Nelson Ledges Quarry Park

I was here over the summer for a show and had a great time! I would go 5 stars if it weren’t for the lack of information leading up to and on the day of the show.
I had no idea what to expect and when we were suddenly told to get there a day ahead of time for the event, there was no way I could get more time off of work, so we were kind of stuck trying to figure out our camping situation in a pinch. Luckily, we found a spot, but the situation was pretty stressful and confusing.
Once we were settled, though, things were great! The food, the people, the show, the vendors. It was such a wonderful time and I can’t wait to plan a camping trip with a group of friends next summer!

The Quarry Park itself is incredible. I believe they have day swimming and you can go out pretty far and there is even a place where you can cliff jump.
I went to a music festival here during labor day weekend. I won’t go into too much detail for the music festival as it probably deserves its own review, but the grounds it was held on were pretty fantastic. I would definitely take any chance to spend a few days here and camp because the nature you’re surrounded with is pretty incredible and swimming/​floating here is a blast. I look back fondly now that it’s October at just 3 weeks away when it was 85 degrees and I was on a floaty and a beach here. Man, those were the days.
The lifeguards were nice and I felt safe swimming long distances here. I really enjoyed how much of the water is opened up for swimming, rather than just a super small portion which is how I feel like many lakes are setup. I’d definitely come back here.

Nelson Ledges Quarry Park is run by drug addicts! So its no surprise that Joe Pirtz (the guy with white hair and fake hippie garb) works the front gate! They have TAG task force in there (Joe Pirtz works for them as undercover SNITCH) to bust people while the owners and workers are out of their gourd)
Set that all aside and your paying $ 50 bucks to camp in a garbage filled haven for druggies! The hippies walking around dont even have REAL DREAD LOCKS they get them sewn in as extensions! What is the world coming to?

Love to take the kids here to swim. I love to go here to float in the adult section when I have a day alone. The lifeguards are rude! Present day SS!!!

This place is the best place in the universe. Peace, Love and Harmony. Many things to see and explore. Not a place for children during festival weekends but to each his own. I give this campground a A+++++++

The park is beautiful and well set up but they have a serious garbage problem. Everywhere I walked there was garbage, in the trees, in the bushes, on the ground. It detracts a bit from the natural beauty of this place. There are a lot of positives and I would definitely return. The festival I went to was well run. The bathrooms were cleaned daily so make sure to use them in the morning. There was a good choice of food vendors and you can also make a fire by your site if you want. It was a very relaxed atmosphere but they need to step up the garbage collection.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE PLACE IN THE WHOLE WORLD! I live in NY and have been coming here since I found out about it in 2009. It’s is so beautiful and calm and the best place to camp, swim, hike, and enjoy live music. I absolutely love it here and recruit new people to come every year :)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. I love NLQP. I’ve visited three times, each for Gratefulfest: ’06, ’07, and ’12. Each visit was during a multi-​day camping festival, so I had plenty of time to evaluate.
This place is mostly off the radar for folks who don’t live nearby. For those of us who have made the discovery, we’ve found our way to a campground with seemingly endless woods, spacious campgrounds, and a quarry filled with fresh water, clean enough for the Virgin Mary to go for a swim. It always seems to be full of families, too — lots of kids having a great time, and parents who are just so happy to be away from home for a while.
The music comes from two stages, located so close to each other that a change of attention requires about a 90 degree turn to the right or the left. The beach is right nearby, so if you’re floating around in the quarry, the music is still clear as day. And this year, the food vendors were offering excellent food at totally reasonable prices. Ever had a walking taco?
I’ve seen some drug activity here for sure. But that was five years ago — in terms of people openly selling drugs, that stuff apparently doesn’t fly here anymore. This year, we only had only one person try to sell us cannabis in a five-​day period, which we respectfully declined. Pretty reasonable for a hippie jam band festival.
But those Port-​A-​Potties can get pretty hairy.

