Camping in New Jersey 2026: The Pine Barrens, Wharton, and What's Still Open in November

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, and it also contains 1.1 million acres of forest sitting directly on top of the largest freshwater aquifer on the East Coast. Both of those things are true at the same time, which is why camping in New Jersey confuses almost everyone who tries to plan a trip here.

The confusion is not about whether there is anywhere to camp. There is. It is about which campground is still open when you want to go. New Jersey's state campgrounds do not share a season. Some are open year round. Some lock the gate on October 31. Some stay open all year but close their cabins in October anyway. And the booking portal that governs all of them — camping.nj.gov — is not where most people look first, because most people search for a specific park and land on a page that doesn't mention reserving at all.

This is the New Jersey camping guide I wanted before I tried to book a late-fall weekend here. It covers the Pine Barrens, the state's 11-month booking window, the November open/closed split, real fees, the tick problem nobody mentions in autumn, and the gear that actually works when the temperature drops into the thirties.

Quick Answer: Camping in New Jersey in November

• Wharton State Forest — 122,880 acres (the state park system's largest single tract) and campsites open all year. Its campgrounds are Atsion Family Campground, Godfrey Bridge, Goshen Pond, Buttonwood Hill, Lower Forge, and Batona Camp. This is the Pine Barrens core and the single best November bet in the state.
• Bass River State Forest — New Jersey's first state forest (established 1905) and open year round for camping on Lake Absegami. Its shelters and cabins run April 1 to October 31, and the trailer sanitary station operates March 1 through November 30 — a useful early-winter tell.
• Stokes State Forest — 90 tent and trailer sites, with some camping areas available all year, plus nine enclosed lean-tos in the Shotwell area with wood stoves inside that are open year round. The lean-tos are the closest thing New Jersey has to a winter cabin you can book by the night.
• Cheesequake State Park — closed for the season after October 31. Both the campground and the group sites run April 1 to October 31. If you want Cheesequake in November, you are out of luck.
• The fee structure is two-tier. Family campsites are $20.00 per night for New Jersey residents and $25.00 per night for non-residents, plus a $5.00 non-refundable service fee per reservation on camping.nj.gov.
• Cabins everywhere are April 1 to October 31. Off-season, cabins book for a minimum of two and a maximum of fourteen consecutive nights; during the summer they run seven or fourteen nights only.
• Day-use entrance fees stop after Labor Day. At Atsion Recreation Area, entrance fees are only charged from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day — so November day use in the Pine Barrens is free.

If you only remember one thing: in New Jersey, the question is not "is there a campsite" — it is "is this campground open in the month I'm going, and does it book on camping.nj.gov or somewhere else." That same agency-by-agency split is what makes our state park camping guide and our fall camping gear checklist worth reading alongside this one.

How New Jersey's Camping System Actually Works

New Jersey runs one of the more centralized camping systems in the country — the Department of Environmental Protection's State Park Service operates the campgrounds, and nearly all of them book through a single portal at camping.nj.gov. That is the good news. The rules layered on top are where people get surprised.

The booking window is rolling and long. Reservations open up to 11 months in advance of your arrival date. For a state with a short fall season, that matters in a specific way: the November weekends in the Pine Barrens are not the ones that sell out a year ahead — the summer beach-adjacent sites are. Late-fall inventory in Wharton and Bass River tends to stay open much closer to the date.

Every reservation carries a $5.00 non-refundable service fee. That is per reservation, not per night. It is charged on booking, and it is charged again if you change the reservation before your check-in date. Make the reservation once, correctly.

Fees are resident and non-resident tiered. A standard family campsite runs $20.00 per night for New Jersey residents and $25.00 per night for non-residents. Cabins at Stokes run $55.00 per night for residents and $65.00 for non-residents, with the larger accessible cabins at $100.00 / $110.00 and the group cabin at $140.00 / $150.00. High Point's cabins run $75.00 / $85.00. If you are coming from out of state, budget the non-resident number — it is a real line item and it is not negotiable at the gate.

Pet-friendly sites cost extra. Pet-friendly campsites are available at Wharton's Atsion Family Campground, Godfrey Bridge, Goshen Pond, Buttonwood Hill, Lower Forge, and Batona Camp, plus a set of sites at other parks. There is an additional charge of $5.00 per night to use a pet-friendly site, and you need to be able to show current rabies vaccination documentation. Not every site in a campground is pet-designated — you are choosing a specific site, not a campground.

