Lake and Shore Campground

Pool deck at Lake and Shore

Lake and Shore was our first use of the second year of our Thousand Trails Cabin Pass. This is a notoriously difficult campground to book, and we were originally booked at a different property during this timeframe. I made one last ditch effort to secure Lake and Shore via the live chat on the website and we were able to book a Monday-Friday stay. Perhaps the difficulty in booking this property set my expectations unrealistically high, or the fact that we have had some great experiences at other properties, but overall, this was not our favorite stay. That being said, the staff was helpful, and in-season there are a lot of great activities here. The majority of our issue was with the cabin itself which I will address in another post. If you are traveling in an RV, I would definitely give this place a try. And if they do some major work on the cabins, we would like to come back for another try.

The campground was relatively quiet during the week. We visited during what I would consider to be the off-season in New Jersey (the week after Father’s Day). While many schools got out the week prior, there were still many still in session. We also had a week of rain, so our exploration of the grounds was limited, with a lot of time off-site exploring various indoor activities in the area. The campground is conveniently located within 30 minutes of Atlantic City, Ocean City, Wildwood, and Cape May.

In addition to all the amenities located at the far end of the park, there was a playground a few sites down from our cabin, as well as a baseball diamond. It was nice to have some of the recreations so close to our cabin. With that being said, it was an easy walk to the lake and pool and an even easier bike/scooter ride. There was also ample parking should you choose to drive.

The large pool overlooks the beach and lake. It is heated, which was especially nice on the cloudy, cooler day we had. There are plenty of lounge chairs around the pool, as well as a covered pavilion with some tables and chairs. The far end of the pool deck has a plexiglass fence allowing you to view the beach and lake from the pool. I thought this was a nice touch and gave a resort feel.

There is a snack window on the opposite end of the pool, which we did not have the chance to try, but I saw people ordering things like pizza, fries, and ice cream.

Mini-Waterpark with splash pad and water slides

I think one of the draws of this property is the mini-waterpark. My understanding is that it was once indoors, but they have since demolished that building. While the water features could use some paint and a good scrubbing, this was a really fun place that both of my kids enjoyed. I’m not sure if it is heated or stayed a bit colder because it gets circulated more than the pool, but we did find this area to be significantly colder than the regular pool. It would not have been an issue had we experienced typical summer weather. There is a zero-entry section with some fountains, along with several nautical-themed climbing features with slides. There are areas where the water is about 3 feet deep which was ideal for younger ones to swim or parents to hang out while their kids play. The large twisty slide was very impressive by campground standards, and my oldest had a lot of fun on it. There were also two mid-size slides that were not open while we were there, but I understand they are part of the rotation when they are fully staffed.

There is a second playground on the beach area below the pool, which my youngest really enjoyed. On Tuesday morning we spent several hours at the lake. Both kids enjoyed wading in the water and playing in the sand. Despite the campground being relatively quiet, there were plenty of kids to play with. We didn’t venture over to the area where they rent out watersports equipment but we saw several people taking advantage of the stand-up paddle boards, kayaks, and the fishing dock. Just past the rental area was the miniature golf course. The rain prevented us from playing, but we saw several families enjoying it while we were at the beach, and it appeared to be well-maintained.

While there were no activities going on during our stay, I saw a post on their Facebook group, that they offer a full schedule of both weekday and weekend activities beginning in late June. Had we not had issues with the cabin and the rain not gotten in the way, I think this could have been a park we really enjoyed. For us, it served as an affordable way to explore the surrounding area. The manager mentioned that there were talks of renovating the cabins. If that happened, we would love to give it another shot. In the meantime, we will try our Cabin Pass at a different area campground when we are looking to explore the Southern Shore region of New Jersey.

Stay tuned for more adventures using our Cabin Pass, as well as upcoming road trips to Niagara-on-the-Lake and our big summer road trip from NJ to FL! Be sure to follow us on social media for all the latest!