If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent near Athens, look no further. The Dyrt can help you find the best tent campsites for your next trip. Search nearby tent campgrounds or find top-rated spots from other campers.
$40 - $125 / night
Located 1.5 miles from the Baileys Trail System (Chauncey Trailhead) and even closer to Wayne National Forest. Site is secluded in summertime yet close to state SR 13. It is situated off the old Sunday Creek Coal Mine railroad bed and Sunday Creek. Tent camping and portable/pull-behind units only. Amenities include an 8' x 8' deck pad and a fire ring with plenty of wood available. The campground has municipal water, a gas generator, a composting toilet, as well as a gas camping stove. Cell service (Verizon) is excellent. Gate is locked and night and there are security cameras. Owner lives on the property. There are two group campsites of three tent pads each. Price listed is for a tent pad, fire ring and amenities. 2 guests per tent pad, 1 car per guest. Campers are free to set up camp (or hammock) anywhere in the designated 2-acre space.
Get away to Pop's Place Camping and Cabins. A small primitive camping area in SE Ohio. Where you are 10 minutes away from Burr Oak State Park, Tecumseh Trails Off-road and Scenic Trails Recreation Land. Other areas of interest are The Triple Nickle, Perry Forest ATV Park and Wayne National Forest. A hunters or ATV riders place to be, off the beaten path. We are tent, Motorcycle & ATV friendly. Please call ahead for availability.
$15 - $125 / night
Recreation areas with activity Dispersed Camping: Elm Trailhead Long Ridge Trailhead Monday Creek Trailhead New Straitsville Trailhead Red Oak Trailhead Scarlet Oak Trailhead Sycamore Trailhead White Oak Trailhead Camping is allowed at during the OHV and mountain biking open season.
The horse camp has ten sites are provided at the campground, each with a 45' long by 15' wide parking space. Two sites are fully accessible for people with disabilities. Each site has a covered paddock, fire pit, grill, and tent pad.
Located 70 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio, the Athens Unit of the Athens Ranger District is home to the Wayne National Forest Welcome Center. From here you can learn about all that the Wayne National Forest has to offer and plan your trip.
Primitive camping is allowed at no charge at the Old Stone Church Trailhead.
This trailhead is part of the Stone Church Horse Trail System. Named for the skeletal ruins of an old stone church nearby, the Stone Church Horse Trail System provides a great opportunity for scenic riding on 21 miles of trails. Various loops for other distances are available. The horse trail winds through the rolling hills of the Wayne National Forest. The trails will lead you through a variety of vegetation: open fields, brushland, mature forest, and new forest. Along the way, you may glimpse wildlife, and will recognize the influence of humans, both now and in the past. You will also pass many of our land management activities.
Providing a place for all God's children to grow in Faith, Fellowship and Fun through Christ-centered camps and outdoor ministries. Located in the beautiful Hocking Hills in southern Fairfield County, Ohio, it is a quick and convenient drive that feels a million miles away - providing the serenity and connection with God's creation that only being emerged in nature can provide. Learn more about who we are, what we do and how you can participate in or support our work. As a non-profit with a seasonal mission, we still must maintain our facilities throughout the year to allow us to adequately support our mission. Lodging is a great way to help support our camp and help us cover our basic costs throughout the year while enjoying the outdoor experience and facilities that Geneva Hills has to offer.
$35 - $600 / night
Guide
Easy pull-thru site for our small travel trailer. Each pull-thru is set-up for horses, but RVs are allowed (according to NFS website). Maybe because it was Halloween night, maybe due to hunting season, I dunno, but there seemed to be more traffic than expected for this road. Our only neighbors got a little... rowdy, but it was okay.
Campsite fee is $15 on the honor system. If you have a National Park's Golden Age or Access pass, they honor a 50 percent discount.
I had good 4G ATT cell service. Worked well, with no drops. Data was a bit slower than usual but still good.
The only facilities here were a single pit toilet (surprisingly clean) and a trash can at each site. There may be more services during the height of the season, at least water for horses, but nothing else I could tell.
A short distance further down the road, just after it turns to gravel, at the Old Stone Church trailhead, there are grassy places to back in smaller campers/RVs. And even further down the road, after it turns back to asphalt :D, there's a private campground with utilities, I think, but we only saw it and didn't check it out.
Guide
Autumn is the best time to experience this Park. Less crowded than summer. 5 million visitors last year. More than Yellowstone. Guided hike was the best.
Traveler
Tent site was nice. We could make dinner and there weren’t any mosquitoes even though it was right above a swamp. It was a nice driving distance from Hocking Hills and a neat place to camp.
