Where Is Camp Crystal Lake & Is It a Real Place?

If you’ve seen Friday the 13th (1980), you know that Camp Crystal Lake is the summer camp that Jason Voorhees terrorizes 22 years after drowning the lake as a young boy in 1957. You may not know that Camp Crystal Lake is a real place you can visit, all without the risk of a slasher rising out of the water and killing the camp counselors!

Where Is Camp Crystal Lake?

First things first, Camp Crystal Lake isn’t called Camp Crystal Lake in real life. It is actually called Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, located in Hardwick, New Jersey. This is where the very first Friday the 13th movie was filmed.

Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco is short for the North Bergen Boy Scouts. It is a 380-acre youth camp run by the Boy Scouts of America.

During the summer, Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco is filled with youth campers and Boy Scouts, but starting in the fall, Camp Crystal Lake is open for business to those who want to get an up-close and personal view of the infamous lake.

You can take a tour of Camp Crystal Lake by purchasing tickets for any of the events that the camp alumni host. The tour consists of a one-mile walking tour with a knowledgeable tour guide where you will spend time at each filming location on the property.

In addition to the tour, you can also participate in canoeing, archery, Q&A sessions, and much more. There are often guest appearances from those who starred in the movie, so you never know who you may run into on a tour!

A word of advice? Don’t sneak off to one of the cabins. Legend has it that a young couple was murdered in one of the cabins in 1958.