This place is wack it is pretty much a haven for drug dealers and people doing drugs, It is also severely over-​priced for shows. The quarry and the landscape is beautiful. A nice place to go if theres not a festival going on. But be careful

What can I say about this place that would do it justice and make you understand just how amazing and truly wonderful it is? What can I write here in this review that would make you instantly jump into your car, hop on your bike, or throw on some shoes and begin your trek? Oh, I know. Just one word.
Home.
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park is truly a place I hold very dear. Beautiful woods, beautiful beach, beautiful water, and most of all, beautiful people. The people I’ve met here have become friends that I can’t wait to see. Picture it: You’re directed to a camp site (all of which are perfect) and you begin to set up camp and notice a young couple doing the same thing not 15 feet away from you. Guess what? Instant friendship. We spent almost the entire weekend together as a group, bonding, laughing, sitting by the warm campfire and just taking in the amazing sounds and sights the woods had to offer.
There is plenty of hiking to be had here if that is your thing. You can get lost pretty easily, which I love. You may get lost, but don’t worry, you’ll end up right back where you’ll need to be. I always have. There are so many nooks to find and either watch campers jump from a 10 – 12 foot cliff into crisp, clean water or gaze up at the dark, rich night sky.
If you came for the swimmin’, well then you’re in luck! Sandy beaches await you in paradise. Real sand too, not tiny pebbles. Sand you can sink your feet into. The water is always clean because of the filtration system they have installed. If you ever have a chance, take a pair of goggles with you and swim out a little ways. You may be able to see some of the items they sunk in order to create a nice little scuba diving playground. That’s right folks, you read correctly! There’s also SCUBA DIVING to be had! I’ve never done it myself, but I’m sure it’s just loads of fun!
All throughout the warmer season of the year, NLQP (that’s right, we’re on an acronym name basis) holds plenty of Festivals, with awesome live music, amazing food (OMG Disco Pizza!!!) cool vendors with cool things to sell, laser light shows, fireworks, it really goes on and on. And no, it’s not like you’re typical crowded street fair or huge pseudo-​Woodstock. You have plenty of room to dance down the dirt paths, sing as loud as you like and smile through without a care in the world!
There are showers that are located in the front of the park, I’ve never used ‘em. There’s a lake people! During festival season, the porta-​johns due get fowl, but they’re pretty good on upkeep. Just make sure to bring your own toilet paper with you.
You aren’t allowed to bring in any glass containers into the park or any outside firewood (due to quarantine of certain species of bug) but if you’re willing to push a decent sized wheel barrel to your site and back, it ain’t a thing. There’s potable water but again, you’re gonna have to truck it back to your site. Just bring your own. Might as well!
I wish I could turn these 5 red stars into 5 GOLD stars. This place deserves nothing but the best rating because it’s given me nothing but the best times of my life. I’m completely serious. This place truly feels like home to me. I love it here.

NLQP is by far one of the coolest places on earth. Imagine a spring fed rock quarry with stages, wooded camping, and some of the happiest people on earth surrounding you. I have so many fond memories here. I really feel as if NLPQ is a coming of age grounds. Young people in search of sex, drugs and rock and roll spill into the festival grounds looking to be completely rocked out of their heads, and i think that happens, but in a much different way than expected. It fills a void that used to be found on shakedown street at grateful dead shows. A place where traditions of kindness and unconditional love are passed on to the new faces and ensures that that ideology makes it to the next generation of heads. I don’t want to come off sounding like i am half cocked and full of psychedelics, but there is something to be said about learning about life out of school and NLQP was an important place and time for me.
I usually come out for Grateful fest, which is a festival celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead. Hippies from all over the Midwest come to dance in the sun, swim in the quarry and mingle amongst each other. I usually set up a booth here and vend glass pendants which sell very well to this demographic. There is a small food stand by the stage and potable water available, but please come prepared like you would be car camping. If you have never been here and like music festivals, make it a point to come town to Nelsons for a weekend. Best time ever.