Stokes State Forest

Just spent a weekend camping here and i left, well a happy camper!
Our group reserved Ste 20 in Lake Ockuittunk weeks in advanced through Reserve America. By the way i highly recommend using that site, it gives a descriptions of each campground and availability dates.
We first had to go to the main entrance of Stokes and check in. The woman behind the desk was very sweet and helpful. Gave us great directions to our camp site.
PRO TIP: The office does sell firewood for 7 dollars but as you drive to your campsite, some of the locals have firewood outside their house for 5 dollars, using the honor system. This comes in handy when the office closes at 4pm.
When we arrived we were happy to see that we had privacy and our campsite had more then enough room. Each site comes with a picnic table and fire ring.
There is a bathroom within walking distance, its a pit toilet, and it was foul. There are bathrooms located just at the entrance of the camp site, about a 2 min drive. Those bathrooms have showers also, and are more up to date.
Our site was close to the blue mountain trail. Its about 1.4 mile and has pretty scenery. There is no end view there, at the end of the hike you end up on a road with a deserted barn.
Other hikes you would have to drive to, but the drive is short less then a mile.
There are quiet hours from 10pm — 8am. And everyone in the area respects it. People did have there fires going past 10pm but no one was being loud. Park rangers are constantly driving around the area to monitor things. Alcohol is not allowed because it is a state forest. I am not saying if we brought any or did not.
Besides tent camping, they have cabins for rent, lean to’s and rv camping.

Excellent time.
1) Went back to hike Sunrise Mountain to Culver Fire Tower.
2) Sunrise Mountain has excellent views.
3) Culver Fire Tower is one of the best firetower in NJ. Equal to Catfish Firetower, which is also in the Delaware Water Gap.
4) Lots of parking in Sunrise Mountain parking lot.

Great clean place. Hiked the blue mountain trail and silver mine trail. Was very peaceful. Campsites along the streams are a campers paradise. Just make sure you check yourself for ticks

This is my kind of roughing it. We stayed a few nights at lean-​to site #28 — the site is:
— Semi-​private: there are nearby sites, but they can’t see you and you can’t see them.
— Rustic: the site is located on gravel and has the typical «amenities» (fire ring with grill and a table)
— There’s a bathroom located nearby (about 100 yards away). The bathroom was heated, clean, and nicer than the majority of campsite bathrooms that I have been to.
— The campsite prohibits alcohol (I cannot confirm or deny if our beverages contained alcohol). If you are discreet about it, you won’t have any issues.
— The lean to is a no frills cabin with a wood burning stove inside (there was even a lock on the door). We had 3 guys and could have fit a 4^th (I don’t know how they allow up to 6 people). Be sure to bring a sleeping pad or air mattress.
— We hiked on Tibbs Trail near the lake (its a short linear trail, not a loop).
— Reservation for a lean to is $ 35/​night (NJ resident) or $ 40/​night (non-​NJ resident) on

Stokes state forest is one of the most beautiful places I have EVER seen, and I’ve been around, kiddo! I can’t remember when the first time was that I came here, certainly my dad drove through the park with us in the late 1960’s, around the time the Tocks Island Dam was planned to be built. (Look it up, it is an interesting piece of history.
, the lake that the dam would have created would have been about 25 miles long and would definitely have affected this landscape). I like to come here on weekdays and in the off-​season, when i often get the whole park to myself. I enjoy winter camping in the closed lean-to’s. They are equipped with woodburning stoves so you can keep warm. THERE ARE BEARS HERE so you must behave with respect, and follow the long list of rules and tips provided by the forest service! These rules were created to protect both humans and bears!
All the trails are different, with different scenery and different levels of walking ease. If you love nature, botany, biology, geology, trees, rare wildflowers, streams, this place is for you! There is also an artesian spring where many locals line up with jugs to collect drinking water. Be aware that hunting goes on here, so you ought to call the office because I can’t find any dates online when hunting season actually is. Be safe and wear red!

My wife and I camped here serveral times many years ago. Finally came back with kids and forget how beautiful this park is. This time we stayed at Cabin#2 on Lake Ocquittuck, hard to beat the morning view sunrise over lake. Had great time fishing, biking, hiking. Cabin had everything we needed, woodburning stove, wood chairs, electric, refrig, toilet, sink, showers up road… only issue is the bunk beds are not that comfortable so suggest bringing a blow up mattress or pad. When you are at this park it is hard to believe you are in JERSEY! btw, lookout for the Bears!

Came here for camping last summer in august.
It was a decent place. I had a great time. The facilities was in really good condition and this location was around really great attractions within 15 miles.
I would love to go back in the summer again!

I mean, this is pretty awesome. I went for hiking purposes, but this forest has it all: camping, hiking, snow shoeing, cross country skiing are here along with if you happen to have a horse, you can bring ‘em along as well. The forest is massive with lakes, streams, and the Appalachian trail of course.
The hike I did was not my favorite. I find that I like climbing rocks not walking on them, and this trail was suuuper rocky. Just a heads up: since people ride horses on the trails, there are huge horse dumps everywhere; be alert or you’ll def step in that crap as my fiancée can attest, which was clearly the highlight of the day.
$ 20 for non nj residents and $ 10 for nj residents for day use which is a bit steep but whatevs, it goes to keeping NJ green, I’m all about it. Definitely another great nature spot in Jerz.

