Camp Taylor
Campground
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Camp Taylor
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The campground is open from mid-April until the end of October. Limited off-season camping is available to existing seasonal campers only. If you know when you'd like to come and camp with us, we recommend making reservations. For holiday weekends (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and Columbus Day) we recommend you make reservations at least four weeks in advance, as we expect to be completely full. We also recommend making reservations in advance if you plan to rent one of our cabins or rental trailers. While reservations are not always needed for other weekends throughout our season and are rarely needed for weekdays, it is always a good idea to call ahead to see what we have available. Reservations for campsites are a minimum two nights on weekends, three nights if it is a holiday weekend. To make reservations, please call us at 1-800-545-4662 or (908) 496-4333. We will take your contact information and reserve a site or sites for you based on your needs and how many people will be in your party. In order to finalize your reservation, we must receive your non-refundable deposit (each site's base fee per night) within five business days. Can I use my credit card to make a deposit? There are three ways to put a deposit down for a reservation. For reservations made more than two weeks in advance we ask that you mail us a check for your deposit. To make reservations less than two weeks before your arrival date, we require a credit card and you must have access to a fax machine or email and a scanner (we need a hand-written signature in order to process your credit card). The third option is through paypal. We can email you an invoice that you can pay either with a paypal account, or with a credit card (without having to sign up for paypal). Pay pal does charge a small transaction fee (about 4%) which will be added to the amount of your deposit. All types of deposit are non-refundable. While here at Camp Taylor, you may use a credit card for any purchases over $10.00 (except admission to the Lakota Wolf Preserve which must be check or cash). What happens if I need to cancel my reservation? The deposit required to hold your reservation is non-refundable. You may transfer your reservation to another weekend later in the season with two weeks notice, or three weeks notice if your reservation is for a cabin or RV rental. A $10 rescheduling fee may apply. We're sorry, we do not refund for inclement weather. We carry a variety of tarps to help keep your site dry and there are a number of indoor attractions in the area. Keep in mind that the weather in your area may not be the same as the weather here. To check the weather forecast for Camp Taylor click here. We allow a maximum of two pets per site, and they must be leashed or caged at all times. No pets are permitted on our cabin or RV rental sites. Please inform us if you have a pet when you are checking in. Do not leave your pet unattended on your site or in a vehicle, and do not bring them into the prohibited areas near our lake and animal pens. Please remember to pick up after your pet and that quiet hours also apply to our furry friends! If you are staying in a tent site or an electric and water site, check-in is at 3pm. If you are staying in one of our cabins or RV rentals, check-in for the rental is at 4pm. An early arrival fee may be charged for early check-in (please see our Rates page), and we cannot guarantee that your site will be available before the check-in time. If you are staying in a tent site or an electric and water site, check-out is at 3pm. If you are staying in one of our cabins or RV rentals, check out of the rental is at 1pm, but you can stay on the campground until 3pm. Toasting marshmallows around the fire is one of the best things about camping! Fires are allowed in the fire rings provided on your site. Fires should be kept small and never left unattended. Occasionally, due to extremely dry or windy weather conditions, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service may institute a fire ban. These are beyond our control and will be enforced for the safety and well being of our campers. We're sorry, but we cannot offer a refund in case of a fire ban. However, we do our best to notify our campers if all campfires will be prohibited so they can plan accordingly. Why can't I bring my own firewood? Destructive insects (such as the Asian Long-horned Beetle, the Emerald Ash Borer and the Gypsy Moth) as well as diseases that devastate forests travel primarily through the transport of firewood. The state of NJ has placed restrictions on transporting wood, and we do not allow anyone to bring wood into the campground. All of our firewood is cut from our forests and processed on the property for this reason. Where can I get firewood once I'm there? Firewood is sold for $4.75 per bundle at the front office where you check in. You are also allowed to collect wood from the campground property as long as it is dead and has fallen naturally. Remember that trees sprout and drop leaves at different times, so just because it does not have any leaves does not mean it is dead. Do not cut anything that is standing. You may also see cut down trees and/or logs while hiking on the campground. This is wood we are harvesting to sell and should not be taken. What is the maximum number of people allowed on a site? We allow a maximum of six people per site, no more than four of whom can be adults over 18. If you are renting one of our cabins, the maximum number of people is four. We do not have group sites, however we do have groups of sites that work well together. If you have a large group, please give us a call and let us know how many people are in your party and what sort of camping equipment you have and we'll do our best to accommodate your group. Can I have friends visit me at the campground? If you are planning to have guests visit your site, you must notify us before they arrive. Please remember that everyone must sign in before going into the campground and that guests cannot bring the total number of people on your site above the maximum of four adults and six persons including children. How many cars can I park on my site? Most of our sites will easily accommodate two cars, but we do not set a limit on the number of cars you can bring. There is extra parking available near the office if needed. Please do not park cars or set up equipment in the woods between sites. Do I need to bring my own grill? We do not provide grills in campsites, however charcoal grills are provided on our cabin and RV rental sites. Every campsite has a fire ring, and we carry grill tops that can be used over your campfire, but you are welcome to bring your own grill. If you use charcoal, please be sure to dispose of the ashes