Scout
Bathrooms very clean. Loved the free games. Cabin was very clean and had comfortable beds. Doesn’t make sense to have quiet time at dark when bar nearby plays loud music outside till late.
Scout
Drove past Sandy Hollow which is another great Dispersed Campground with around 82 sites to cover all types of vehicles within a mile of Hook Lake.
Hook Lake has less sites but also sites to handle all types of vehicles.
I am here in October and there are very few other campers, two at the moment.
I chose a site on a hill that I was able to get my 40+ rig into, I was all by myself with a great view.
I have Verizon which is almost constant, and TMobile which is spotty. Other sites might not have as good of cell service.
They have trash, but no water.
Both of the Camp Grounds mentioned there is no danger of getting a big rig into and not out of so don’t be afraid.
Guide
Small campground with sunny and shady spots. Host on site. Pit toilets clean but a few insects flying. Dumpster available by bathroom. Register at kiosk by bathroom. FF sites only. Besides host only 1 camper. FREE!!!
GuideThis is a great place to visit and camp. I am a tent camper so I was in the non electric site. The hiking is fantastic. Rose lake is also a wonderful lake and quite beautiful. Will always come back
Ranger
I stayed in the non-electric, tent-only campground NOT the RV campground. Out of curiosity, I drove through the RV campground and it was so loud and cramped! But the tent-only area is separate. Walk-in sites with pit toilets and potable water. The map of how the sites are laid out online is extremely inaccurate, I would not have picked my site if it had been accurate. But there was only one other camper and we all had plenty of space - I could barely see them through the trees. All sites appeared to have a picnic table and fire ring. Many miles of trails / dirt roads for hiking and biking. Clear skies at night. Very relaxing.
Scout
Stayed with the family for 5 days/ 4 nights and had a wonderful time. The KOA had a lot of amenities to offer. The staff was friendly, courteous and great to deal with. The sites were nice and wide but not all level but it's an area that has lots of hills. The pool was wonderful, the bathroom was clean and spacious. The camp store has everything you may need with a Walmart 10 minutes down the road. Close to the park to go explore but the KOA had a lot to offer for your stay.
Scout
This campground has been a staple of Hocking Hills for decades. Finally some new owners took over in May ‘24 and have really done an amazing job renovating things. The staff is super friendly, large primitive campsites right on the river with tons of shade trees! They are even building treehouses to stay in. We love it here!
Legend
Narrow roads getting to state park. Campground in need of an update and targeted maintenance. Ensure your rig can fit into your selected site prior to booking as sites can be small and hilly. Sites are asphalt. Not many sites are level. Most patrons seem to be local - weekends full of loud music and drinking.
Scout
Tent sites are on a steep uneven hill, we had site 4. Tent sites are super close, we can hear our neighbors perfectly as if they were talking to us. Only a few feet between each site. Map showed we would be right next to the lake, this is incorrect, lake is not accessible or even visible from campsite.
Scout
If you tent camp they don’t allow access to the bathrooms other than a porta potty open to the public and no showers either. Kinda messed up. The fish were not biting for anyone. It’s part of a public park. The staff were excellent thought, and the price of $20 a night unbeatable. Cheapest to visit the Mothman
TravelerIt was a good campground, we had a hard time getting our rv to be level but overall we enjoyed it.
Traveler
I highly recommend pop's place. I stayed there Aug 2024 and as of that date the rustic tent camping was $20. This is an ideal base camp for riding your motorcycle on the scenic roads in that area of Ohio such as the triple nickel. The owners are very nice people and helpful. The porta john and shower were very clean. The shower uses an on demand water heater. The narrow cabin you see in some photos is now a gravel pad for RV type camping with electric. The wider cabin in the photos is still there, but was currently rented so he couldn't take me on a tour of it. He took me on a tour of the new cabin he is building and it will be a nice play to stay when he is done. They sell firewood for $5. The common grass area has wood lounge chairs, common fire ring, playground, and cornhole boards. If you are tent camping and need to charge your phone he has no problem with you using the electric outlet at the RV site if no one is there. I forgot to suggest to him that maybe add an external electric outlet at the shower house since electric is there for the water heater. There is a spigot on the outside of the shower house to get drinking water. There is a basketball backboard near the current cabin if you happen to bring a basketball for your kids to use. There is good verizon cell service there, I did not expect it because of the location and hills in the area. I don't hammock camp, but it looked like there were trees far enough apart in the line of pines for hanging 2 hammocks. One of the photos showed 3 picnic tables for tent campers. There was only one when I stayed, but I assume it's a temporary or cyclical thing and I was the only tent camper and would have shared it anyway.
