Though we have been exploring more military campgrounds this year, that has mainly been as a cost control measure.  Our preferred camping experience involves being surrounded by nature to a greater degree than most military or private parks provide.  As such we have an affinity for state and county parks, finding that they strike the right balance between services and environment.  Since we would only be in Delaware for four days, we decided that a state park would be the right choice, but which one?

We had wanted to stay in the Brandywine Valley area, which we had heard great things about and was much less out of the way for follow on trip north, but the state park there did not have any RV camping.  We considered going even further out of the way towards Rehobath Beach, but the popularity of the place, particularly on a weekend, just didn’t quite appeal, so after some research we selected Trap Pond over a couple of other also well reviewed options.

So we concluded our four day stay in Annapolis late Friday morning and headed south east across the bay to Delaware.  Now that’s the sort of ride between sites we like: less than two hours, only 82 miles, on mostly good quality highways, in good weather and with limited traffic.

Early afternoon we checked in at the ranger station and headed for the site I had selected close to the water in the C loop.  Unfortunately, just as we found at Oscar Scherer and a couple of others, the utilities were poorly positioned, and though I could string together 75 feet of water hose, there was no way to connect electricity with my 25 feet of shore power.  I called up the ranger station and per my request they moved us to the next site over.

Though a touch further from the water, it was still a great site.  Heck they all seemed like great sites.  The park contains four loops containing 142 sites (130 with power and water) under the canopy of a tall loblolly pine forest.  There are several connect ponds, and miles of bike, horse, and hiking trails.  The wildlife was abundant, particularly the active squirrels and water fowl.  The there is no sewage connection, there is a standard dump station, and a decent shower/toilet house.

We had glorious weather our first full day, and enjoyed the nearby areas of the park as well as driving through the nearby towns.  During the middle two days or our stay we experienced, unfortunately, near continuous rain and drizzle.  We hunkered down and watched recorded videos for much of hat time, but eventually we braved the wet roads for a day trip to the two large farmers/flea markets in the area.  We incorporated some fresh fruit and spices from one of them into our next couple of meals.

We also found a very welcoming moose lodge 20 minutes away in Seaford.  We liked the ambiance enough that we made two visits during our four day stay.  Like a lot of lodges, they don’t seem to get a lot of out of towners, and members are eager to hear what brings us by.  This often involves a free drink, so there is that.  A big thanks to Moose Lodge 1728 for the welcome.

The weather cleared on our last day, allowing a bit of day hiking, exploration, and the bagging of handful of geocaches within the park.  During that process I jumped a guard rail and nearly landed on top of this guy, which though he has a head and body shape similar to the viperid family of venomous snakes, is more likely just an Eastern Hognose.  Feel free to chime in if you disagree.

We are really happy with our choice for Delaware, and hope the rest of our one stop states provide as much enjoyment.