safely into your fire ring. Please keep in mind that the picnic table in your site is made of wood, and can burn if tabletop charcoal grills are used on it. All of our electric and water sites as well as the office, lounge, game room, playground, and picnic area are within the range of our free wireless network. Unfortunately, cable is not available in our area. Do you get cell phone service? We find Version to have strong signal throughout the campground. Other carriers are less reliable and you may find areas of marginal service. We sell candy and snacks, including Smores supplies, but do not carry grocery items. There is a grocery store just a few miles away in the town of Blairstown. We do allow alcohol as long as it is kept under control and on your site, and is only consumed by those of legal age. We reserve the right to check ID. Please be considerate of those around you and remember to recycle. What do you mean by “quiet hours”? Our goal as a campground is to provide a place for people to go and enjoy nature peacefully without being disturbed by loud late-night parties. Conversations and music around your campfire should be kept low and should not disturb other sites around you. We do patrol the campground after 11pm to remind campers who are being noisy to respect their neighbors who might be sleeping or listening to the wolves howling. The site next to us is loud and/or acting inappropriately. What should I do? Please let us know, either in the office or by calling 1-800-545-9662 (even after office hours). We want you to be able to enjoy your stay with us and you should not have to put up with disruptive or inappropriate behavior. Your identity will never be disclosed. Why is putting glass in the fireplace such a big deal? Putting glass in the fireplace creates a real danger for you and guests that stay in that site after you. Glass bottles can shatter violently if air trapped inside expands with heat, or when hot glass is cooled rapidly through dousing a fire with water or rain. Small slivers of glass can also wash out of a fireplace in heavy rains, ending up in the feet of children playing in the site. This is why, after each person leaves, we carefully check each fireplace. When we find evidence that someone has thrown glass into the fire we remove the entire fireplace and rebuild it to be sure that all fragments are gone. This extra time and work is why we will send a bill to those campers. What should I recycle at Camp Taylor? Here at Camp Taylor, we recycle five different materials including two types of plastic. Aluminum cans, tin cans, glass bottles, jars, and plastic containers stamped with the #1 or #2 recycling symbol shown below are recycled here. Foil and foil trays as well as plastic cutlery and bags are garbage and should be disposed of in the trash can at your site. Recyclables can be put into the appropriate containers found throughout the campground (aluminum in the one and the rest in the other) or left in a separate bag next to your trash can. We will collect it when we collect your garbage.
Garbage is collected every day between 3pm and 5pm. If you have garbage after 5pm that you do not feel comfortable keeping at your site, you can bring it to the office during store hours and we will take it to our dumpster. Please remember that bags containing garbage mixed with recyclables will not be collected, and you must sort them out before departing or you will be sent a bill. Black bear are common in this part of New Jersey. Most go out of their way to avoid human contact. Although black bear are not aggressive, they can damage coolers and trash cans in their search for food. This is why we ask all campers to store food in a secure location and keep coolers out of sight as much as possible. Never store food or coolers inside a tent or screen house. How should I store my food while camping? Food and coolers should always be stored in a vehicle when not in use. Black bear are active during the day as well as at night so food and coolers (even if empty or only containing drinks) should never be left unattended in a site. "Bear bags" are designed to protect against grizzly bear and are not effective against black bear which can climb trees extremely well. This is one of the most asked questions and is also one that is difficult to answer. Simply put, it depends on the weather. Most of the time bugs are not a problem at all. If it is a particularly wet season, we do get some mosquitoes and recommend using bug spray. Drought-like conditions can cause bees and hornets to become an annoyance but can improved by using hornet traps, which we would be happy to show you how to make out of an old soda bottle. We very rarely see deer ticks on the property and wood ticks (also called dog ticks) are primarily a concern if hiking through thick brush such as on the mountain. Overall, using some repellents or fireplace smoke should keep the bugs from interfering with your vacation in even the worst of conditions. Can I see the wolves when I'm camping there? Sure! While you are camping with us, you can hike to the Lakota Wolf Preserve at any time during the day except during wolf watch times. You can also go on one of the twice daily wolf watches at a discounted rate. (Please remember that pets are not permitted near the wolf preserve at any time.) Don't miss the opportunity to see these majestic animals in a natural setting. A seasonal site is rented from the end of April until the middle of October. With a seasonal site you can leave your equipment set up the whole time and come camping whenever the mood strikes you, without having to worry about packing up your gear. Seasonal campers taking the site for the following season can even leave their trailer on the site through the winter for a small storage fee. Renting a site for a season can save you a lot of time and money. Check out our Seasonal Sites page for more information or call us at (800) 545-9662 for a list of sites available. We had a great time at Camp Taylor but we have a couple of concerns or problems that need to be addressed. Who should we contact? We are very sorry your vacation did not live up to your expectations. We know that you have a limited amount of time to spend doing what you want and are honored that you chose to spend that time with us. If a problem presents itself while you are staying with us please do not hesitate to bring it to our attention at the office so we can try to fix it. If you have already left our campground, please contact us with your problem or concern by email at CampTaylorCampground@gmail.com or by phone at (908) 496-4333 so that we can try to resolve the situation. |
Have a question that wasn't answered here? We'd love to help! Call us at:
(908) 496-4333 Sunday thru Thursday, 9am - 6pm. Friday & Sat, 9am - 9pm. Camp Taylor Campground • 85 Mt Pleasant Rd • Columbia, NJ 07832 Copyright Camp Taylor Campground LLC 2012 |
