Clementon Lake Park is located off Route 30 in Southern New Jersey, about 30 minutes SE of Philadelphia. Park hours are from noon until 10pm, Tuesday thru Sunday. Clementon Lake is closed on Mondays.
I tried three times to go to Clementon, only to find them closed. The first time, I had called and was told they would open on May 1. I went there that weekend, and they were closed. The second visit, the park was closed because it had rained in the early morning hours, though the sun was shining bright for the rest of they day. I've since been told that the park is very picky about when it opens, weather-wise. I would strongly recommend calling ahead to confirm that they'll be open.
Admission is cheap, especially after 5. With a Pizza Hut coupon, I paid a measly $6.50 for a POP ticket. I arrived at the park about 5:30, and immediately headed to the Jack Rabbit (more on that later). Clementon is a small park, with maybe 15 or so rides. Besides the coaster, there is a vintage 1919 carousel (original location), a Whip, a Swinging Pirate Ship, a Falling Star, Bumper Cars, log flume, Trabant (I think), train ride around the perimiter, a Music Express ride called the Thunderbolt, a Gravitron, and maybe some more stuff, but nothing large. They have added a water park (who hasn't?) this year called Splash World, which is only partially open at the moment.
The crowds were non-existant on the Friday night I was there, and the staff was very friendly.
The oldest operating coaster in the United States, this 1919 PTC woodie is quite fun. Sporting a recent paint job (Tim O'Brien's book mentions that the cost to repaint the ride was twice the cost to build it in 1919!), the ride is in very good shape. They were running one train, a red PTC with seat dividers and standard lap bar. A second train lay behind the 1st turnaround, in the weeds, dead by neglect. On the inside of the 1st turnaround is the remains of a Traver Circle Swing, I think. Rusted little planes on cables, and the rusting steel supports. But back to the coaster.
After leaving the station, you turn right and hook up with the lift hill. The chain lift is interesting in that 1) it doesn't run all the time, just long enough to get the train over the top, and 2) since the tracks ap- proaching the lift are almost on ground level, the chain appears from beneath the ground to hook up to the train. Kind of neat, IMHO. Over the lift is a mediocre first drop, nothing special. A slow turnaround later is the second drop, the highlight of the ride. If you're in the back seat, you'll get some nice air dropping down, but the front seat is better, for when you crest the next 2 hills you'll get some solid air. After these two hills (#2 and #3), the ride is pretty uneventful as it completes its figure-eight layout. The proximity of the trees is a nice effect, enabling passengers to reach out and grab some leaves, and the fact that the Jack Rabbit has no underwheels makes it unique.
Since the park was so empty, I managed to ride the Jack Rabbit for close to 4 hours without really leaving the station except for the occasional food or bathroom break. As long as you weren't in the front or back seat, you could stay on the ride as long as you like. I don't know if this policy would carry over on a crowded day, but it might. The operators were a lot of fun, and no TPM whatsoever. You wanna take pictures on the ride, be our guest (watch for these on the ftp site soon). At one point, my lap bar wouldn't open for about 10 circuits. What a shame.
Overall, Clementon Lake is worth the visit just to ride the oldest operating coaster, the 74 year old Jack Rabbit. Once Leap The Dips at Lakemont gets operating again, the Jack Rabbit will fall to a distant second place, but it still delivers a nice ride at a friendly park.