Cape Henlopen State Park

Cape Henlopen is a fantastic state park with tons of shoreline, surfing, kayaking, hiking and biking trails, and a campground. We stayed here at the campground, and even though it was very busy (no vacancies!) it was still reasonably quiet and very well kept up. The beach is FANTASTIC- perfect for swimming on a hot day. The sand is white(ish) and soft, and you don’t have to worry about rocks, although because of the blue crabs you may still want to wear water shoes. They have a camp store, bait and tackle shop, fishing pier, large parking areas, and even a kayak/paddle board tour company on site that’ll take you out to see bottlenose dolphins in the Atlantic!

The park’s fire and lookout towers are one of its highlights, along with the charming Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse. The lighthouse sits right off the coast, and while boat tours run intermittently, you can also take in the view from the park.

Short trails run through coastal forest, while the beach itself offers swimming, a fishing pier, and water sports. If you find that you want to spend more time at the park, a state-run campground has campsites available seasonally.

We think a visit here is one of the best things to do in Delaware!

Not impressive, smelled really fishy. Only stayed for an hour or so.

Camping $30-$125 depending on season and amenities

http://destateparks.com/camping/cape-henlopen/index.asp

The entire campground was renovated and upgrade last winter. Delaware State Parks has done a fantastic job. One of the, if not the best, state campground we have stayed at. It's now our favorite.

We had a spacious, partially shaded, water and electric site. Excellent walking/biking trails. Newly renovated with nice bathhouses. Limited camp store. About a mile walk to ocean. You can easily drive to beach access within the state park. Interesting things to see if you like historical places. Dumpsters were located just beyond the campground exit which was a bit of a walk(we didn’t bring our towed). Made reservations online and arrived after hours and drove through entrance with no problem. Site was clear and “reserved” sign was posted on our site post. We stayed in a 28 foot motor coach. Decent AT&T but couldn’t pick up Dish signal.

The highlight of our stay was biking 6 miles south to Rehoboth Beach. The trail was beautiful as it meandered through woods and marshlands. Instead of trying to find RV parking at the beach, we just locked up our bikes there :)

The beach at the park was not crowded and there was no cost to enter it. There's a WW2 fort nearby that we learned a lot at, and plenty of hiking/biking trails there. The town of Lewes is also very close.

Great park, well maintained. Sites were a little close but plenty of shade trees. No WiFi which was great because I actually saw kids riding bikes and playing without electronics. Close to beaches, flat hiking and biking trails. The town offers plenty of nice places to eat and visit. Would camp here again.

So, to be fair, I might recommend this campground to others but for myself it didn't cut it. For me it was too far from the beach, sites too close together, too noisy, too busy, and as a hiker it was a little disappointing as the only trail was largely on pavement. The closest access to the beach was where they let 4x4s enter which is not the kind of area I'd want to lay out a blanket. It would have been better perhaps if I had brought my bike as there are lots of bike trails. The bathrooms are nice in that they are cleaned daily and are private including showers though the showers were mediocre. There is a convenient camp store which is nice. Cell signal on AT&T and Verizon were good. Stayed in late September 2019.

Campground Review

10/17-10/24 Cape Henlopen SP
Stayed for a week in our 38ft Fifth Wheel. Pull through is the only way to go with larger rigs. Back in sits are not deep. If you can manage without showers and tolerate obnoxious weekend party campers it is a great place. Weekday camping was much more serene, which is what I expect for State Park camping.

Front entry was not designed for big rigs. Very tight oddly placed check-in buildings. Manageable but not easy. Spent more on Signage & Contact Station check-in booths than anything else in the park.

Showers are a s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Push button. Cold water. Bathhouse thermostats Set to 60°. Freezing cold experience. Inmates probably have nicer accommodations. Both old bathhouse and new family style were terrible. You have to practically stand on the wall to get wet. $50/night for electric & water only is a little steep for a State Park.

Sites very tight, no privacy. No rules enforced. Ranger presence is almost non-existent other than speeding through on rare occasion. No after hours number to call for obnoxious campers, music vibrating your camper at 11:30pm. Dogs allowed to run off leash, campers tow in like it’s the Indy 500. Watch your kids.

Camp Hosts were friendly, kept sites clean & were available. They are not able to enforce. Seem like they have very little support from park staff. They are left on their own.

Nice dishwashing station & laundry room behind camp store. Only 1 of 3 wash machines was working and many people doing laundry mid-week.

Nature Center, Bike Paths & Historic First & Beaches are the greatest assets of this park. Nicest SP Nature Center we’ve ever been in. Awesome partnership with Friends of Cape Henlopen to borrow bikes for free (kids, little kid bike trailers & adult bikes). Path around Gordon’s Pond to Rehoboth Beach is a stunning 12mi round trip. Library (bike-able distance) is brand new & very nice. Verizon was 4 bars, excellent coverage.