Trap Pond State Park

It’s a fairly nice park, but didn’t really blow me away. I think I’m spoiled by the state and local parks near me in VA.
I went for a quick run on the way home from the beach. I entered near the campground and explained to the attendant that I was just using the trails. I was still charged the $ 8 entry fee and the attendant was very dry, not friendly at all.
As for the trails, they were ok. I mostly stuck to the Loblolly Trail, which was decently maintained– other side trails were not. I was also hoping to have more views of the pond. It was still nicely wooded and there were ½ mile markers. It was hot and I couldn’t find any water fountains by the nature center restrooms and the center was closed for a summer camp.
I’m sure if I had sought out water activities or had kids to take advantage of the playground I’d have a higher opinion. I much preferred the trails in Rehoboth at Cape Henlopen.

Our first time camping, we had a great time! The only downfall is if you bring a tent you cannot bring your car up to your campsite, So remember that when packing!

For out of state residents, the entrance fee is $ 8 for the entire day.
We had a relaxing family time in this clean state park. It is great they have two distinct playgrounds: 2 – 5 years old and 5+ — 12 years old.
The trails are well-​maintained.
We relaxed seeing some wild life.
They have well-​maintained tables in shaded areas with grills.

(4.5 stars)
I won’t say I’m hyperactive, but when on vacation (which 99% of the time = Camping), I like to have a variety of activity choices, so TPSP is pretty darned perfect.
There is what the state of Delaware calls a pond, but you might call a lake because it is a decent sized body of water, it is a great place to paddle and/​or fish.
Supposedly it is one of the top bass fishing places in the U.S. If so, those suckers were NOT speaking to me on the weekend I was there, but I still had fun out on the water.
There are miles of trails, none of them challenging, through all sorts of different habitats. There’s a nice nature center and there are birds and other critters to watch.
But what sets TPSP apart is the bicycles! They have a bike loan program where you can, for 0 moolahs (except your donation, which you will make because you’re nice) take a bike out for an hour. It’s great! They have all sorts of bikes from tiny ones to big knobby wheeled mountain bikes. I was able to do the main trail around the entire park in that time and I’m not any sort of athlete.
The ONLY reasons I don’t give it a straight 5 is because the bathrooms were just passable and the fire ring was at a really odd location.
p. s. The closest place to buy a fishing license is a WalMart. The Gander Mountain in Salisbury does NOT sell DE licenses.

great place for camping… nice cleans sites. cabins are terrific… ranger staff was super friendly and very helpful. went with a church group of about 25 people and all of us had a great time and loved this place. we plan to be back again next year. nice views of the pond from the cabins. they offer bike, kayaks, conoes, paddleboats, hiking, fishing, live music, bingo, arts and crafts, and plenty more. theres something for everyone to do… one of my best caming experiences yet!!!

Trap Pond is beautiful! The entire campground is wooded and the atmosphere is quiet and peaceful. We would give this five stars except for a couple of small details. First, the maps provided make it difficult to find the hiking/​walking trails. Second, the sites are a bit close together and no trees or bushes separate one site from the next. This is our first visit to Trap Pond, and we will definitely be back.

