Nothing beats Laurel Acres Park. Great place to bring the family, friends and pets. They have 2 dog…read moreparks (large and small). A couple of nice playgrounds for little ones. Clean bathrooms. Great venue for concerts and sports events. Whether it's baseball or soccer, it's a great park for sports and watching. The path is around 1 mile which is great for walkers or joggers. During the pandemic, this park took the place of some gyms and exercise facilities. Entry on 2 sides---Church Rd and also Union Mill Road. Plenty of parking. Nice gazebos and picnic areas for parties and events. Enjoy the great view over the lake as you walk around. Sometimes they also have remote controlled boat races on the lake. Catch some nature while you're relaxing.

NIce decent park. I like the lakes and all. We had fun walking around the lake and people watching…read morewith their awesome pets and all. Families have get togetheree. s, and there are baseball fields and other sports here. I like it, it is a good park.

I already wrote a review on this place, but I forgot to add something they do travel camp and it's…read morereally fun, but I will say the workers there do you have a bit of an attitude I understand working with a bunch of teenagers can be stressful. I go to this camp but when they're stressed out, they take it out on the kids there and they curse a lot. They're not the nicest people sometimes they're nice sometimes they're not if you make one mistake they'll yell at you in scold you I love the travel camp program, but I think the workers there need to be a bit nicer

Great amount of activities available. Miniature golf course and lake was a great hit.read more

Like my father who attended in 1953 , I loved it! The only bad memory I have is being chased by the…read moreJersey Devil on my way to the head at 3:00 in the morning.

My son goes to the sleepaway camp for a couple weeks each summer. We live in Brooklyn and it's…read moreperfect for us! 2 hours away from home. Not a "resort" type camp w/ jet skiing etc but just a sweet traditional sleepaway camp. Archery, boating, horseback riding, campfires, etc. Classic fun! No electronics allowed. The family camp weekends in Labor Day & Memorial Day weekend are fun for our family. The girl's camp across the lake is great too!

I've been coming here for years and if you've been here there shouldn't be any negative reviews…read more.. There are many trails to walk as well as area's to drive your 4x4... They also have area's to camp with an RV and tents... If your not into roughing it they also rent cabins... State residents get a discount on their stay... I've never camped here but it is an option for us... But I'd like to get a portable generator before we stay here for a few days... There's plenty to do and learn here... I'm sure we'll be back here for a few day trips before we finally come and stay for a few days...

Wharton State Forest is a great area of the Garden State to get away from the suburban sprawl and…read morethe densely packed roads and houses. It's located in the Pine Barrens, a roughly one million acre forest stretching across the southern portion of the state. There's a lot of history and natural beauty in the Pine Barrens. Tons of ponds and lakes and sandy trails to get lost on whether on foot or on bike or ATV. My son and I occasionally camp at Goshen Pond. It's a very primitive campground with nothing but a pit toilet and a hand pump for water in terms of amenities. Each campsite has a fire ring with cooking grate. Campsite #3 is nice as it's on the edge and somewhat secluded from the rest of the campground, but #13 and #14 are probably the best in terms of proximity to and view of the pond. We normally camp in the spring or fall. Would not recommend the summer as ticks and chiggers can be out of control.