There is a hard annual cap. The total maximum stay for all New Jersey state camping facilities is 40 nights in a calendar year. This is not a per-park limit; it is a system-wide limit. For a weekend family camper it is irrelevant. For a snowbird trying to string together a season of cheap nights, it changes the plan.

Cancellation fees are heavier than the booking fee. The cancellation fee for campsites is $40.00 to $50.00, or two nights' stay, whichever is less, plus applicable fees. Group cabin cancellation fees run $175.00 to $185.00. And the sentence that matters most: if a cancellation is not made in advance, a refund will not be granted. A no-show is a total loss, not a partial one.

Nineteen state parks, forests, and recreation areas have camping facilities: Allaire, Bass River, Belleplain, Brendan T. Byrne, Cheesequake, High Point, Jenny Jump, Kittatinny Valley, Parvin, Round Valley, Spruce Run, Stephens, Stokes, Swartswood, Voorhees, Washington Crossing, Wawayanda, Wharton, and Worthington. Knowing that list exists is half the battle — most of them never appear in a national "best camping in New Jersey" listicle.

The November Problem: Half the State Closes on October 31

Here is the thing that trips up every out-of-state planner. New Jersey's camping season is not uniform, and the split does not follow geography in the way you would expect. It follows facility type.

Facility	Season in New Jersey	November status
Wharton State Forest campsites	Open all year	Open
Bass River camping	Open year round	Open
Bass River shelters & cabins	April 1 – October 31	Closed
Stokes campsites (some areas)	Available all year	Open
Stokes lean-tos (Shotwell, wood stove)	Open year round	Open
Stokes cabins (Lake Ocquittunk)	April 1 – October 31	Closed
Stokes group sites (Haskins)	April 15 – October 31	Closed
Wawayanda group sites	April 1 – October 31	Closed
Cheesequake campground & group sites	April 1 – October 31	Closed
High Point family sites & cabins	Book on camping.nj.gov	Check per site

The pattern to take away: tent and trailer sites in the big forests often run year round, while cabins, shelters, and group sites are April-to-October. That is the opposite of what most people assume. They assume the buildings stay open in winter and the tent sites close. In New Jersey it is the other way around — the cabins have plumbing, and the state winterizes the plumbing, not the dirt.

So a November New Jersey camping trip is a tent trip, and it is a trip to a forest rather than to a cabin. If you were planning a cabin weekend, your window closed on October 31 and reopens in April.

The other November fact people miss: day-use fees stop. Atsion Recreation Area in Wharton charges entrance fees only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Walk in on a November Saturday and there is no day-use fee at the gate. For a family that wants to hike the Pine Barrens and picnic without overnighting, November is the cheapest month of the year here.

Wharton State Forest: 122,880 Acres of Pine Barrens

Wharton State Forest is 122,880 acres — over 124,000 by the state's own count — making it the largest single tract of land in the New Jersey State Park System. It spreads across Burlington, Camden, and Atlantic counties, northeast of Hammonton, and it is the wild heart of the Pinelands National Reserve, the 1.1-million-acre forest that sits over the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer.

The landscape is not what people expect from the Garden State. Wharton is pitch pine and Atlantic white cedar, sand roads, and tea-colored cedar water — rivers stained the color of iced tea by tannins and iron, running over white sand. Four of them cross the forest: the Mullica, the Batsto, the Wading, and the Oswego. They carry canoes through miles of swamp forest with almost no development between the banks.

At the center is Batsto Village, a former bog-iron and glassmaking industrial center that operated from 1766 to 1867 and now stands as a preserved village inside the forest. It is the single best non-camping hour you can spend on a New Jersey trip, and it is walking distance from the water.

The camping in Wharton breaks into a front-country set and a backcountry set:

Front country (drive-in):

• Atsion Family Campground — about 50 tent and trailer sites with fire rings and picnic tables, on the northern end of the forest near the Atsion Recreation Area beach complex.
• Godfrey Bridge — around 34 sites, sized for smaller trailers, generally 21 feet or less. If you tow anything substantial, this is not the loop for you.
• Goshen Pond — a quieter primitive loop with its own character, popular with paddlers staging on the Mullica.

Wilderness (no vehicles):

• Lower Forge and Mullica River are true wilderness sites — access by hiking, canoeing, or horseback only, with no motor vehicles permitted. Buttonwood Hill and Lower Forge have no water on site. You carry in what you need.
• Batona Camp sits at the southern end of the Batona Trail on the Wharton side of the pines.

