Reviews of Cheesequake State Park (Park)

Eric Karstensen

It's a great place to enjoy the day and walk around with the kids. They had a back to school bash. Lots of fun and stuff to see. They handed out small amount of inexpensive school supplies to the kids.

Tiffany Senkow

Well mapped and generally well kept trails. Free (not in summer months) to visit. Friendly park rangers. Did not agree with their "no trash cans even in bathroom" stance, but understand their reasoning for it. Spacious enough that we passed others and saw people in the parking lot but didn't feel crowded at all. Would recommend for nice walk.

Tony Gallego

Awesome place for many activities. We use it for our family reunion picnics. A very clean place. We were using the Ferry Point site, a beautiful area has grills and a bathroom. My only complaint is the steps from the parking area to the grounds. A very steep and neglected set of stairs. Not ideal for lugging things up and down. I also feel it's dangerous for the elderly and handicapped. I feel a ramp should be build and remove the steps. Besides that, it's an really great place.

Jerry Pinaha

I'm 64 my wife is 60 but we still enjoy hiking the parks trails. Last week it was the 3 mile trail but today we settled on a 1 mile hike. We drove around the park and discovered the beachfront lake and picnic/camping areas. Really nice areas. We already plan on taking my Son and his family there for a day when they visit next month. My 3 young grandsons will definitely enjoy the lake and playgrounds. Hopefully, we can all take a short hike. Beautiful park.

Dewayne Castan

Bring mosquito repellent. It's a must, they are like bees. Other than that decent park with lake, bball court (3star) and group picnic areas.

Sonya F

Close to NYC. Spacious campsite. Clean bathrooms. Interesting trails. Very cool lake (pseudo beach)... l actually swam! Definitely would go back!

kavita mittal

I love this place it’s very convenient to take Littel kids !

Bob Brenton

Fantastic trails great for hiking or mountain running.

dove roberts

A wide variety of terrain. Lovely trails for all abilities. Cheerful assistance. Nice camp sites. Wish it wasn't take your trash out with you, even though it's better for the park.

Danielle R

Our campsite was flooded and we were able to make a change to an open spot that was actually so much better than our original. Very friendly staff. Amazing views, still close to amenities outside the park.

Mohammed Adnan

Beautiful place for out door activities, it has a lake and beach. Any one can go to the water. Children will have lots of fun too.

Sandy Halbing

Cheesequake is a true gem just off the GSP! The park holds an extensive trail system with a beautiful variety of terrain. The Green trail is my personal favorite. But if it's just rained red or blue are the way to go. Great for walking, hiking, light biking or trail running!

Jose Lopez

Beautiful... Clean...secure for family..

Visions Cleaning Services

Been going for years, great atmosphere, great attention to children and parental responsibilities, great views, cool place to enjoy family and the Garden State

Stanley Kaytovich

Awesome lake for swimming and camping sites.

John Ferri

Great place in summer for swimming the lake is nice, the beach is fun. They even have a snack bar in season. Off season the trails are still open. Only certain rest stations are open, check with main office to find out. Remember the whole park is carry in carry out GARBAGE.

Viral Pala

Very nice state park and good lake..nice rest room and we got a chance to see crab race...only little issue was water was not that much clear else everything was awesome and nice and reasonable food

Brandon Atwood

Very nice place with scenic views of a lake and a flower field if you take the blue trail, just don't touch the plants and I would say come there with a hoodie (for ticks).

k9 crazee

My favorite park. Cheesequake State Park is beautiful. There is so much to see and enjoy. You can sit on a bench and relax, walk one of the trails or ride your bike.

Tim Ram

It's ok but very close to streets and houses.

