Came in July with family. I wish they had a binocular station to see the Osprey nest! The Yellow trail was very scenic. I definitely recommend trying to end your path there if possible! Also saw a Towhee, catbird, and Red-winged Blackbird, so this place is great for birding too. The blue trail can be a tad steep. Haven't tried the other trails yet, but I'm excited to go back for them! :)

Fabulous State Park, hidden gem. I promise your visit will provide a respite from the hectic everyday stress. It's easy to fully embrace nature and all the wonderful things or provides. Definitely try the lake trail. It's well maintained and easy, it will give you joy. Have fun!

The park is good for hiking, the trails was really nice and the views that I like was in the middle of the forest but there are a part of the park near of the Parkway and the noise could be annoying. To do biking isn't good because the roads designed for bikers are shorts. To escape of the routine is a nice place.

Even on a hot, sunny day the trails at this park are an absolute pleasure to walk. Bring sunscreen and bug repellant, but get ready for a really nice walk down any of the trails. I’m not usually someone who goes for a hike, but I really enjoyed the well manicured and maintained trails—even if I had quite a sweat going near the end.

I like this place!! It's a complete place with play ground for kids including slides and swings. Then bbq grills and picnic tables. Big free parking lot during our visit. Regular days I believe parking is about $10 roughly. It's very worth it! The other side of the park is the lake and trails. Very relaxing and calming place. Full of trees and open space. Bring your own food or meat to grill. During our visit there is a "NO swimming" sign they are hiring lifeguards $13/hr the sign said. The area is very clean. The only thing the bathrooms are closed. It's a picture perfect by the lake. It was a nice day.

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

Beautiful trail with some hiking! Awesome lake view and bird watching!!

Great park for family trips or a stroll. There's quite a bit of mosquitoes in the summer so it's important to take this into account. The swimming area is very nice with individual showers and changing areas included. The camping area also has showers and sites are pretty big as well. Some are more separate than others so if you're coming with family and friends it's convenient to get multiple sites next to one another. The crabbing bridge was pretty cool and there are plenty of trails to use. I like the day use area and how it in includes plenty of parking along with the grills and basketball court. There's plenty of stores and restaurants five minutes from the park (CVS, QuickCheck, Walgreens, CVS, 7 Eleven, etc.) that make it super convenient for grabbing a bite, supplies, or food if you don't want to grill while at the park. Strongly recommend visiting at least once. I camped there just now and will definitely be around in late summer when it's cooler and there's less bugs as well as in the spring. Another thi g is not having to worry about bears like some of the parks further up north. Overall, really recommend it!

This place is amazing! We went camping for the labor day weekend and I couldn’t be more happier than the last time we were there. I like how they have the restrooms and parking space mark for each. Amo site. Clean restrooms, friendly staff. Oh and most of all, the trails are well maintained. Even tho she went there 2 days after the flood, the trails weren’t muddy. Also I got to enjoy the view of a beautiful sunrise and sunset 😍I recommend this place.

I was in the area and wanted to take my dog on a hike. I happened to find this park and I am so glad that I did! The trails are marked at regular intervals making it easy to follow. The trail that I walked (blue) had wood platforms or stairs to go up or down really steep areas. My dog loved it and had a great time. 10/10 definitely recommend.

Well marked except the blue and green on the map are indistinguishable unless you google and download the Cheesequake trail map. Nonetheless the actual trail is well marked and not difficult nor long at all. Max length if you follow any one trail is perhaps 3 miles so you really can't get lost as long as you can walk.

This park is great in late winter, when you really want to see some fresh bright green but don't want to experience the mosquitoes of a wetland in warm weather. There are many evergreen trees and lush carpets of moss here, even before the deciduous forests leaf out. As a moss lover, I had a great time hiking!

First time visit this park for hiking. It’s peaceful and calm. I was worrying I will get attacked by bugs and mosquitoes, however it didn’t happen. Although I already sprayed myself. The bathroom is nice and clean. It is nice place to hike and get to explore. While walking through the trail, we got to visit the beach.

Beautiful local trail. The Green Trail is my favorite. It is a 3.1 mile easy to lightly moderate hike. Very well blazed.

Blue trail here is perfect for kids, not too hard but some up and down hiking which make it interesting enough for little ones. Also has crabbing bridge and playground with bbq area inside the park. Many shades, but also many mosquitoes…better bring insect repellent here.

Really great park for an easy hike. There are multiple trails and a lot different things to see. Make sure to bring bug spray since there are a lot of mosquitos. The entrance to the park is $10 per car. There is a small beach that people can go in. Make sure to check the park website to see if they beach is allowing people to go in.