Call ahead about campfires. New Jersey's pine forests are fire-prone in exactly the way that matters — the Pinelands sit on sandy, fast-draining soils with a heavy litter layer, and the state adjusts fire rules by conditions rather than by a fixed seasonal calendar. The house rule for Wharton is that fires belong in the provided fire rings, and the practical rule is that you should call the forest office before you go and ask what the current restriction is. More on what to do when wood fires are banned below.

A live 2026 advisory worth knowing about: the Batsto River is currently closed to all paddlers from Hampton Furnace (mile 0) to Lower Forge (mile 4) because of obstructions in the river, while the state works to clear debris and restore access. If your November plan was a Batsto paddle-and-camp, that section is off the table right now. Check the forest's advisory page before you put in, and look at the Mullica or the Wading as alternates.

The Batona Trail and New Jersey's Four Backcountry Sites

The Batona Trail runs 53.5 miles through the New Jersey Pine Barrens, crossing Bass River, Wharton, and Brendan T. Byrne State Forests. It is the state's long trail, and it is walkable in sections by ordinary families — the terrain is flat sand, not mountains, and the difficulty is water and distance, not elevation.

Backcountry camping on and around the Batona is restricted to four designated sites: Buttonwood Hill, Lower Forge, Batona Camp, and Brendan T. Byrne Campground. Permits are required. There is no dispersed camping along the trail — you are not choosing a flat spot in the pines, you are booking one of four specific places.

Two of those sites, Buttonwood Hill and Lower Forge, have no water. In November that matters less than in July, because you are not sweating through a gallon a day. But it also matters more in one specific way: pumps and spigots at primitive sites get shut off as the season ends, so the site that had water in September may not have water now. Carry the capacity instead of planning around a tap.

The wilderness designation also means: no motor vehicles, no trailers, no rolling your cooler to the site. Access is by foot, canoe, or horseback. That is what makes a November night in the middle of Wharton feel nothing like camping in New Jersey as most people imagine it.

Bass River State Forest: The Year-Round Shore Option

Bass River State Forest, established in 1905, was New Jersey's first state forest, and it is still the easiest year-round camping in the southern half of the state. It sits on Lake Absegami in the coastal plain — close enough to the shore that you can do an off-season beach day and camp the same night.

The detail that makes Bass River the standout for late fall: camping is open year round. The shelters and cabins run April 1 through October 31, so November here means a tent, not a cabin — the same split as everywhere else in the state.

The trailer sanitary station operates March 1 through November 30. It is a small fact with real planning value: if you are in an RV and you want to dump tanks in New Jersey after Thanksgiving, you need to know which stations are still open, and the answer is "not as many as in October."

Bass River is also the northern terminus of the Batona Trail, so a car camp at Bass River plus a section hike south is one of the best-structured weekend trips in the state. You sleep in a real campground and walk into the backcountry without needing two vehicles.

North Jersey: Stokes, High Point, Wawayanda, and Bear Country

Everything changes when you cross into Sussex, Warren, and Passaic counties. The elevation climbs, the forest turns from pine to oak and maple, the frost comes earlier, and you enter New Jersey's black bear range.

Stokes State Forest is the best-equipped winter-adjacent camping in the state. Alongside its 90 tent and trailer sites — with some camping areas available all year — Stokes has nine enclosed lean-tos in the Shotwell camping area with fire rings, picnic tables, and a wood stove inside for heat. They are roughly 10 by 12 feet, sleep up to six people including children, and they are open year round at $35.00 per night for residents and $40.00 for non-residents. For a November or even December night in the New Jersey woods with a real heat source and a roof, this is the option that exists.

High Point State Park, at the state's highest point in the Kittatinny Ridge, has family sites and cabins booked on the same portal, with cabin rates around $75.00 / $85.00 per night and a group cabin at $175.00 / $185.00. Off-season, advance reservations run on a minimum two-night basis, with same-day booking allowed until 2 p.m. for a single night.

Wawayanda State Park and Jenny Jump State Forest round out the north, but note the season trap: Wawayanda's group sites are open April 1 to October 31 only, and there is no water at the campsites — you carry it from the main office building, and there are no shower facilities.