We’ve camped here for years, and I often walk the trails in the mornings if I work down in this area. I figured I’d finally post a review, since we’re just back from camping and it’s fresh in my mind.
First thing first: If you can, get the island sites. Both of them. They cost a little extra, and you’ll probably have to reserve well in advance, and it will be totally worth it. I reserved in January for the 2^nd weekend in June, and it was the only weekend available between May and mid-​August when I made the reservation. If you don’t reserve in advance, then you shouldn’t have much problem getting one of the other sites even on a walk-​in basis on the weekend, but the island sites are where it’s at — it’s just enough set aside from the rest of the campground that you have great privacy and much less noise pollution. There is no power or water on the island sites, but the nearest water pump is an easy walk away (see the map on the park’s website) and we hauled water for dish and hand washing all weekend in a 5 gal jug we brought with us for that purpose.
You can get power and water on some of the sites, even for tent camping. They also each have a picnic table and a fire pit with a grate that’s high enough to cook over charcoal but not high enough to cook over wood. Our site had two cinder blocks, which someone else probably left behind, and they were adequate to support the grate we brought with us for cooking. You can purchase firewood from the park office, and even in the rain (like this weekend, tropical storm Andrea) it’s usually reasonably dry since it’s stored in a shed. There’s also a small camp store in the office where they sell almost everything you might find that you’ve forgotten, other than duct tape, which was the only thing we actually did forget. They do have extra tent poles and stakes, tarps, some basic food stuff, ice cream and popsicles and cold drinks, bug control products, etc… And discs, for the disc golf course.
Speaking of rain, the whole place is basically sand underneath, so even though we camped there in a tropical storm and it rained for a good part of the weekend, and at times it rained torrentially, once it stops the puddles are gone almost immediately because sand drains fast.
There’s a latrine over near the island sites that serves most of the tent sites. It has a regular porcelain toilet looking seat, it just drains into a big old dark hole that you won’t want to look at too carefully instead of flushing. Instead of a sink, there are two hand gel dispensers. On this visit, the toilet paper ran out in the women’s latrine late Saturday evening and wasn’t restocked until around 9am on Sunday morning, but that’s unusual. They are usually well stocked and maintained. The smell inside the latrine is nearly non-​existent because it has excellent ventilation. The ventilation is actually so excellent that it sometimes causes an odd breeze up your tailpipe when you’re using it. The downside to that excellent ventilation is that it vents out into the campground, so by the end of the weekend, even though it was a breezy (again, tropical storm) weekend, the campsites around the latrine can get a bit foul smelling. One of the people who was with our party had campsite E3 and by Sunday night it was pretty gross smelling. Check the map of the campground before you reserve and choose wisely.
There’s a bath house over on the other side of the campground with flushing toilets and showers, maybe a 5 minute amble from the island sites. They’re remarkably clean for what they are, but they are still campground facilities. There is hot water for sinks and showers there. There was one bathroom stall out of order on the women’s side, but there was never a wait when I went there and I didn’t notice anything running out of toilet paper there. There is hand soap and sinks and one mostly ineffective hand dryer. Obviously, you should bring your own toiletries, and I also highly recommend flip flops for the shower. There’s one double hook for your belongings and a bench inside the shower curtained area, and a long shelf with multiple hooks outside of the showers. Again, never a wait for a shower when we were there.
Lots of other stuff to do on-​site including various boat rentals and disc golf, but you can find all that on the park’s website.

Delaware, being the second-​smallest state, doesn’t have a lot of parks to show for itself, and indeed is the only state without a National Park, but it does have some good state parks like Cape Henlopen and this park, Trap Pond.
Trap Pond is the northernmost cypress swamp. That’s interesting – have you ever seen a cypress swamp? It’s beautiful, spooky and a wonderful place to kayak or canoe. Trap Pond also has all kinds of camping, RV, some with water and electric hookup, tent sites, cabins to reserve and YURTS. Yes, a yurt. A yurt is a Mongolian tent, semi-​permanent and it’s really unusual and fun. The yurts are available March 1 through November 30, with a maximum stay of two consecutive weeks. Weekend reservations must include two nights — Friday and Saturday, OR Saturday and Sunday. They are reasonable in price (about 240 per week) and you cannot bring your pet, so be aware of that. We stayed in one for a weekend and it was very fun.
If you are tent camping or having a campfire, be aware that due to pests that are making their way across the country, you need to leave your own firewood at home and buy your firewood at the park, and they have a very nice supply store right near the entrance. Please be kind to the environment and don’t violate this rule; tree loss due to infestation is ugly, expensive and devastating.
There is fishing, boating, very nice trails to hike and see the wildlife (Delaware has great birds.) In my opinion, this is Delaware’s prettiest park, although Cape Henlopen is almost a tie, with its seashore.