Rock Lodge Club
Rock Lodge is a family-oriented nonprofit nudist club located on 145 acres (0.59 km2) of privately owned land in the New Jersey Highlands of Northern New Jersey, about 40 miles (64 km) from Manhattan, New York.
Social nudism started at Rock Lodge in 1932. Currently, nonmember visits to Rock Lodge are arranged through an inquiry at the club website.
The club surrounds a spring-fed lake which is over 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, where summer temperatures are generally about 10 degrees cooler than in New York City. Club activities include swimming, tennis, hiking, volleyball, boating, sailing, and badminton. In addition to its lake, a clubhouse, and its eponymous, historic Stone House (described below), facilities include hard and clay tennis courts, a sauna and hot tub. Club members and visitors represent a diverse group of ages (from babies to senior citizens) and cultures. Social activities include seasonal parties, kids' activities (such as a Lake Day), and a Sunday afternoon Coffee Klatch, where members serve up a meal for everyone present.
CNN correspondent Jeanne Moos visited Rock Lodge and interviewed several people. One told her they found the experience to be a "great stress reliever." Another described it as "very natural."
"They tend to have a sense of humor," Moos quipped after one person described the convenience of visiting a destination where you only need to pack a small bag with just a few clothes. "There are plenty of kids," she reported. "They love running around without clothes: the whole atmosphere seemed wholesome, sort of back to nature." She added, "the mood is anything but sexy, the bodies come in all shapes and sizes, young and old."
Read more about Rock Lodge Club: History
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—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“The Indians invited us to lodge with them, but my companion inclined to go to the log camp on the carry. This camp was close and dirty, and had an ill smell, and I preferred to accept the Indians’ offer, if we did not make a camp for ourselves; for, though they were dirty, too, they were more in the open air, and were much more agreeable, and even refined company, than the lumberers.... So we went to the Indians’ camp or wigwam.”
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