Roshan Jacob

Simple but very pretty trails. Markers are very easy to spot. Also very clean

Megan Grace The Star

This place is very fun for the family and is a very good place for camping. If you are interested in going camping you should get alot of insect repellent. The mosquitos are unbelievable. My daughter got 30 mosquito bites in a 1 1/2 day camping trip. The camping is very fun though because you can go frog hunting, Make s'mores and much more. If you are interested just for the hiking trails I recommend long sleeves and pants because the bugs are very bad. Wear old sneakers that you are ready to throw out after the hiking trips. Animal droppings can get all over your shoes so look out for that. If you are interested just in the lake type beach I would come with a picnic mat and a overhead beach umbrella and to bring your own food and keep it in a cooler. (Bug reasons). The water is very nice and not to cold or hot which is a plus. People under the age of 16 have to be supervised by someone over the age of 16 at ALL TIMES. If not you will be kicked out. Have a nice stay! ♥️

S P

Love this park. Trails are fairly easy so the whole family can enjoy (great for kids). Nature center has everything from your educational material to live turtles, blue jays...and chipmunks greeting you at the door. Friendly rangers. I visit at least twice a year and it’s so pleasant and peaceful. Try to arrive early before the crowd.

Jeniffer Vieira

Very nice clean park. The beach was small but perfect. There is a bird viewing area by the parking lot of the beach. We drive through the park and found the camp grounds, which were very clean. We saw the hiking trails as well.

Anne Vag

Great place to take a hike or a run! Trails are well kept and it's a change from running on the roads

Leandro Felipe Montalvo

Great for BBQ, parking, swimming take a walk

Erika Orellana

Hiking trails, camping grounds and a lovely Lake! Love this place.

Jim S

Great place to enjoy outdoor activities.

Les Mitterhoff

Awesome park for long walks with your loved ones...

Austin Simpson

Really spacious spot here! June the water maybe a little cold for everyone. The beach/lake area is nice and has plenty of room. I'd suggest bringing a tent for shade. (No shade on the sand portion) Snack bar is loaded with goodies if you didn't bring your own. BRING a garbage bag because they don't have trash cans unfortunately. Bring in it bring it out is the policy. We had a blast and will definitely be back

chelsey jenkins

This place sucks and it is cheap. There is no fun things this place has snakes is way to many bugs and cheesecake was not made here

anuradha arun

Been for the first time.. lived close by for many years never got a chance to visit... We booked one of the locations in the park area for a private gathering . They charged pretty decent that we could share and affordable. There were rest rooms close by which was pretty good and well maintained.. Everything was good want to give 5 star but no.. one thing we didn't like it is about the trash. In a way it's pretty good idea that for trash pickup they charge extra ..so we all made sure we had trash bags and we took care of kids and elders and our selves that not leaving trash around. But bothering thing was there were no Dumpsters to dump the trash we had to take it all the way and dump it at home . Which was little tough..with a new born in the van driving close to or little more than an hour to home.. If we were not going home or if we were outside NJ than it would had been more tougher thing.. if they work on this small thing it would be a great place

Michelle Verry

Clean quiet very peaceful fun lake and hiking trail

RC51501116

Beautiful place to walk around!

Erica Law

Nice nature walk. Bring mosquito repellent. Got about 30 bites in the 3 hrs we were there.

Dennis Reilly

This place is a perfect little gem in central jersey. Beautiful hiking trails.

Gbasay Flomo

Great for socializing without judgements

Kevin Hernandez

Very nice but the water is very dirty

Raakesh Blokhra

Some of the nicest trails in the area. Hilly terrain and various level trails (easy, moderate and hard). Each trail has a different set of wildlife you can observe. There's a camp ground, lake area, osprey nest viewing area, and lot of fun stuff to do.

Dina Wilmot

Good trail options depending on your needs. Love that they have a nature center. Always see some type of wildlife when we go. Just stop and look around! Saw 2 snakes and a few frogs on the green trail today. There is a crabbing bridge near the lake. Lots of crabs caught.

Joe Fagliarone

Great park for group camping. Flushable toilets. And clean.

Gurunath Joshi

Very nice lake for swimming, picnic area and kids playground.

ImPolishh

Amazing trails close to home.

Hogan Chen

Good park to spend few hours to relax yourself

M N

Nice big park, nice trails

Fresh Poater

No garbage cans and you have to pay to get in in the summer. Not much space either. You could probably walk all of the trails in one day if you really wanted to. However, it is very beautiful and free in the fall.

John Stains

Always fun and the dogs love it. Nothing technical or difficult about the hike but need to have balance and some stamina.

