Cape Henlopen State Park (DE) review
Environment & Nature: 5
Available Activities: 5
Staff & Park Officials: 5
Accessibility: 5
This park is very cool!
It’s by a beach, easily accessible by road AND a ferry from Cape May, NJ. It also has some WWII history. Well, not actual battle history, since Germans never made it here, but the park and surrounding area has more than 20 look out towers strategically placed overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the coast.
The beach is pretty.
Even though the sand road was for “licensed fisherman,” I didn’t care for it and still snuck in to check out the place. Although it was cloudy and kind of
rainy the beach was pretty clean and seemed like a nice place to hang out… or fish. It was still too cold to swim, so we didn’t spend much time there… just a quick look.
The campsites are
semi-secluded, pretty large, and divided by a few bushes. There wasn’t much dead wood to burn nor do I recommend running into thick bush for it after Karen found a tick on our mattress in the morning. Since we went there in the off-season, or pre-season, which ever you prefer to call it, the park wasn’t packed so it’s hard to give it more a accurate “serenity” rating.
Overall,
the park is huge! The staff was very friendly and helpful for checking in without any reservations. They have paved trails for those who are afraid to get dirty, primitive campsites for the youth (teach ‘em young!), kayak rentals, fishing piers, basketball courts, air pumping stations for bicyclists, and more.
If you’re camping out with kids,
make sure you check out Lewis, a proper all American town with little restaurants, coffee shops, souvenir gifts, mini botanical garden/parks, and the pretty cool Zwaanendael museum (which is free, but making a donation is suggested) with findings of the first settlers, articles from sunken ships, and a kids workshop on the second floor.