Bear country is real here. New Jersey's black bear population is concentrated in the northwest corner of the state, exactly where these parks are. That means a bear-resistant food container rather than a bag hung in a tree, no food in the tent ever, and a clean cooking area well away from where you sleep. If you are hiking in bear country in November, our bear safety camping guide covers the specifics, and the short version is that habit matters more than hardware.

November Is Tick Season in New Jersey — Do Not Skip This

This is the part of a New Jersey fall trip that national guides leave out, and it is the one that can actually hurt you.

New Jersey is consistently one of the highest-incidence states in the country for Lyme disease, and the reason is not only summer. The adult black-legged tick is active in the cool months — adult ticks quest on mild days from fall into winter, they are larger than nymphs but far more likely to be carrying the bacteria, and they are the ones people miss because nobody expects ticks in a fleece jacket and forty-degree air.

The practical consequences for a November trip:

• Treat your clothing, not just your skin. Permethrin-treated outer layers work while the clothing is on, and in fall you are wearing long sleeves and pants anyway, which means far more of your body can be covered by treatment rather than spray.
• Use a picaridin or DEET repellent on skin and reapply. OFF! Clean Feel Picaridin Insect Repellent ($11.99) for an aerosol picaridin formula, or Murphy's Naturals Mosquito & Tick Spray ($28.49) for a botanical spray when you want something gentler for kids.
• Do a full-body check at the car, before you drive home. Ticks on a fall trip tend to be attached at the waistband, behind the knee, and in the hairline.
• Carry a removal tool and use it properly. HomeSake Tick Remover Tool (3-Pack) ($14.39) — a fine-tipped tick remover pulls straight out without squeezing the body. Do not burn it off, do not smother it in petroleum jelly. Our bug protection guide for camping walks through the whole routine.
• Pine Barrens chiggers and no-see-ums are also still around on warm afternoons, and they are worse in the sandy, low, brushy terrain around the Mullica than on the ridges.

One more November risk in the Pine Barrens: sand roads plus darkness. The forest is a maze of unpaved roads that all look alike at night, and cell service is patchy. Do not plan your first arrival at a wilderness site for after sunset — get there in daylight, look at the water situation, and then settle in.

Campfires, Fire Rings, and What to Do When Wood Fires Are Banned

New Jersey's fire rules in the Pinelands shift with conditions rather than a fixed date. The default is that fires belong in the provided fire rings, and the state will impose broader restrictions when the woods are dry enough. That is not a technicality in a pitch pine forest — the Pinelands have a fire ecology for a reason, and a November dry spell after leaf fall is exactly when restrictions go up.

So the practical sequence is:

1. Call the forest office before your trip and ask what the current restriction is. Two minutes on the phone beats discovering the ban at the gate.
2. Assume open wood fires may be off. Bring a cooking system that does not depend on them.
3. Keep a propane fire pit in the truck. Outland Living Portable Propane Fire Pit ($142.64) — when wood and charcoal fires are banned, a gas fire pit with an on/off valve is usually the version that stays legal, and it gives you the evening fire without the spark risk. If you are looking for a fire workaround, read our guide to campfire cooking gear and recipes and the how to stay warm camping walkthrough.
4. Bring a real stove so dinner is never contingent. MSR PocketRocket 2 Ultralight Stove ($49.95) is a 2.6-ounce canister stove that boils water in about three and a half minutes; Jetboil Flash Personal Cooking System ($119.95) is the integrated option for people who want one pot and one system.
5. Never leave a fire, even a gas one, unattended. And pack out the ash situation as the park office tells you to.

Camping With Dogs in New Jersey

New Jersey is unusually good for dog campers, with one big asterisk that is about site selection, not parks.

Pet-friendly sites exist at specific sites inside specific campgrounds. At Wharton, that includes Atsion Family Campground, Godfrey Bridge, Goshen Pond, Buttonwood Hill, Lower Forge, and Batona Camp. You are booking a pet-designated site, which costs an additional $5.00 per night, and you need current rabies vaccination documentation with you — not a photo you think is somewhere on your phone.

The asterisk is the opposite of what people expect from a Northeast state: New Jersey is far more permissive about dogs on trails than New York or Pennsylvania. Leashed dogs are allowed on the large majority of state park trails here. That is a genuine contrast with the neighbors, and it is why a New Jersey weekend is often the better family trip for a household with a dog.