What is up with the music here? It reminds me of a scene from The Wire (the season where they focus…read moreon the teachers) where one of the teachers talks about turning up the heat in the classroom because it keeps the kids tired and groggy. That's honestly what I think they're doing with the music here. They're trying to sedate us. Don't get me wrong. I love some good '90s/early-2000s R&B. But when I'm splashing around in a wave pool with my five-year-old, I'm not sure I need to hear: Sparkle - "Be Careful" Brian McKnight - "Anytime" Brian McKnight - "Back at One" 112 - "Cupid" Joe - "I Wanna Know" Boyz II Men - "A Song for Mama" Like, I love the sappy, nostalgic stuff from the BET Best of Planet Groove album as much as the next person but maybe not while I'm standing waist-deep in a wave pool trying to prevent my five-year-old from wandering into the deep end. At one point I genuinely thought: Are you trying to put me to sleep, or are you trying to make me reflect on my first girlfriend? Because it was working. I'm standing there thinking about how we used to eat at the Kmart Cafe before the Birds game on a Sunday afternoon in ninth grade. Ahh, life was simpler then. Now I'm trying to explain to my kid that he cannot go any farther into the wave pool because he doesn't know how to swim. Does he understand? No. Does Brian McKnight understand what I'm going through? Apparently not because he's serenading me like I'm sitting alone in my bedroom staring at an old photo album. I'm just asking for a little more BPM. I'm not saying turn the place into Disney Jr. radio but maybe we can at least move the R&B selection from "Anytime" to something with a little more bop. Give me "Honey". Give me "I Get Lonely". Give me early 90s Janet. Give me literally anything that makes me feel like I'm at a water park instead of recovering from a breakup in 2002. The music selection is so bizarre and noticeable that it actually became one of the defining parts of my experience. At some point I started wondering if I needed to be evaluated for some sort of condition. The fact that I'm writing this review probably means I do. As for the rides: my five-year-old absolutely loves them. He'll pretty much go on anything except the two rides tucked into the corner of the park. One lifts you way up into the air for a nice view of the park and the other spins you around real fast. Everything else is extremely tame. My eight-year-old daughter will do everything and is gradually getting bored with a decent chunk of the ride section of the park. She absolutely loves the rock-climbing wall and rope course, though, and would probably spend the entire day going back and forth between those two if I let her. She also loves the entire water park. One big tip is if you're local, keep an eye out for the Black Friday season-pass sale. They usually have a fantastic deal and if you're planning on going at least twice over the course of the year, I'd strongly recommend just buying the season pass when it goes on sale over the holiday. I believe it's around $80 per person for the season pass, give or take $10. I honestly don't remember the exact price. Friends of mine who went recently said they paid around $50 per person for a single day. I do not think it's worth it at that price. Overall the kids love it, there's plenty to do, and the water park is adequate for kids. Just be prepared for the possibility that you'll spend your afternoon fighting the waves while Brian McKnight emotionally transports you back to a relationship you haven't thought about in 20 years.

THE GOOD ----------------…read more+ LOTS of super fun construction-themed rides and cool machinary activities (e.g., excavator operation, crane operation, driving tractors, etc.) for all ages that you just don't find at other amusement parks. + Very manageable layout and park size for kids. Not a huge park at all. A lot of the rides/activities are next to each other. + Water park is surprisingly huge and spacious with 3 pool areas, including a giant water slide, lazy river ANDDD an impressive wave pool that is loadddds of fun. ++++ Life-jackets are provided for free to kids. ++++ PLENTTTTY of adirondack chairs are available for park-goers to sit on and move around freely. + Multiple areas to buy food with typical amusement park pricing. ++++ Food sold includes burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, cheese pizza, chicken sammies, giant pretzels, chicken tenders, quesadillas, nuggets, deliccccious soft serve ice cream and much more. ++++ Souvenir Cup purchases come with free soft drink refills on the day of purchase. $15.49 for a souvenir cup, while individual soft drink purchases cost around $4.50 (as of June 2026). + Multiple covered picnic tents to provide relief from the sun. + Big private parking lot has plenty of spaces. + Private parties can be booked here. THE NOT SO GOOD ----------------------------- - Activities, such as driving or operating heavy machinary, can feel repetitious when jumping from ride to ride. - Admission tickets are pricey at approximately $50 a pop. - Only open until 6 PM daily, but the water park does open at 10 AM, with the ride park opening at 12 PM. Wish they were open a bit later. MIXED THOUGHTS ---------------------------- = Nada. RANDOM OBSERVATIONS -------------------------------------- = Visited on a scorching Sunday in early June and it was busy, but not overly so. No waits for any rides/activities. Plenty of space and seats in the water park and dining pavilions. Definitely could get busier during the summer when school is out, but early June was perfect. CONCLUSION -------------------- = Loved that the park wasn't overly crowded. The water park was surprisingly large and fun. The rides park was fun, but the construction-themed rides/activities definitely felt repetitious after a few. The price of admission could be a littttle more affordable as well.

Beautiful Park! Well maintained and has lots of wildlife everywhere! My boyfriend and I went for a…read morerun here through the forest and it was a lovely trail!

Cute park I've been twice…read more Its clean and tranquil. Attended a music fest recently. Park was crowded and everything was nice

We decided to go because I found the summer deal on Groupon. We went on a Friday there were quite a…read morefew camp groups as well as families, but not overly crowded. The space was pretty clean and well kept for what it is. The wave pool is basically a regular sized motel swimming pool with weak waves lasting for about a few minutes at a time. The lazy river spans the perimeter of the facility indoor. The lifeguards are friendly and patient with the kids. I do feel like the deal price should be regular price. Because at a fraction of the size of six flags water park, I feel like asking for the same entrance fee is crazy. All in all it was decent if you need to get out the house and cool off.