Vinny Herman

Not enough sanctuaries like this in Jersey, is my ONLY gripe...

Delaney A

Great trails, just wish they had a little bit more options in terms of length. Also, there doesn't seem to be one single trash can there? When they expect you to clean up after your dog? I always do but what am I supposed to do with my poop bag? Need to get that fixed

jiggie medalle

Nice hike. Has a nice lake

LILA Augustin

Had a blast with my family

Karen L

My go to place when beaches and lakes are too crowded. Nice, clean, and well kept state park with a little sanded "beach" area for the kids to enjoy!

Theresa Lupkovich

Had fun hiking trails r great

Bob Farina

ALWAYS HAVE WHAT YOU WANT..

Brad Davis

Nice place to visit for a day trip. Did not appreciate the $10 a piece entrance fee for a state park

Dyana Rivera

Lake is a bit small but is a very welcoming place surrounded by nature you can do kayac, hiking and picnic. Yes you can swim. I had a great time in this place.

Maria Mercado

I came to the park 6/11/19 and there was no swimming avl. Since we were already here we let the kids play on the sand . Then come to find out the bathrooms were closed...very poor service..

enigma trece

Awesome, superb place for a relaxing day/afternoon, cookout swimming and being with mother nature... Gorgeous

Sarmistha Guha

Beautiful place to go with family. The lake is beautiful and good for fresh water swimming.

Aviel Simon

Only reason I come here is because it close to home, and has a nice little loop to jog with my dog. Otherwise the park is pretty dirty, no one picks up after their dogs there. The trails are very short and far from challenging at all. But it could be okay for a family with young kids who wants to introduce them to hiking. The green path is a little over 3 miles and does a lap around most of the park.

Peace Keeper

Great place for a short hike with family. Dogs are allowed, no "poop bags" though, so don't forget to bring your own. Longest "Green" trail is 3 miles, shortest is "Yellow" 0.75 mile. All trails crisscross in a couple places, so you can switch midway. A lot of trail markers so you won't get lost. Also there's a small entrance fee during the summer.

Kendra Bartholomew

Amazing camping and crabbing ...good family atmosphere!!

Pablo Castro

My family and I love to walk in this enormous park even if you love to cookout this is the perfect park

david logan

Love the trails and the nature center is great. If you ask sometimes the nature center will give you penuts to feed the chipmunks and squirrels!

Avi Rakhit

After Hiking in the Smokies, Acadia, White and Green Mountains, etc. Cheesequake State Park in NJ is really a walk in the Park. But for a local State Park in NJ this is one of the better ones.

Valentina Santonauro

Love love the place. So much u can do.

Raymond Santiago

Small lake cost to much to get in not many things to do there besides swim or play in the playground

MrBean black

I went to explore the area today, How depressing is to see So much garbage on the lake side and parking lot

Hilary Traphagen

Such a nice little park. Several easy-to-moderate trails. Teeming with red-winged blackbirds!

Michael Hoffman

Cool little State Park. Lake with swimming area. Campground has great, large sites. Sites in the 30's, a little to close to an exterior road. Great location. An hour to NYC, an hour to Six Flags Great Adventure, 30 minutes to the shore.

G T

Cheesequake state park was really fun. There is a grill in each site and bathrooms with showers. There are about 4 trails to hike and even a small play ground. The only downside was that we had our car stuck in the mud due to the heavy rain. Unfortunately maintenance could not help dig us out of the mud due to "liability" reasons. There were some rangers that did help us with some boards. Other than that. We were left to fend to ourselves.

Darlene Locorriere

Good hiking, lake for fishing and good place to grill

john kruzik

Great park for hiking and mountain biking.

Evelyn Delgado

Nice place for a hike or to enjoy the day.

Chris Watters

Great place to take the kids swimming in the lake and won't cost you a arm and a leg! Plus you can grill food while enjoying some sun rays. Then take a hike and walk off those extra calories. So, perfect for a quick getaway and you can be home before the sun goes down

Maryellen Edmonds

The amazing place to go for family time

Retey petey Holland

Dis place gots da bestes coowade in amewicas

Daniel Lee

Hiking trails are good but some parts need renovation. There is a fee during summer. No fee from labor day till memorial day.