What to bring for a November dog trip:

• A harness, not a collar, for anything on a long line. Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness ($44.95) — a front-range style harness with a padded chest strap handles a dog that suddenly lunges at a squirrel in the pines.
• A cold-weather layer for short-coated dogs. Ruffwear Stumptown Insulated Dog Jacket ($55.99) — a quilted insulated jacket. November nights in the Pine Barrens drop into the thirties and a lab-cross is fine while a whippet is not.
• Paw protection for frost and frozen sand. Ruffwear Grip Trex Dog Boots ($49.99) — Vibram-soled dog boots. The Pine Barrens sand freezes hard overnight and the Wawayanda and High Point trails hold ice in November.
• A balm for cracked pads. Musher's Secret Paw Wax ($24.99) — Musher's Secret, applied before the hike rather than after.
• A collapsible bowl and water. Ruffwear Quencher Collapsible Bowl — $19.95. The trap at primitive sites is water: Lower Forge and Buttonwood Hill have no spigot, so carry for the dog too.
• A tick-specific plan for the dog. Dogs are tick magnets in the Pinelands, and the same fall adult-tick season bites them first. Our camping with dogs guide and dog hiking safety guide cover the routine in detail.

Kids, Cold, and the Realistic Family Trip

A November New Jersey camping weekend with kids works if you lower the ambition. The Pine Barrens in November are flat, sandy, and full of pine cones — which is a much better kid environment than a mountain trail, because there is nothing to fall off.

What actually makes it work:

• One loop, one night, short drive from the car. Atsion and Bass River are drive-in. Save Lower Forge for the trip the kids ask for.
• Keep them dry above all else. A wet kid at 38°F ends the trip. Columbia Youth Boys Watertight II Rain Jacket ($40.00) is a waterproof rain jacket cut for youth, and OAKI Kids Rain and Trail Suit ($32.99) is a one-piece waterproof rain and trail suit for the smaller set — the one-piece is worth it because it eliminates the gap at the waist.
• Give them their own light. Black Diamond Wiz Kid Headlamp ($24.95) — a 40-lumen kid-safe rechargeable headlamp that they can actually operate. A kid with their own headlamp is a kid who walks to the bathroom alone.
• Over-insulate their sleep system. Morrison Outdoors Big Mo 40 Kids Sleeping Bag ($79.95) is a 40°F-rated kids bag for ages two to four; TETON Sports Celsius Jr Kids Sleeping Bag ($49.99) is a 20°F junior bag that will keep a school-age kid warm on a night that dips below freezing. Kids sleep colder than adults and cannot articulate that they are cold at 2 a.m.
• Bring the wagon. Radio Flyer 3-in-1 EZ Fold Wagon with Canopy ($109.99) — a folding wagon with a canopy. On a drive-in site it carries gear, firewood, and eventually a tired child.
• Give them a chair with shade and a job. Kelsyus Youth Outdoor Canopy Chair ($37.99), and a headlamp-sized job like collecting kindling or checking the fire ring for the park.
• Plan daylight activities and an early dinner. Sunset in New Jersey in November is before 5 p.m. The Halloween camping guide and the Thanksgiving camping guide have more on running a cold-weather family trip.

What Just Changed for New Jersey Campers in 2026

Three live items worth checking before you book:

• The Batsto River paddling closure. The section from Hampton Furnace (mile 0) to Lower Forge (mile 4) is closed to all paddlers because of in-river obstructions while the state clears debris. Paddle plans on the Batsto should move to the Mullica, Wading, or Oswego.
• Pine Barrens wildfire season runs late. The state closes and reopens roads and adjusts fire restrictions based on conditions. Because so much of Wharton's access is on unpaved sand roads, a closure can cut off a site even when the campground itself is listed as open. Check road status the day you leave, not the week you booked.
• The season split is a facility-type split, not a park split. If your plan depends on a cabin, a shelter, or a group site anywhere in the state, October 31 is your deadline. The year-round inventory in New Jersey is tent and trailer sites in the big forests, plus Stokes' lean-tos.

The New Jersey Gear List

New Jersey in fall is not a deep-winter trip, but it is a wet-cold trip, and wet cold at 35°F with a breeze off the pines is more uncomfortable than dry cold at 20°F. The gear that matters here is rain protection, ground insulation, and light.