Of note for motorcyclists is that the road the campground is on is paved (good riding to the north of it) and the campground drive is decent gravel for street bikes.
Traveler
Very quiet campground with little to no other riders around. Only complaint would be the non equestrians staying in the equestrian area
Guide
This campground has been around since the 1800s. It has a lot of permanent residents and we had a lot of fun checking out the different set ups.
There are a lot of amenities but they need updated. The playgrounds need replaced. The activities building had a pool and game room area, which we used a lot. These were dated as well but our kids had a blast and that is all that matters.
Everyone we engaged with at the campground was very pleasant. We went midweek so it was not very crowded other than the permanent residents. The park is very quiet.
We did a couple day trips down to Pomeroy, which is a nice little river town with ice cream, playgrounds, and shops less than five miles from the campground.
TravelerWe stayed there years ago. Our only complaint was how close the sites are together. Some are down over banks & some are on a slant. It was rather noisy when we were there too. Nice beach area for swimming though!
Scout
This is our first time staying at a non state park. I was a little nervous, but I already booked our next visit here ! To start, the staff are absolutely amazing and so kind. We stayed at site 61 and the lake view is perfect. Bring your hammock because there are plenty of trees !!
There is a great playground for kids and a swimming hole. The bathrooms are so clean. You can kayak on the lake and they do have rentals .
Ranger
Camped at the west side of the vaulted toilet lot. Arrived about 5 PM and all 3 camping spots were empty. Lots of trucks and toy haulers heading up the various roads into the late evening. We slept soundly, made breakfast and were on our way. Great stop over location. Vaulted toilet and garbage cans were a welcome bonus.
Guide
We spent one night of dispersal camping here. It was a beautiful area with a vault toilet. We felt safe enough to leave our windows only screened.
There were fishermen coming and going several times through the night.
The vault toilet had not been cleaned recently, nor had trash been emptied.
RangerThis is a very nice campground near all of the attractions of Hocking Hills, Ohio. We had full hookups that were excellent, but if we didn't there were several new restrooms throughout the grounds. The camp store has the usual stuff you'll find and is always seems to have a friendly attendant behind the counter. There are several fun things for the kids to do, including a very large bounce pad and a pretty nice looking playground. There's a somewhat small swimming area, but it seems to be pretty clean for a pond. The campground is right on Lake Logan and there's access to the water at the bottom of the grounds. There's also boat rentals right around the corner.
ScoutMy kinda place
Guide
First time at this park booked last minute so options were limited wasn't sure what leftovers we would get but ended up with 2 great sites. We lucked out and had 2 trees just right for hammock relaxing but it seems like lots of sites have no trees just depends on the section of park not alot of privacy between. Sites but there huge so you don't feel stuffed in next to everyone. Shower houses are limited 1 in each section but plenty of flush bathrooms located all over and kept very clean. Internet works very well verizon and att.
Traveler
The site that we are currently staying in is nothing like the pictures online(I am more than happy to share photos.) I contacted the owner, he talked down to me, continually interrupted me and even raised his voice trying to intimidate me. The site has serious concerns. Such as the Nextdoor cabin fire pit is located less than 6ft from where I am suppose to park my brand new truck. There is only gravel, no grass for 12ft outside of our camper. Our site appears to be a driveway or turnaround and numerous ppl have tried to drive through, Esp with gulf carts. I raised my concerns and unhappiness to the owners and they argued and talked down to me. The husband raised his voice and essentially yelled at me basically telling me we could pack up and leave. This has not been a great experience so far and I am not sure I will ever stay at a jellystone or recommend one to anyone in the future.
Traveler
The staff and people were nice and helpful. However, based on the picture I thought it was like KOA or Jellystone and it might have been in its past but not now. It felt more like a workcamp then a campground. Many long stay residents and their sites looked like it. Heavily patched campers that will most likely never move again and one site looked like a junkard. The resident did seem to love fishing in the pond, which I guess has very large catfish so if you like that you might like it.
TravelerThis place was really cute. I personally feel like it was a little too open for my liking. I’d rather feel like I’m out in the woods more and maybe a little bit more space between you and your neighbor . However, it was nice. One of the gentlemen that worked there I think also stays during the season. His name is Steve. He is super friendly and helpful. He taught my kids some fishing tricks ! And don’t get me started on the bathrooms!! I have NEVER seen such amazing, clean, nice bathrooms at a campground we decided to use their shower instead of our camper shower ! 
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Athens, OH is Zaleski State Forest with a 4.4-star rating from 16 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 25 tent camping locations near Athens, OH, with real photos and reviews from campers.