Thomas Kusch

Smaller State Park with a swimming lake, nice Nature Center (great for kids with terrariums etc). Great and moderately difficult hiking trails through the NJ Coastal marshlands and Pine Barrens - beautiful landscapes with lots of wildlife to see. The soil is mostly sandy, but firm, and some areas are hilly. Difficult areas are usually supported with stairs or steps, and there are lots of wooden walkways through gorgeous marshy areas. The trails are very well maintained. There is even a 'crabbing bridge', which is usually frequented by 'crabbers'. One can see a lot of blue crags zipping by with the tides.

Stefanie Geronimo

Amazing Park! Easy To Navigate Around. Lake Is Beautiful. Only Pro Is You Must Bring Your Own Garbage Bags Or They Will Provide You With One Which Is No Problem. But There Are No Garbage Cans

Frank Doosey

Great hiking trails for all levels. Make sure your feet are ready to encounter some mud if you go hiking.

Sunny Kauser

Great hiking trails year around. Easy trails with wood bridges and planks in the swampy areas. Not spectacular views but fun trails for the whole family. Highly recommended to all ages and pets.

Mildred Meier

I always enjoy going to Cheesequake Park with my family for a hike or a swim at the lake. The bathrooms are the only issue I have experienced. They need to be cleaned more often due to some visitors, with no polite way to put it, being gross. The life guards are always keeping the rules and child safe at the lake. The park staff has always been very polite and helpful.

Ruizhe Yang

Hiking trails are quite easy, great for the whole family. It also opens for most of the year, another plus!

Fernanda De Armas

We had a nice weekend and loved be there for sure we will come back.

Mary O'Malley

A very pretty park with five diverse, (salt marsh, woodlands) pleasant hiking paths (mostly pretty easy) this park is easy to travel to (a few minutes off the Parkway) and not overrun with bicyclists. There are camping grounds, comfort stations and an interesting Nature Center. Due to recent rains spots are covered in sucking mud or standing water. Wear waterproof shoes and bring bug spray!

Joanna Eaton

Lovely trails! Pretty easy walk!

Garrett Shumaker

Wonderful trails that allow you to reconnect with nature and even has educational signs along the trail about the plant life there.

Jennifer Elflein

I always love parks, but I liked this one especially because of the crabbing bridge. We caught a couple but they were too small to keep.

robbie garducce

Great place for a moderate hike, nice views & trails are well marked.

Shoukat Ali

Beautiful place to spend a day with family. Good trails, ample parking, play area for kids, clean lake beach and more. There is entry fee per car during summer.

John Leonori

Love this place. We camp here, and it's great. Not to mention, the campsite rates are better than most campgrounds. This is easily one of our favorite places to visit.

Rizwan Mohamedali

Beautiful and peacefull but to many mosquitoes....

Marco Cruz

Clean and calm place to come with family and pets.....

Olivere Arthur

Great trails to hike. Exciting waterways too. Observation deck for breeding osprey pair. Beautiful and vsried flora. Had a blast there

Young Sullivan

Great trails. A lot open space. Relaxing spend an afternoon.

Mordy Swadron

Great place to escape the bustle.

Cameron Page

Beatiful but too close to highway

thisisseriously myemail

Beautiful corner of central nj. There are distinct ecosystems within the park including saltwater indigenous Forest grassland Meadowlands Rolling Hills. My favorite Raleigh's every year is run and Cheesequake called the hatchet on, the first weekend of November every year, right before the New York City marathon. It's a very challenging race and a very challenging course but a whole lot of fun

Mark Baloyan

Nice park lay put visit the talking fish in the animal center

darklord boehm

Amazing veiw and great trails for people of all ages. Very clean and well taken care of.

celeste magloire

Love this beautiful park.

Aster Pheonyx

It's a perfect place for a hike!! If you're a nerd like me, you can get some good geocaches as well! Bring bug spray!!

Bob Heady

Visiting from FLa. Toured the trails very nice.needed.more time to cover all trails.be back.luved it!!

Irene Opitz

Year round walking trails that are well maintained. Plenty of parking and easy to find located directly off NJ Garden State Parkway.