Shelter and sleep

• Coleman Skydome 4-Person Camping Tent with LED Lighting ($122.99) — a 4-person dome with integrated LED lighting and a full-coverage rainfly. Rain is the default New Jersey fall condition, not the exception.
• UNP 4-Person Cabin Tent with Top Rainfly ($115.99) — a 4-person cabin tent with a top rainfly; the near-vertical walls make a rainy day indoors far more bearable.
• EVER ADVANCED 6 Person Camping Tent ($169.99) — a blackout 6-person tent for families camping past sunrise; the blackout lining earns its keep when the sun comes up at 6:30 and nobody wants to be awake.
• OneTigris Bulwark All-Season Camping Tarp ($56.98) — an all-season camping tarp. Set it as a dining fly over the picnic table and the trip's entire failure mode goes away.
• Night Cat 2-Person Backpacking Tent ($53.99) — a 2-person lightweight backpacking tent for the Lower Forge or Batona Camp trip where you are carrying everything.
• TETON Sports Celsius XXL 0 Degree Sleeping Bag ($89.99) — a 0°F oversized sleeping bag; an overrated bag is the cheapest insurance against a 30°F night.
• TETON Sports Celsius Regular 0 Degree Sleeping Bag ($59.99) — the regular-width version of the same 0°F bag for adults of average build.
• Coleman Palmetto 40 Degree Cool-Weather Sleeping Bag ($44.99) — a 40°F cool-weather bag, which is the honest rating for a mild November night in the coastal plain.
• Klymit Insulated Static V Sleeping Pad ($94.99) — an insulated sleeping pad with an R-value that holds up on cold sand.
• Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Sleeping Pad ($54.95) — a closed-cell foam pad; the backup layer that never leaks, and the one that keeps its R-value under a leaking air pad.
• Litume Fleece Sleeping Bag Liner ($57.98) — a fleece sleeping bag liner. Adds meaningful warmth for the weight, and it is the single cheapest way to stretch a three-season bag into November.
• Coleman Trailhead II Large Folding Cot ($54.99) — a folding cot for adults who are done sleeping on the ground. In a drive-in loop at Atsion or Bass River, this is the comfort upgrade.

Clothing and layers

• Outdoor Research Men's Helium Rain Jacket ($159.00) — a lightweight waterproof rain shell that actually breathes; the foundational layer for a wet-cold trip.
• Columbia Men's Watertight II Rain Jacket ($60.00) — a value rain jacket that packs small enough to live in the daypack.
• Rab Men's Downpour Jacket ($125.00) — a lightweight waterproof hooded jacket for wet hiking on the Batona.
• Columbia Men's Powder Lite II Insulated Jacket ($94.91) — an insulated jacket for the standing-around-camp hours, which are most of them.
• Columbia Men's Steens Mountain 2.0 Full Zip Fleece ($34.99) — a full-zip fleece midlayer for mid-40s afternoons.
• Smartwool Unisex Thermal Merino Reversible Cuffed Beanie ($35.00) — a merino beanie; a hat does more for warmth than an extra layer on your torso.
• Smartwool Thermal Merino Reversible Neck Gaiter ($32.00) — a merino neck gaiter for the wind off the lake at Bass River.
• Carhartt Men's Waterproof Insulated Knit Cuff Glove ($32.99) — insulated waterproof gloves for the cold-morning fire and the cold-beer handoff.
• Darn Tough Vermont Men's Hiker Midweight Micro Crew ($27.95) — midweight merino hiking socks; the difference between a good day and a blister day.
• Smartwool Women's Intraknit Thermal Max Merino Base Layer ($139.00) — thermal merino base layer bottoms for sleeping and for cold morning hikes.

Footwear

• Merrell Men's Moab 3 Waterproof Hiking Shoe ($129.95) — a waterproof leather hiking shoe. The Pine Barrens are wet sand, not rock, and waterproofing is the whole point.
• KEEN Men's Targhee 3 Low Height Waterproof Hiking ($187.00) — a low waterproof hiking shoe with a grippier outsole for the northern ridges.
• Superfeet Hike Support Insoles ($59.95) — insoles with structured support; a long day on flat sand is a different fatigue than a mountain day.
• Yaktrax Pro Traction Cleats ($34.95) — traction cleats for the New Jersey ice that shows up in the shaded parts of Stokes and High Point before it shows up anywhere else.
• KEEN Kids Hightrail Waterproof Hiking Shoes ($74.95) — kids' waterproof hiking shoes, because wet feet end a family trip fastest.