Everything was amazing. We went on the lazy river. We went on everything. My concern was the purple…read moretube. They were scratch marks everywhere and they have to lift you up manually and and the staff worker fell, but everything was all right until we got a churro and it says comes with chocolate and caramel dip and we didn't get Jack that's why I gave this place one star and shout out to Sarah

I take my 2 y. o. granddaughter nearly every week. There are so many wonderful things to explore…read moreand learn from. They have a walking path through the woods with a natural playground and sandbox, a bird house building to watch and interactive displays, a mini zoo inside a house with small animals and activities including a treehouse. They also have weekly activities and seasonal events for elementary school kids. My granddaughter calls Briar Bush "The Animal House" and loves to put a donation in the collection box before we leave.

They were so friendly and it was a great little center to see the local wildlife and learn. We…read moredidn't get to do the whole path with a stroller but it was nice and shaded on the trail so even on a hot day it felt cooler.

Our daughter has made remarkable progress in a short time, thanks to the well-structured program…read moreand the caring, dedicated coaches. The front desk team is always friendly, flexible, and incredibly helpful when it comes to scheduling make-up classes. A special shoutout to coaches Maribel and CJ --they've been exceptionally professional, patient, friendly and consistently encouraging. Their clear instruction and positive energy have truly boosted our daughter's confidence and swimming skills. I also highly recommend the Summer Clinic Program--the daily evaluations really accelerated her growth and gave us great insight into her progress. It's a safe, supportive, and fun place for any child to learn to swim.I highly recommend it to other parents!

The instructors are generally good and our kids have learned a ton - which is the point of lessons…read more However, they are constantly rotating or changing instructors which has been challenging for our youngest. Her current instructor is beyond amazing though. Our biggest problem with Bear Paddle is the facility. It feels disgusting. I understand the locker room will be wet, but the floor always looks dirty too, and it doesn't feel just wet, but slimy. It smells like strongly of urine half the time, and sometimes feces. Which leads me to believe they don't clean well enough and they likely need their drains cleaned. The floors in the changing rooms have gunk buildup. The walls are filthy. They need a professional cleaning service to clean multiple times a week, the floors need an acid wash and to be disinfected everyday. The walls need to be cleaned. I don't want to sound harsh or nit picky, I just don't think it's asking too much for cleanliness to be a high priority in a facility where kids and families change and expose their bodies to water, floors, benches, etc. Particularly for what they charge, considering they don't offer more flexible payment setup options. I don't want to keep my bank info on file, and the fees for cards are obnoxious---the tuition never seems to stay the same month over month either. Again, really do love most of the staff and instructors--and I love how far our kids have come by going here. But I'm to the point where we are probably going to have to switch schools, because I can't risk my young ones by exposing them to whatever is going on with that locker room.

So well run. Get there at your slotted time and then do all the things to get ready to have a fun…read moreday - pick up lunch, get wetsuits if it is cold, listen to the safety instructions. Feel free to bring your own lunch - we ordered from them and wish we had brought our own. Make sure you tuck your toes under the seat in front of you because otherwise you will pop out. Our picture at the end only had 3 people because one had popped out into the river. This was on the 6 hour tour. The guides were nice but in an emergency, which we had where two boats emptied their passengers, it was a little hairy. All in all a great day on the river. Super fun!

I have booked with White Water Challengers before and was excited to return because of the great…read moreexperiences I have had in the past. Unfortunately, our recent trip with a group of six was extremely frustrating due to the organization and scheduling. Our original time slot was changed because there were not enough groups, which we understood. However, our new 10:20 time slot was expanded to accommodate additional groups, and we were then required to wait an extended period for a very large group that arrived late. As a result, we did not begin rafting until after 12:15, and the safety review had to be rushed because of the delay. Throughout the trip, our group was repeatedly forced to stop and wait for the late group, who frequently fell out of their raft and struggled to follow the safety instructions. I estimate we spent close to an hour collectively waiting along the river. Even the group scheduled after ours eventually passed us, and we did not return to the bus until shortly after 5:00. I want to emphasize that Olivia, Bailey, Kristen, and Sid were excellent guides and did their best under difficult circumstances. My frustration is entirely with the organization and scheduling of the trip. Additionally, while this was outside of anyone's control, we paid for Class II and III rapids, but the river flow that day was approximately 820 CFS, making the experience much closer to Class I and II. I hope you will take this feedback seriously, as this experience was significantly different from the positive experiences that led me to book with White Water Challengers again.