Edwin Rodriguez

Bacteria in the lake, can't use it. rest/change rooms covered with up to an inch of water. Not many grills. I could have stayed in my own back yard for this. And they still charge full price.

Tom Sudol

Great trails filled with lots of natural diversity. Only has a bathroom in the nature center, so make sure to pack your biodigrable toilet paper to go au naturale!

MC Escher

Great place. Good hiking trails. They maintain the boardwalks pretty well.

Savannah Jade

Beautiful place but the trails are so rundown and unclear, we got lost and just ended up following the longest trail. I hope they fix the trails because it would be sad to watch them overgrow like some of the others.

Patrick Annelli

This is a great location for beginner camping. Showers, restrooms, hiking trails and a lake for swimming and fishing all located in close proximity to the family campgrounds.

Thierry Daudibert

Wen you do a Cancellation 8 days beafort thay charge 2 days. Plus an additionnel 5$. Wath a rip off.. total Cost is 55$ to cancell

Wise Malik Allah

Nice walk and lots of deers

Jonathan Unverzagt

Very lovely place to stay there, very kindly staff, interesting trails, lake is OK, restrooms are good, you can hear the highway at night.

Gayatri M

Place was ok but bugs spoiled the experience. Too many bugs.

Tonimarie Perez Soto

Did not like it...water smelled bad...too many people acting up....throwing sand...all types of craziness.

Chirag Manojkumar

Amazing place!! 3- different trails and they are well marked. Lake for swimming and lots of greenery.

Kyle Gora

Usually kept very clean by park staff. I primarily go there for green trail but if you know your way around you can loop yellow blue green and get a really nice hike with some great views. Just leave it better than you came!

Jacob Held

Nice little state park with nice staff. Good for an hour or two of casual hiking.

Chun Tong

Had a short hike with a group of 20 ish people. It was clean and the route was clearly marked.

Chris Kondracki

My grandparents live in the retirement village it's a great place

John Gephart

Great park, nice staff. Love the Green Trail.

Christine Mawha

Ive been coming here since my kids were little. They are all in their mid 30s now. It is a beautiful place. Clean lake, playground, food and bathrooms, and the most gorgeous and environmentally varied hiking trails. Salt marshes, crabbing bridge, woodlands, nature center. You will possibly see lots of wildlife as you hike I cant say enough about this place. I love it.

Sarah Werner

I came to see trees and by George, I saw trees. The park is absolutely beautiful and I had a great time immersing myself in nature. The flora and fauna did not disappoint, and it gave me ample opportunity to relay the facts I remembered from high school biology classes like I was a botanist. We saw three whole chipmunks, an angry frog, and a turtle, which I count as an absolute accomplishment. There was also a couple in a hammock living their best life and I respect that. There are several paths to pick from that range in length and difficulty all helpfully color coded so no one has an excuse if they go off the trail. I highly recommend the green path. It's three miles of gorgeous swamp, hills, trees, and marshes; it's also the one I went on so I'd say I have a better idea of it than the others. My only word of advice is that some of the trails are moderate in difficulty, especially if you're not an avid hiker, so don't bring the good shoes. There were areas that got less trail and more mud, but if that's the adventure you're looking for (like I was), you're going to have a great time.

Shmuel Goodman

Great state park, tucked away mere minutes from the Parkway, featuring a handful of easy-to-moderate trail loops varying in length from half a mile to 3-ish miles. It's amazing how many ecosystems are accessible within the parklands - marshy wetlands, sandy pine barrens, deciduous forests, and more.

John Lomicky

Great lake for swimming, excellent grounds for bbq's, family get togethers.

mariosmallz

This park is huge the nature center is very cool

Quinceyann Booker-Jackson

Very nice park even though you have to pay $25 to get in with it all

Andy Pober

Great, well maintained hiking trails. Could be more blazes, though.

Atul Avijeet

Great and beautiful place to hangout with people.

Kris Peterson

Trails are well marked and maintained, drain well after storms. Multiple great options for a scenic hike or run. Campground is nice and also well maintained, but you're right next to the parkway and Matawan road...it's close to home for me so the convenience factor offsets the proximity to civilization but if you're looking to get away from the world, you'll be listening to traffic all night here.

