amusement park in Elysburg, Pa., with rides and entertainment for all ages and camping on property and nearby. With high-flying teen-pleasing, world-class wooden roller-coasters, kiddie rides, family rides, and an old-fashioned carousel, complete with brass ring to grab, Knoebels has a little something for every family member.
The park also includes a variety of pools for all ages, museums, exhibits, mini golf courses, and games of chance.
Unique in the age of three-figure entry fees, Knoebels is an admission-free, family-focused park that offers per-ride pricing as well as ride packages. And, when your days at the park are done, rest and recharge at one of the park’s two campgrounds.
Enjoy down time at Knoebels Park Campground. The family campground is tucked into a quiet forest setting just a few steps from the amusement park. The campsites include basic sites with water and electric hook ups for lights, as well as premium 50-amp sites. All sites include a fire ring and picnic table.
The campground includes a swimming pool, playground, basketball court, playground, laundry facilities and camp “trading post.”
Just a short drive or free shuttle bus ride away is Knoebels Lake Glory Campground. The amusement park’s second campground is set on a secluded lake in Catawissa, Pa., where children can enjoy watching the geese, swans and ducks. The campground features a mix of tent and RV sites and cabins set next to the lake. The campground amenities include a swimming pond, streams, play area, volleyball courts and baseball diamond, laundry facilities, camp office and store.
Knoebels is open seasonally, beginning in mid-April.
Create happy memories together exploring the best campgrounds for kids in and around New Jersey. Keep travels safe and friendly by having your existing RV serviced for the spring and summer season by the service professionals at Crossroads Trailer Sales in Newfield, N.J. If your RV needs have grown with your family, explore the new, and new-to-you family-friendly models available at Crossroads Trailer sales.
