Timberland Lake Campground — Hotel in Jackson Township

The person that took our reservation was very pleasant. The campground has a sign on the main road which tells you to drive on a road that is marked with a weight limit. Unusual the campground would be placed on a road that would eliminate most 5th wheels and anything that has an engine from being able to use the road. We re-routed to stay off that road which added about 30 minutes to the trip and included a mile or two of a soft sand road and a very difficult sharp left turn into the campground driveway. The first thing we see on the property is the unkept mess at the dumpsters. Trash and broken items strewn about. On the way to the store we passed a small animal area which looked very run down and maybe a bit unsafe for the couple of animals that were in there. We stopped at the store to check in. The store was very stocked with all sorts of stuff. The person that checked us in was very friendly. We originally made reservations for 3 adults. We ended up with 4 adults. At check in we let them know about the change so they can adjust the fees. They orginally marked our reservation for 6 adults, which added to our fees, strange, but ok, it was corrected. The site almost flat but was without any shade, unfortunately it was 95 degrees all week. The utilities were good with no problems. There was couple of concrete covers in the ground in our site with metal loops sticking up that were tripping hazards. There was liquor bottle on one with electrical wires and an outlet on the ground. We didn't spend much time during the day at the campground. We came in late one evening and used the passcode to open the gate which we had trouble doing. We used the intercom to call the office to see what the issue was and a lady answered, who was at first pleasant, then was nasty. "Hello we are having trouble with the code. It does not seem to be working." "Are you checking in?" "No" "Then use the code to open the gate " " We have but it does not seem to work" "I will open the gate but you better have your pass on the mirror or we will charge you double" Click. We went to the pool. It was not the Olympic pool listed on the website but looked nice. We checked in and were told we will need to take our shirts off to get in the pool. We told the lady who had the same nasty tone as the intercom lady. We told her sunburns are an issue for a couple of usand we need to leave the cotton shirts on. She nastily said it is not her problem, the health dept made the rule. We counted 8 people in the pool with cotton shirts on plus an entire family with just regular street clothes on. She didnt care. We called the health dept to let know about the the policy 'enforcement'. The water had a weird texture to it. We walked around and noted how overgrown and rundown the grounds were. Many of the seasonals looked like they have not been occupied in a while. The bath house was not clean, we didn't want to touch any surface. Cross this one...

Pros then cons-

1. location is great. If you’re planning to go to Six Flags it’s not even five min up the road. You are also about an hour from New York or Philly.
2. If you enjoy being in the woods this is great. There are trees all around and that part is stunning.
3. The playground is quite large and there is and area to play basketball or volleyball on the “beach”
4. They have a beautiful pool area. 5)They camp store is well stocked. Cons-
5. Entrance to the grounds is extremely tight, Our experience was not very pleasant. When we first pulled in with our TT, the gate came down on the trailer. Once you are through, it’s another tight turn to get to the office. They have a nice stone structure in front and once turning you need to ensure you will not take out the gate. You have to be buzzed in or given a code, we ran into the issue of them changing the code almost daily without telling us. You have to hope, if coming in later, that someone answers the phone and buzzes you in.
6. One night as we were returning, there were several teenaged kids riding around on golf carts throwing firecrackers.
7. The playground is quite large it does not appear the entire area is kept in decent condition. They have a smaller area that has toddler houses, but it was so messy I was uncomfortable having my three year old play there.
8. They boast having a “beach” by their lake. The area is in desperate need of a good clean up. There are very old chairs situated on the area and some are very overgrown. There is also paddle boats that I assume you can rent but again are in need of some elbow grease.
9. You can rent golf carts if you would like. I appreciate this, but again some elbow grease goes a long way. All of the rentals appear run down and ours died before we made it back to our camper.
10. There appears to be a large number of seasonal or permanent campers. Some of these areas are very well kept others are not. Of note is one that is right by the office. Very run down and messy right in the front. Again giving off a vibe of extremely messy and trashy.
11. Each site is pretty tight. I loved the trees, but they are right up against each camper. We had to adjust a few times in order to get our slide out open. They are also very unlevel.
12. The roads are AWFUL. There are potholes at every turn. We understand that gravel can get expensive. We recently had to have our driveway redone and spent just over 2k to do it. But, when running a business that involves large vehicles/campers it is important to have a flat road free of deep potholes that can cause damage to customers campers.
13. While the store was well stocked, they also close down early. They appeared to stay open later on Friday evening, but the rest of the time they closed at...

We only stayed 2 nights as we were passing through New Jersey. The road coming to the place is narrow. Not sure how two RV's could pass each other. Thankfully we didn't encounter that. It's in a rural residential area. There's a mix of good and not-so-good here. First the good things: If you like quiet, peaceful, living among the tall pines, this is your place. But it's really dark here at night so bring your flashlight! The cable TV is good & the WiFi is great. Amenities at the office like the camp store, mini golf, and swimming pool looked awesome but we didn't use. Office staff are very nice. They gave us $20 off as first-time campers here. There is a security gate at the entrance; they give you a code. The not-so-good: the roads within the campground are all dirt/sand, nothing is paved. And they are bumpy, very narrow, with some tight turns and lots of trees to have to avoid. A lot of full-timers live here (but their sites are nicely kept) and have taken all the sites that back to trees or the lake. Our site (#52) was in the middle section and it was sloped, not level side to side, so it took some maneuvering to get our trailer level. The site was long enough for it (32 ft) but not for our tow vehicle. So we had to drag the heavy picnic table way out of the way to squeeze in the truck off the road. As for the hook-ups, the electric is still using old-time fuses rather than circuit breakers. It was a 30amp plug. The fuse blew while running the A/C and trying to cook dinner. It was after office hours (though they do note on the map that you could leave a message for emergency). The site next to us was empty so my husband just used that fuse to get us up and running. But to make sure this fuse didn't blow we didn't use the A/C. We reported it the next day at the office. The water was good with decent pressure. The sewer hook-up was a mess. There was a plastic pipe sticking up from the ground, then the sewer connection part was totally loose and separate; nothing to hold it in place. It just balanced on top. I suppose someone had broken it off at some point but it was difficult to get it to stay over the pipe. And the connection location was too far forward; had to stretch my hose to the limit. No real access to the lake from our area. The few docks we saw were cordoned off by the full-timers parked by it. The ones that were not blocked off were in totally disrepair. And last, the trash/dumpster area is at the very front just as you turn in. It was unsightly with trash all over the ground and bins overflowing. A fence to at least hide it would be nice. Overall, I liked the quiet and trees but the maneuvering difficulty within the campground was a...