The best TENT SITES camping near
Amanda , OHIO

Nice

Our first time camping at Alum Creek this past week (our vacation for 2020) and we were at site G27, at the end of the cul-de-sac. Our pad was very level and the site was a nice size with neighbors blocked by trees (a bonus). We did have a path next to the site, not necessarily for hiking, but a few kids rode their bikes down it. The fire ring was nice and big with a great cooking grate. Only bad thing thing about it was that it was so high off the ground that your wood would burn quickly. We tried to pound it in more, no go, so we added rocks around the outside to help. We had plenty of room for our ez-up/kitchen and our privacy tent to try and stay self contained. We were really happy with the site and would book it again. 

We saw a ton of birds, deer, racoon, cat and even a snake in the campground.

The campground had plenty of trails insides itself including a nature trail for the kids (and big kids too). By our site there was beach access for swimming or kayaking (no dogs allowed on this beach). A playground was up by the entrance - a far walk for kiddos from our site. The bathrooms were kept clean and the bathhouse showers were decent as well. They had the bench inside your shower stall which is always a plus.

The campstore was closed during the week, but I understand they have wood and other items (credit card only). But, you can buy wood right down the road from two houses. The one we went to had $5 bags and $10 bags (exact change only). We saw the park staff daily driving around and the Sheriff a couple of days. 

You can even order from the local restaurant and they will deliver it straight to your site - the pizza was delicious!

We enjoyed renting a cabin with the family at several different times.  

The mountain bike trails are so rugged and fun, difficult for biking.  You can hike them too, and they offer nice views of the lake.

The area seems to have a skunk issue at times, and it can get smelly near the cabins.

The cabins have nice fire pits and kitchens have enough space and facilities to make a nice family dinner.

The lake is large enough to boat on and you can do paddling sports there easily. 

The park has tennis courts and lots of other recreation: boating, hiking, swimming, biking.

This campground is nice.  They are all designated campsites but they are first-come-first serve. They are hike-to only.  

It is great for hiking and backpacking camping but if you are looking for car style camping, this is not it.

The trail is challenging terrain, especially when backpacking.  It can be very wet and muddy in the spring (or after any rains), so be prepared for that.  

The road to it is difficult also (as are most with dispersed camping).

There are no amenities except for an outhouse in the parking lot.

This is pack in/pack out.

Site 9, non-electric on Halloween weekend was great. We were one of two campers on our circle. Site 9 has a pretty level pad and has the biggest area to camp in. We are across from the dump station and the flush toilets. Not horrible, but e bathroom does have a light so it could bother some people. Most sites in non-electric have some sort of shade but not all spaces are created equal. Some sites are small and the pads can be unlevel . The electric sites are the same where some have shade and some do not while some pads are level and some are not. There are vault toilets closest to those sites and no full hookups. They have a nice playground and plenty of trail to hike. The trees were past peak leaf season but still very pretty. The camp hosts make it a point to stop out and say hello which is one of the reasons we keep coming back. It’s a tiny park, a diamond in the rough.

Great spot for walk in or hike in camping! There are a couple of campsites at the trailhead and quite a few all along the trail. There is a 5 mile loop or a longer ~15 mile loop that you can hike and there are campsites every couple of miles. The sites themselves are just semi-cleared areas with stone fire rings so it is totally primitive camping. The trails can be a bit muddy after it rains and probably take a long time to dry out down in the valleys. While there is water in the valleys I wouldn’t use it even with a filter. There are signs posted at the trailhead that advise against it plus there is still active oil drilling in one of the hollows (the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars) There is cell service when you’re up in the ridges but there are a lot of dead zones in the valleys and even at the trailhead. Overall, it was a beautiful, quiet place and I only saw 2 other people in the trail while I was hiking out the second day.

Cool little campground. First come first served with no reservations accepted. The sites are clean with picnic tables and fire rings and can accommodate small RVs. There are a couple of vault style outhouses, dump stations and a couple of water stations as well. No electric or water hookups, though. Came on a Thursday and there were only two sites occupied so it was nice and quiet even though there is a bit of road noise from the nearby roads. There’s also an easy 1 mile trail down to Burr Cove proper. The sites are $15 ($10 in the off season when the water is turned off) and you pay at an honor box at the entrance once you pick your spot.

Most of the sites at this state park campground are very small and don’t have much level ground. Even the sites meant for RVs and trailers are right on top of each other. It’s almost like they took what should have been one site and made it two. There’s a handful of sites that offer a little space and level ground for tent campers. You may or may not have a picnic table and fire ring with a grill at your campsite when you arrive. According to staff, people take the fire rings and I guess there’s nothing they can do. Bathrooms were clean. The lake view trail was nice and accessible from the campground.

This was a last minute reservation and only available due to a cancellation. The campground was full for the weekend. The campground is pretty big with different types of sites. Some are smaller, close to neighbors while other have seclusion with trees. From past experience, if it rains, some of the sites do flood. We had great weather this weekend. The site we reserved had a hill right next to the passenger side/door side of your camper. If you had a big camper, it might be tight to open your slides and an awning. You most likely would not sit right outside your camper door. In fact, the fire ring is behind the site and up a small hill. We set up our ez-up in the back and out of the way, it worked for us. There was also a path that led you into the playground. Speaking of playgrounds, you will hear a lot of kids if the weather is nice. We were right across from the camp host (very nice lady) and very short walk to the bathhouse. The bathhouse had 4 flushable toilets and I think 3 showers. The showers did not have benches in the stall, only on the outside directly across. With a full campground, the bathrooms were kept very clean with the amount of people using it. We walked around and noticed a lot of bathhouses and another playground. We took a hike that led us to the lodge - it was an in and out and just under 5 miles. On our way back we stopped at the camp store which was well stocked with items you may need or not. There is a putt putt course, frisbee disc course, horse trails, dog park, nature center, golf course and more trails nearby. There are plenty of things to do if you like to keep busy or are trying to keep kids entertained. (The bees and stinkbugs were out and about while we were there.)

My friend and I recently stayed at the north ridge campsite, which is the tents only site at Tar Hollow State Park.  I had both positive and negative experiences.  Let's start with the positives.  It's a very secluded campsite so it really feels like you're one with nature.  The pit latrines are convenient for those emergency situations but they're not the cleanest but it is not a far drive to the flush toilets at the RV campsite area near the camp store.  Site 106 is a great site if you choose to stay here.  It is very flat, one of the most flat sites (I think 105 is more flat) and so my night's sleep was great.  

Now for the negatives, which sadly outweigh the positives for my stay.  

You are right next to your camping neighbors.  I have terrible luck and ended up staying next to a very inconsiderate and loud group that included their many dogs. Normally this wouldn't bother me but I could hear all of their conversations because we were so close to them.  You can hear snoring and other "nighttime" noises so just be aware others can and will hear you.  I wasn't able to find the water spigot right away because someone set up their tent right next to it but then was able to find it once they moved their tent.  This is more of a negative of the State Park but the hiking paths are not clearly marked and I am embarrassed to admit I did get lost in the woods.  The map they have is in black in white but the park uses a color system.  This could be solved by taking a picture of the colorful map right by the fire tower.  

Overall, I don't think I would choose to return to this site for camping because you're just way to close to others around you.