Alice Mcmiller

A Great place to have a picnic with the family and friends.

maciej kurucz

A hidden gem for bird watching, just as long as it's not a weekend. Also a really underrated hiking spot! There are quite a few miles(5-7ish) of connecting trails offering a variety of loops at different times. The landscape is an interesting ballance between salt marshes, lakes, hills and valleys. The hill and valley aspect offers some nice elevation changes for more demanding hikes. The lake aspect also offers a nice place for a swim at a maintained beach, just be warned, this place gets WILDLY crowded spring/summer on hot days.

Michael Z

Really peaceful trails, always very clean - kudos to the park staff. For first timers though, the trail descriptions are lacking at the trail head entrance. For those with bad knees that need to avoid stairs, stick with the yellow trail and then move up from there.

Krysia Biville

Beautiful location, clean and we'll signed.

Ale Janeth Valentin

Place had too many mosquitos I know is not in their control but didn’t really stay after that.

Melissa Smith

Nice place to swim & enjoy a day in the sun...was not over crowded

Amit Sinha

Good Campgrounds. Hook's lake is all stocked and waiting for anglers.

Sherkhan

Beautiful state park with some amazing trails. I visited during the peak snow time.

ranzi john

Another nice park for relaxed walking

Ankit Patel

The park is good but be careful it has a biting bugs .Not good Experience with bugs.

Serge Zaretsky

Clean fairly flat hike for the whole family. Bring some bug spray.

Tom Christian

Nice place to hike. Trails are well marked

Maria Johnson

Great hiking trails and spacious group camping sites with bathrooms

Samantha Simeone

mosquitos! so many mosquitos!

Brian

We just discovered the lake in the park. It’s awesome. We will be back.

Glenn Gutkowski

This park is like my home. There are 5 distinct environments in the park and a few excellent vistas. The biodiversity is truly epic, especially among bird watchers, and there are 5 trails which cover the 1600 acres of this park. The crabbing is good, the spring fishing can be lights out for trout in the fresh water (Hooks Creek Lake) and striped bass in the creek, and the Nature Center is really excellent. Try hand feeding the chipmunks peanuts with the aid of the staff.

Kellyn Williams

Great lake. It was very quiet the day we went. Just us and maybe 3 other families. Bug spray is necessary!! Mosquitos are present especially if you walk through the grass!

Marco L

So. Many. Mosquitos. You *will* see the red color of your blood smeared across your palm. Be prepared.

Joyce Imperiosi

Childhood favorite place. Hasn't changed in the last 60+ years. Still beautiful clean swimming, fishing, kayaking, camping park. A gem in the rough for sure.

Eric Dalton

This park, while not free during the summer, has everything to make it worth a few bucks. Come for the beach but stay for the trails and interpretive center!

Arrizón M

Whether you choose to explore the many terrains or sit and contemplate the beauty around you, it's a phenomenal place for everyone to enjoy.

mike greco

It is great place to let goand have a little fun

Ines Luna

I like camping with my family in this place, they are special moments

Konstantin Rudoy

Love the nature there are four intersecting trails giving you variety of hiking options. The longest combination of yellow, blue and green trolls will give you over five miles willing distance up and down in total. Landscape is constantly changing, so you can enjoy the views. There is a public beach on a lake open summer time. Unfortunately you have to pay entrance fee during summer season, however it worth wielding that money.

Liz Cannizzaro

The park overall was great. We stayed on green and red trail primarily and it was of easy terrain. However, we usually always bring a bag for our own garbage and we picked up more of others throughout both trails. I'm highly disappointed in those that visit this park and left the trails with such trash everywhere. Please, learn to respect nature and pick up after yourselves. Humans are the reason this Earth is dying.

Kiki Love

Great place to hike. Very wooded. Very scenic.

Luiggy Michael P Torres

the best park for camping clean and safe

Michael McQueeney

The trails were unrideable. There were huge down trees everywhere. When I asked the Park Rangers about cleaning it up they said" we do not have the funding" but yet they charge $10 to get in