The campsites were great sizes and well maintained. Bathrooms were bad, and the water was drinkable which is always a plus. Hiking trails were also good, and easily accessible. The issue we had were the bugs, now i get its their house and we're the pests. This is just insane with the amount of biting flies, mosquitoes and such. We tried to hike Arrowsmith and they were literally swarming our faces, luckily we were carrying head nets. We used spray, candles and a thermocell, but nothing helped with the onslaught. The road noise was also a definite minus on this trip, we did go in expecting pkwy noise, but it was the street noise we were not expecting.

Entrance and parking was free when I went to the park. Not sure until when that is though. Park was fairly clean but there was A LOT of mosquitos! I would have enjoyed the park more if there were less or none of those.. If you plan on going for a walk at the trails here, I suggest you wear pants and long sleeves. Get some good quality insect repellent as well. Enjoy your day at the park!

It was an excellent park visit during summer. It has a very large space for parking. It’s has tons of activities to spend a day for picnic as well as we can do cycling, walk, children areas is also there. I would definitely recommend this place if you are nearby.

Always a staple for me since it’s so convenient. There are 4 trails (red, yellow, blue, and green) in varying lengths. For the most part they are easy and very well marked. There are some stairs on a few of the trails but the elevation isn’t too bad. There’s a small parking lot at the trailhead but if that’s filled you can park by the lake which has ample parking. Very family and dog friendly. #karmelknockingaround

Super easy hike. A decent place to go on tired weekends. Very refreshing. Love the wetlands and the board path.

Good park. The beach was nice in the summer, with bathrooms/showers, we went in August - there were lots of bugs flying on the trails so wear pants/long sleeve or bug spray.

Fall foliage isn't there yet! Went for a hike on the yellow trail and the path was beautiful. Beautiful park with playground for kids to spend some time with nature.

Good spot to come for a picnic. They have tables and a lot of space to bring a towel for the grass as well. There is a lot of parking available. It can get busy in the weekends.

Nice hiking trails, friendly staff. Firewood available for sale in office. Large campsites, decent bathrooms. Lots of road noise near site 40. Prepare as best you can for biting flies. And LOTS of road noise, can see cars traveling Matawan rd from site.

Great hiking trail! The Green trail was 3 miles long but my kids were able to complete it. Beautiful spot by the pond, lots of fields to run around in. Super accessible from Staten Island and feels like an escape.

Amazing!!!! Great place. They have camping, a lake to swim in multiple play grounds and at least 4 trails! One downside was out of state has to pay 20$ for parking 10 for residents but free for seniors. Parking was easy and the entire park was spotless! Was a great day trip from the city! The town around the park is also great for a quick bite to eat and some rest

Nice place, very similar feeling and view as parks in California

It's beautiful park. There are many trails easy one and medium ranged. There is a lake with beach like shore. Ole of parking and kids area.

This is a nice big park with lots of trails, a playground, and plenty of picnic benches and grills. You could easily spend the whole day here hiking trails, BBQing with the family, or even taking your dog(s) on an adventure. Today I took my twins for a little while and I will definitely be back as they grow to have more outdoor fun.

What a great place, I took my 6yr old hiking there 2 weeks ago. It was so nice the trails were marked well and the nature center was pretty cool in the beginning of the trails. The beach was real nice too. Well definitely be back.

This is an infinitely vast wild park, very beautiful, suitable for family and friends hiking, camping exploration, can take beautiful photos, enjoy the pleasant scenery of nature.

Awesome park with a lot of places to explore, there's camping sites, barbecue and everything, it also has a river with sand. Is amazingly beautiful!!!

There is a small beach and multiple trails that are all different length and can conjoin together at some point, and they're also clearly marked. About 25-30mins from NYC, It's always been my go-to statepark to take my dog for hiking. Overall, there are some really scenic views to walk on.

Its cool where its located as far as getting to great places. But at the end of the day you are camping next to the Garden State Parkway so you will hear cars at night but not a deal breaker

We camped here and had a lovely (the best) campsite!! Warning it is very buggy here. It was a quiet campground and there are some hiking trails and the lake right nearby. It is close to roads / highway so you get that noise and light but close to the shore and centrally located.

Nice walking trail in the park. The longest one Green trail is only 3 miles. 1 * less for having to pay during the summer.

Typically they charge an entrance fee but it seems the fee is waived for all of 2023. A large park with many trails. Restroom facilities as well. We strolled around the lake and saw many people crabbing from the bridge. A nice park but we didn't have enough time to explore. The park seems safe too as we saw many police cars patrolling. Will be back next time.

Great trails! This park has a little of something for everyone. Definitely will be going back to check out the different sections.

Great hiking spot! There are a number of trails, all well maintained of various difficulty. Beautiful spots to swim, crab and spend time outside.