Kitchen, water, and food

• Coleman Bottle Top Propane Camp Stove ($21.99) — a single-burner bottle-top propane stove; the simplest reliable hot water in the pines.
• Coleman Classic 1-Burner Butane Camp Stove with Carrying ($29.99) — a one-burner butane stove with a carry case, the car-camping option.
• Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet ($19.99) — a 10.25-inch cast iron skillet, for the campfire breakfast when wood fires are allowed.
• GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper Cookset ($159.95) — a nesting 4-person cook set; one bag, everything a family needs.
• THERMOS Stainless King Food Jar with Bowl ($30.50) — an insulated food jar; hot soup at a cold picnic table is an underrated November move.
• Mountain House Expedition Meal Assortment Bucket ($176.99) — a freeze-dried meal bucket for the backcountry night when you are not carrying a cooler.
• Coleman 5-Gallon Water Carrier ($13.99) — a 5-gallon water carrier for drive-in sites where a spigot may be shut off.
• Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System ($45.95) — a hollow-fiber water filter for the canoe-and-camp trip; the Pine Barrens rivers are freshwater but you should not drink them untreated.
• Nalgene BPA-Free Tritan Wide Mouth Water Bottle ($16.99) — a 32-ounce wide-mouth bottle; the utilitarian one you can fill from a standpipe.
• AeroPress Original Coffee Press ($39.95) — a manual coffee press. Because a cold morning deserves better than instant.

Light, power, and safety

• Black Diamond Spot 400 Headlamp ($39.95) — a 400-lumen waterproof headlamp; November nights in the pines are 14 hours long.
• Petzl ACTIK CORE Headlamp ($79.95) — a rechargeable 625-lumen headlamp with a red mode for camp.
• Black Diamond Moji Lantern ($24.95) — a compact dimmable lantern for the picnic table.
• Goal Zero Lighthouse Micro Flash Lantern ($29.95) — a USB-rechargeable collapsible lantern and phone charger.
• Anker SOLIX C300 Portable Power Station ($329.99) — a 288Wh power station; enough to run lights and charge phones for a family weekend.
• Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight/Watertight Medical Kit .7 ($44.95) — an ultralight waterproof medical kit for three people; the one item that should never stay home.
• Kidde Carbon Monoxide Detector ($23.97) — a battery carbon monoxide detector. It belongs on the trip where you might run a heater inside the tent.
• HotHands Hand Warmers Bulk Pack ($29.99) — air-activated hand warmers. Cheap, no charging, and they save a cold kid's evening.
• Fiskars X7 Small 14" Hatchet Axe with Sheath ($29.99) — a 14-inch hatchet for splitting downed firewood into kindling where wood fires are permitted.
• UCO Stormproof Match Kit with Waterproof Floating Case ($12.99) — a stormproof match kit in a waterproof floating case; the lighter in your pocket will fail in wet weather.
• Garmin inReach Mini 2 ($349.99) — a satellite communicator. Pine Barrens sand roads and cell coverage do not always coexist.
• SABRE Frontiersman MAX Bear Spray 7.9 oz ($39.99) — bear spray for the northwest corner of the state. Check carry rules before you fly with it.

Packs and moving gear

• Osprey Daylite Commuter Backpack ($65.00) — a 20-liter daypack, the right size for a Batona Trail section.
• Osprey Daylite Plus Commuter Backpack ($75.00) — the 20-liter commuter version with a laptop sleeve, if the same bag needs to do both jobs.
• WATERFLY 20L Packable Hiking Daypack ($25.98) — a packable 20-liter daypack that folds into its own pocket; a spare bag that lives in the truck.
• Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles ($49.95) — carbon fiber trekking poles; on flat sand trails, poles are about rhythm and load transfer, not balance.
• Earth Pak Waterproof Dry Bag ($34.31) — a roll-top waterproof dry bag for the canoe trip; the only way your sleeping bag survives a tipped canoe on the Mullica.

Where to Camp in New Jersey, Search by Search

Most people who land here typed something specific. Here is the short version for each:

