Customer Rating: Summary: camping is fun! Comment: This book points out all the good and bad that goes along with numerous campsites in NJ. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get away from it all whether it means parking your car right next to your campsite, or hiking about if you are in need of more seclusion. Customer Rating: Summary: Really Nice Camp Guide Comment: The Best in Tent Camping: New Jersey is a really well-written and well-laid-out guide for lovers of the outdoors. It not only lists and describes the various campgrounds around the state (including maps of the campsites themselves), but it also includes checklists and tips that are very useful for the camping neophyte.
The only criticisms I have of the book is that it lacks photographs of the sites discussed (maps only), and, perhaps more importantly, has a rather cumbersome to use state campsites map. The map shows all the sites discussed in the book and has them indicated by number. To find out what the sites are, you have to flip back a page to find out the name. Unfortunately, page numbers are not provided on that page; instead, you have to then go to the index and look up the site by name and then flip to the section of the book where the site is discussed. It would be much more useful to provide page numbers on the map key and to provide the map number on the title page for each site discussed.
Minor points, I suppose, but no reason for things to be laid out that way. Still, I give it a strong recommendation. Customer Rating: Summary: Family Fun and Wilderness Adventures in New Jersey Comment: The Best in Tent Camping New Jersey is a thorough guide to non-RV camping in the Garden State. Like the other guides in the publishers Tent Camping series, it describes and rates 50 campgrounds, giving you both a handy summary of key information for each and an interesting narrative of background information.
Those of us who don't think of New Jersey as a nature-lovers destination will be pleasantly surprised to learn that the state has mountain wilderness, piney recreation areas, and even some quiet beaches. I was surprised to read that there is a bear overpopulation in New Jersey, and the book contains warnings for the campgrounds where this might be a problem.
Author Marie Javins writes with an appreciation of the environment and the state's history while at the same time recognizing that families might sometimes want urban touring or resort-style recreation. She explains which campgrounds offer a wilderness experience and which offer more hectic activities (or are convenient to theme parks). She also tells you where your dog is accepted - they are not allowed in state parks.
The book is easy to read and even has some enjoyable humor.
Although billed as a guide for "car campers" this book is also for people camping by canoe or bicycle. Hikers and RV campers might also find it helpful since few outdoor guidebooks for New Jersey are as comprehensive as this one.
From the northern reaches of Stokes State Forest to the Atlantic coastal islands, camping in New Jersey has never been better. The Best in Tent Camping: New Jersey will guide you to the quietest, most beautiful, most secure, and best managed campgrounds in the Garden State.