First time I was here in 2001 and I loved it.
This time I was very disappointed. Roads were in disrepair, bathrooms needed some cleaning and toilet paper. It looked like their sited needed some repair.

We had campsite 108 at Shotwell Campground. It was a beautiful, very private site, surrounded by forest and close to the flush-​toilet bathroom. There were no showers, but we did use the Stokes Group Campground showers which is just a 5 minute drive, and also swam in the Delaware River every day. Shotwell is a very quiet, beautiful campground. We didn’t have any problem with bears, and the campground actually provides a food locker which is nice. Firewood from the camp office is $ 7, but there are places nearby that sell it for cheaper. We were able to do some biking on the country roads in the area, hiking in Stokes and High Point, as well as lots of swimming. There are a few ice cream shops, lots of diners and roadside fruit and veggie stands. We did most of our grocery shopping at the Walmart in Port Jervis. Only complaints are:
1. Sound of the highway can be heard every so often when a motorcycle or very loud truck goes by.
2. The water spickets in the campground weren’t working when we were there (July 4^th weekend) due to a broken water pipe, so we had to wash dishes in the bathroom, and fetch water from the «depot» which is close to the entry to Shotwell campground. If you camp here, be sure to bring containers for water so that you can have a sufficient amount at your site for cooking, etc.

I came here camping/​hiking a random weekend in March and loved it. Since it was early in the season the campsites were relatively open, and the ability to reserve online is very convenient.
When I called the office to say I’d be missing my first night, they actually moved my reservation by a day so that I wouldn’t have to leave until the evening on my second day! The staff here is always very friendly and knowledgeable too.
We ended up staying at Lake Ocquittunk Site 7, which was right along the lake with a short walk to the bathroom, and close to some trails. A warning though is that some of the trails have been changed around since the last time my map (NYNJ Trail Conference) was made and it got a bit confusing — stick to the major ones and you’ll be fine. If you have a chance to hike to the appalachian trail from there you’ll see some gorgeous views too!
Overall had a great experience here!

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.
I went camping. And this isn’t the first time I’ve ever gone camping, before, either. So there.
Alright, so I’m not the most avid camper — but I do have hiking shoes and a sleeping bag. This particular camp site happens to be my favorite (of the two I’ve been to) because I like the grounds, they’re fairly well kept, the park rangers aren’t all up in your business, and if you’re up for it, there are plenty of places to go hiking, wandering, splashing around.
One thing I’ve noticed is, there can be some weird people at the different sites. I’m sure they say the same thing about us, but every time I’ve been here there’s either some weird religious group chanting or some «unsavory» characters. This weekend cars kept flying up and down the road playing «La Cucaraca» on their car horn. It was strange.

Camped at site #1 (per reviewer David’s recommendation) and it did not disappoint! Lovely woods on one side, felt quite secluded. Bathrooms were indeed clean, although we were flummoxed by the absence of a camp sink for washing dishes (ranger advised to use bathroom sink or the outdoor water pump, which seemed counterintuitive).
We drove to the day area at the lake for a hike. It looked great! Nice swimming area, playground, covered picnic pavilion and ample clean bathrooms. We did the easy Lackner trail (2 miles each way), which was amazingly pretty poison-​ivy free around the path — big bonus since I am highly allergic — and had a nice sandstone outcropping just off the trail.
Would definitely come back and bring the kids next time!

This was one of the best kept, cleanest tent campgrounds I have been to in none tri-​state area. My family enjoyed site 1, which was close to restrooms, but totally secluded. Our friends were on site 3, making for an easy connection and shared meals and fire. We hiked the Sunrise Mountain trail and around one of several lakes. All 8 of us (kids ages 11 to 14) had a great time.

Lots nice short hikes — long ones also.
I haven’t camped there but I checked out the cabins on my last trip to the park. They looked pretty cool.

Stokes goes down as one of my favorite, easy-​to-​do car camping places. I’ve been going here a few times a year for a couple years now, and it’s always been an adventure – in the best way possible. We generally come as a group, minimum of 10 people staying at the 30 person group sites.
The rangers are generally very hands off and unintrusive (unless you are an idiot and attracting attention to yourselves), and the sites are pretty well maintained. The bathrooms and showers are surprisingly clean as well. The only reason I cannot give this five stars is because you aren’t really in the wilderness. The noise of rt.206 near by at night can detract from the «wilderness» aspect of it all, but all in all a great place to go.

I’ve been coming to stokes about twice a year for the past 4 years. This place has always been pretty cool, you can hike through the woods, fish, and i think even swim at the lake.
We normally stay at groups sites and just get a bunch of people together and go. Your not allowed to bring any alchohol into the campsite, not saying whether or not we have, but your not suppose to.
Probably the best memory i have of this place was when a bunch of us rented group site C which is in a row with A-​D the people for site A and B didnt show, in site D was the national guard. Well it started rainning and just never stopped for the whole damn weekend! Eventually in the middle of the night we heard a lot of hustle and bustle outside so we went out to look. Apparently the national guard had packed up and was moving out! At that point we figured we were probably screwed but we stayed anyway.
Normally the ranger will check on you every now and then. Never gave us a problem usally very friendly. If you were thinking of camping this place it worth it. Pretty cheap too imo.

A very WONDERFUL place to go! Check out the pics I posted… We had a blast!