• "camping in the pine barrens" → Wharton State Forest, open year round. Pick Atsion, Godfrey Bridge, or Goshen Pond for a drive-in site and Lower Forge or Buttonwood Hill for wilderness.
• "wharton state forest camping reservations" → camping.nj.gov, 11 months out, $5 service fee, $20/night resident and $25/night non-resident.
• "can you camp in the pine barrens" → Yes, and it is the best camping in the state in November, but only at designated sites. There is no free-for-all dispersed camping on state forest land here.
• "new jersey state parks camping" → Nineteen facilities have camping. Most close October 31 unless they are tent and trailer loops in the big forests.
• "camping in new jersey in november" → Wharton and Bass River are open; cabins, shelters, and group sites are closed until April; day-use fees are gone after Labor Day.
• "winter camping in nj" → Stokes' Shotwell lean-tos with wood stoves are open year round, and Wharton's campsites stay open all year at a lower elevation with less snow.
• "fall camping in nj" → Late October through mid-November is peak. Northern New Jersey colors first and the coastal plain — including the Pine Barrens — runs one to two weeks behind.
• "camping with dogs in new jersey" → Pet-designated sites at a $5/night surcharge with rabies paperwork, and the most dog-friendly trail policy in the Northeast.
• "cheesequake state park camping" → April 1 to October 31. It is closed in November.

New Jersey Camping FAQ

Is camping in New Jersey open in November?

Yes, at specific facilities. Wharton State Forest's campsites are open all year, Bass River is open year round, and Stokes has some campsites plus nine year-round lean-tos with wood stoves. What closes on October 31 are the cabins, shelters, and group sites statewide — including Stokes' cabins and Bass River's shelters — plus entire campgrounds like Cheesequake.

How do I reserve a New Jersey state park campsite?

Through camping.nj.gov, the state's reservation portal. Reservations open up to 11 months in advance, and every reservation carries a $5.00 non-refundable service fee. Create a My New Jersey account if you plan to camp here more than once — it keeps your details for repeat bookings.

What does it cost to camp in New Jersey?

A standard family campsite is $20.00 per night for New Jersey residents and $25.00 per night for non-residents, plus the $5.00 service fee per reservation. Pet-friendly sites add $5.00 per night. Cabins run roughly $55.00 to $110.00 per night depending on park and size, at resident and non-resident rates. Stokes' year-round lean-tos are $35.00 resident / $40.00 non-resident.

How far in advance can I book a New Jersey campsite?

Eleven months. The window rolls, so the day you want becomes bookable 11 months ahead of it. Late-fall inventory in the Pine Barrens typically stays available much closer to the date than summer beach-adjacent sites do.

Can I camp for free in New Jersey?

Not in the sense of dispersed camping on state land — backcountry camping is restricted to designated sites and requires a permit. What you can get for free is day use: entrance fees at places like Atsion Recreation Area are charged only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, so November day visits cost nothing at the gate.

Are there ticks in New Jersey in November?

Yes, and this is the risk people miss. New Jersey is one of the highest-incidence states for Lyme disease, and adult black-legged ticks are active in cool weather — they quest on mild fall and winter days. Treat your clothing, use repellent on skin, and do a full-body check at the car.

Can I bring my dog camping in New Jersey?

Yes, at pet-designated sites in campgrounds like Wharton's Atsion, Godfrey Bridge, Goshen Pond, Buttonwood Hill, Lower Forge, and Batona Camp. Expect a $5.00 per night charge and bring current rabies vaccination documentation. New Jersey also permits leashed dogs on the large majority of state park trails — among the most permissive rules in the Northeast.

Is there a limit on how many nights I can camp in New Jersey state parks?

Yes — a total maximum stay of 40 nights in a calendar year across all state camping facilities. It is a system-wide cap, not a per-park one.

What happens if I need to cancel a New Jersey campsite?

The campsite cancellation fee is $40.00 to $50.00, or two nights' stay, whichever is less, plus applicable fees. Group cabin cancellations run $175.00 to $185.00, and other overnight facilities carry a one-night cancellation fee if cancelled within seven days of arrival. If you do not cancel in advance, you get no refund at all.

The Bottom Line

New Jersey is the state where the camping plan succeeds or fails on one question: which facility are you booking, and is it open in the month you want. Wharton State Forest's 122,880 acres of Pine Barrens are open all year, Bass River is open year round on Lake Absegami, and Stokes' wood-stove lean-tos stay open through winter — while every cabin, shelter, and group site in the state shuts down on October 31.

Book on camping.nj.gov, budget the non-resident rate, bring the rabies paperwork for the dog, treat your clothes for the adult ticks that are still out there, and call the forest office about fire restrictions before you go. Then drive down a sand road into a pitch pine forest that most of the country does not believe exists in New Jersey.

For the rest of the season, pair this with our camping in November guide, the where to camp in October guide, the neighbors in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and the winter camping gear checklist for the trips that continue into December.

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TrailMapz is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices and season dates change — always confirm current fees and closures with New Jersey State Parks before you travel.