Brendan T. Byrne State Forest — Hotel in Woodland Township

This campsite was a step above primitive camping. I booked us a campsite for 3 nights, and we couldn't stay beyond the first night. I was fooled by the positive reviews and the enticing low cost. You enter the campground on an unmarked dirt road, no gate, no apparent security, it seems like anyone could come and go at anytime. I was told when I booked that no one would be at the front office, so I was told to go directly to my campsite and call, and someone would come out with permit tags. Upon arrival, I called, and no one picked up, so I left a voice message saying we had arrived. There was no call back, so I tried again a few hours later, and still no luck. It was safe to assume that even if we had issues, no one would be listening. At some point, my husband saw a woman drive up, clip a sheet of paper with a permit number to a post at the head of our campsite, and drove off. Didn't offer any campground information, or even a hello. I guess this is the meaning of "contactless". The campsite itself seemed ok enough, besides a severely bent-out-of-shape fire ring, so we moved in, hoping for the best. The real issue was with the campgrounds itself though. I had asked the phone rep when I booked whether or not the facilities were open, I should have asked whether or not they were usable. Of the two available bath houses, the one we were near had no hot water since June. Also, the women's restroom had very poor lighting, just a single CFL light bulb plugged into a nearby outlet and clipped onto a broken flourescent fixture to light the entire bathroom. So we tried the other bathhouse. The men's room was locked, and the women's room was entirely flooded with about an inch of standing water. The online map also said that there were laundry facilities at the bath houses, we never found them. My daughter loved the playground, the one highlight of the grounds. The campsite was also overrun with flies and daddy long legs, we discovered when the sun went down that the rotting picnic table was infested with wood roaches. When maintenance came around to take care of the full dumpster of trash near the bathhouse the next day, rather than emptying it, they tamped the trash down with construction equipment to make room for more. Who knows how long the trash has been rotting there, but that explains the abundance of flies. When I woke up in the morning, I sat with my coffee and watched flies battle for real estate on my legs. At this point, I was done enduring this. We had been to several campgrounds this summer, but this was by far the most unkempt, and well beyond our comfort zones....

I reserved Shelter #1 for two nights. The details say that the site accommodates six people, but sleeps four. I assumed that the remaining two people could sleep in a tent. That seemed like a reasonable assumption for a campground.

The registration process states that two tents are permitted. The confirmation email said the same. See screenshots attached.

On the second day a park ranger showed up stating that tents were not allowed at shelter sites. He was unable to show us where this rule could be found, other than on a wrinkled piece of paper that he produced from his vehicle. (The paper was actually a script for how to confront campers). I showed him the printed park rules that Megan provided me when we arrived. They made no mention of this new rule. He required us to take down our tents and recommended that we pay for additional tent camping sites. The ranger seemed like he wanted to be flexible, but that his manager wouldn't allow him.

We were told that we could sleep under the stars, or under a canopy, or under a tarp, but not in a tent - unless we wanted to pay more money.

Considering the misleading information on their website and confirmation emails, and their inability to show me where the "no tent" rule was publicly stated, I expected them to make some sort of accommodation or flexibility for us. They did not.

Best case scenario, the registration process is unclear and misleading. Worst case scenario this was an attempt to squeeze more money out of us. In either event we will not be back to Brendan Byrne State Park. We would never have made these reservations if this secret rule was...

This visit: February 18th to 20th, 2022

Sarah Rutherford Dwight invited Kit and Me to spend the weekend Sheltering at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest.

Sarah arrived Friday evening to spend 3 night's for President's Day Weekend...

We arrived shortly after noon for 2 nights...

This short respite from our normal busy week was in Shelter #1, it's what I would describe as a Rustic Cabin with a wood burning stove, two bunk beds and no electricity or water..

There is a Bath House approximately 150+ yards walk with Men's and Women's Bathrooms and Shower's.

We picked up the 3 Sub Special from the Sub Doctors in Tom's River for Lunch and Dinner on Saturday and we prepared Eggs for Breakfast and Hamburgers with Hot Dogs for Lunch today.

As the day went on, I asked the Girl's if they wanted Pizza for Dinner.

We were going to prepare a repeat of the Burgers and Dog's...

I told them that there was a place 10 minutes away and I would take the drive.

Sarah in an attempt to sabotage the plan change, asked will they deliver???

So I called and after asking a few questions, they would deliver!!!

Dinner was the Combo Dinner of a Large Plain Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Wings and a 2 Liter Bottle of Pepsi for a total of$26.45..

Requested it for a delivery between 18:00 and 18:30 and it was.

The Pizza was Delicious and the Wings hit the spot.

The restaurant was Romanza Pizza & Pasta, 38 NJ 72 in...