Swartswood State Park — Attraction in Stillwater Township

Nightmare at Swartswood State Park

My recent camping experience at Swartswood State Park, slated for relaxation and communing with nature, turned into a harrowing ordeal. Initially, everything seemed promising as we set up camp on 9/7/2023. However, as the night unfolded, it spiraled into chaos.

Around 11 pm, a group of about 20 people descended upon a neighboring spot, speaking in a different language. They appeared to be conducting some sort of event, complete with an impromptu valet service for the influx of cars. At midnight, the forest transformed into a makeshift concert venue, with blaring music disturbing the peace.

Attempts to seek help from the park office were futile. Despite calling twice, the staff downplayed the situation, deeming it non-emergency. A subsequent call to a seemingly disinterested man only worsened matters. Even after my plea, they insisted on 'trying to sleep' rather than addressing the disruptive situation.

Attempting to reason with the intruders was equally futile. A self-appointed guard prevented me from entering the forest where the revelry was unfolding. Calls to the park office yielded no resolution; they knew of the issue but took minimal action.

Only after an hour and intervention from the Trenton, NJ chief and two state troopers did the disruptors get evicted. Morning inquiries revealed that such incidents were apparently common, perpetrated by locals who often engaged in such disruptive activities.

The whole ordeal left our camping experience tainted and unsettling. It's disheartening that such incidents can occur, and the response from the park management was far from satisfactory. For those seeking a peaceful camping retreat, Swartswood State Park might not be the haven you envision. Our camping spot was number 22, and after this nightmare, we promptly abandoned our two-night plan, leaving with a sense of disappointment and concern for the safety of...

Clean, well maintained, family friendly. Originally booked CS43 but once there it was easy to see that the campsites were private enough and because of COVID, I believe they were closing out every other campsite.

We called the main office to ask for a less remote site and they easily moved us to CS34 which is wooded but still close to the bathrooms. It was a nice campsite.

Next time we stay I think we'll try a campsite in the open area, CS30 - CS33. The open area looks very nice and it's even closer to the bathroom. Lots of space to run if you have kids.

CS22 and CS23 are a great compromise of privacy with equal distance to bathroom or lake.

The most beautiful site IMO is CS65, with CS64-53 all looking like great choices. Private, dry, and 65 is right next to the lake which is really beautiful.

CS34-CS50 are all good choices as well, just didn't seem as desirable to me as they were the furthest away from everything. If you want the least possible car traffic, chose something on this path. Although car traffic during covid is minimal anyway as they have half of their camp sites closed off /non-bookable.

Overall this is a wonderful place to camp. We'll be...

Was very impressed with this park when we went for a 4 day camping trip. The park is very easy to navigate, even though our site was at the far end of the facility, the bathrooms were still within a 10 minute walking distance. When the kids couldn't wait for the walk, it was only a few minutes drive and there were a lot of parking spaces. Very convenient. The bathrooms were always well maintained and kept clean by the staff. The sites themselves were very well maintained, a decent size and properly spaced from neighbors. During the day, staff would drive past multiple times a day to check on the sites and were super friendly and happy to help if you had questions. The swimming beach was clean and fairly large. I just wish were was more shoreline fishing locations for people. The docks are small and were being utilized by boaters so you can't really fish off them and the shoreline was tree covered so not many places to fish if you don't have a boat to use. Overall, we were very happy with the park and will be definitely using it again...