Many years ago, my Father-in-Law began bringing his daughters to Cape Henlopen State Park for fun beachside camping. Cape Henlopen State Park was a great choice of destination because it offered a short 10 minute walk to the beach, clean campground facilities, great bike paths, and most importantly it was situated close to Rehoboth Beach and all the surrounding amenities including a huge outlet mall and fresh seafood restaurants. Those last 2 activities were a great fallback plan if it started to rain or the girls became “tired” of nature’s beauty.
Fast forward several years, I joined my then Girlfriend and her family on their trip and quickly fell in love with the place. Eventually, I informed my Parents, Aunt and Uncle, Grandma, and Sister about to this cool place and it piqued their curiosity in camping at the Delaware Shore. The next year my entire family joined the trip and it became our annual multi-family tradition. To give some background info, My family has never been camping before or at least not for more than a night in backyard (besides my Dad, who was a Boy Scout and U.S. Army Veteran). Also, we brought my Grandma who ended up being the star camper and has returned every year since. This year she turned 85 and is planning to return with us in September! In the next sections, I will provide a few ideas for your camping trip to Cape Henlopen State Park.
Park Info
The park is about a 3½ hour drive from New York City, so it is relatively close for people in the NYC metro area. If you are traveling from that direction, The Cape May ferry terminal is adjacent to the park so this could be a interesting way to mix up the trip. The Campgrounds have recently been renovated to have better bathroom facilities including showers and the sites now have electric hookups. It does seem the renovation was targeting the R.V. crowd which is fine, but the sites have a lot more driveway and less of a natural footprint than before. Regardless, we still enjoyed our stay last year post the remodel. Do not worry though, this park does offer “walk in” sites which are in a wooded area and there are regular sites that are still in a more natural setting, ( I believe they are in Loop E). They added a camp store on the grounds (They sell firewood) and there are Cabins if camping isn’t your style. Most importantly – this park is Dog friendly! All info and reservations can be found here.
Things to do
I already touched on some of the activities you can do around camp such as walking to the beach (bring your dog on a leash)and biking on paths, but for this section I will list a few more ideas starting within the park and then the surrounding area.
- Fort Miles – This park was created from a historic WWII military base that specialized in Coastal defense using coordinated artillery and observation posts. Throughout the area, much of this infrastructure still exists and can be explored. Visiting Fort Miles Museum gives you an amazing glimpse into life at the base during WWII. I highly recommend one of the Tours provided by the Fort Mile Historic Association. One of the highlights is seeing a 16inch gun from the Battleship, U.S.S Missouri up close.The “Mighty Mo” definitely packed a punch! Ask the attendant at the Camp booth for tour times and info.
- Dogfish Head Brewery – This is my favorite brewery and a visit to the Dogfish Head Brewery is a must do for our trip. The main brewery is about 20 minutes west of the campground. They have a large tasting room, informative tour, and outdoor areas to picnic. It is Dog Friendly also! Check it out here.
- Rehoboth Beach– This beach town is one we spend a lot of time in. There are tons of shops and restaurants to stop at as you walk towards the beach and boardwalk. A lot of the businesses are dog friendly therefore it makes it easy when traveling with a dog. Parking is metered and it can be challenging to find a spot during peak times so be patient. You can easily spend a whole day here exploring.
- Tanger Outlets– Well…it is not my favorite thing to do, but sometimes you have to make compromises in life. This is a good backup plan if you have bad weather on a day of the trip. There is no sales tax in Delaware, so you can go on a shopping spree if there is any room left in the car! The silver lining is that there is a Orvis outlet to kill time in.
Places to Eat
Here are couple of nice casual places to eat around the area because when you’re camping it is sometimes hard to class it up:
Crooked Hammock Brewery – Another Brewery because you can never have too many. This one is combined with a restaurant and has plenty of seating inside and outside to accommodate larger parties as well as dogs in the outside section. The outside area has plenty of yard games to keep everyone entertained and the beer is very good. This place is located in Lewes, DE and is a short drive from the campgrounds. Their website is here.
Dogfish Head Brewpub – Yes, Dogfish is on the list again, but this time it is for their Brewpub located in Rehoboth Beach. You get the same amazing beer as the Brewery, but with awesome food right a few blocks from the beach. The outside area is dog friendly, but last year it was under construction so there was limited space… we still had fun. We will be back in September and I will update this post with any updates. Find info on the Brewpub here.
Grotto Pizza– I was told to put this on the list because it is famous in Delaware and I feel like there is one every other mile there. My family is from Long Island and we would consider this “a Pizza like food product”. However, it is Dog Friendly and there is a location a stones throw from the beach in Rehoboth. So if you are starving because all the food you tried cooking over the campfire incinerated into a pile of ash, consider eating some Delaware pizza. Maybe I am being too harsh, it really isn’t too bad…Plus I think there might be a picture of my dog hanging somewhere in the Rehoboth Beach location.
Conclusion
This was a short & simple overview of camping in Cape Henlopen State Park because sometimes simple is better when it comes to camping. Drive here, set up a tent, crack a cold one, and relax for a few days… you don’t have to do everything or anything!
