Best Equestrian Camping near West Columbia, WV

I get asked "where should we go camping or hiking in the Midwest?" Hocking Hills State Park is always my go-to answer. 

It has a ton of different terrains, it's easily accessible from Columbus, OH, and has great hiking opportunities. 

This particular campground is amazing because it's located nicely to many hiking trails but far away that you aren't overly crowded so you still get the feeling that you're in nature.

I've been here a ton growing up in the horse campground area, but most recently was there for tent camping. We were surrounded mostly by RVs, but we fit in quite nicely into our site. 

The sites were nicely spaced out and the hiking trails were all nearby.

Stayed at the youth campground from 8/17/18 to 8/19/18. We had 5 people staying at site 7. From driving around it seems we had one of the better sites because many were joint sites (next to each other). Most of the other sites had some flooding and another campers car got stuck in the mud.

There are no toilets close to this site but the toilets at this campground left something to be desired. 2 smelled so bad, I couldn’t use them. They were also covered in spiders, ants, and other bugs.

There is no running water in this area and the closest showers are back at the visitors center 6+ miles away.

Some ATT and Verizon service can be found at the site but it is very inconsistent.

I would not recommend this area for camping. It is far away from attractions and no running water. The ground is uneven and there are a lot of bugs. One night we had an issue with a raccoon.

You will need to drive everywhere as walking on the main road is extremely dangerous.

At this site you are close to Ash Cave, Firetower, and Cedar Falls.

Hocking Hills State Park, Oh-Site 89. https://thehockinghills.org/

Hocking Hills State Park offers close proximity to most of the popular natural attractions...Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, Cantwell Cliffs, etc....but for a tent camper that prefers solitude and space, I found it unappealing.

I did arrive late on a Monday evening, mid-October and got one of the last available sites. Packed on a Monday night!

I found the camping sites a bit cramped both in depth and width. Site 89 and 90 shared the same parking pad. Limited flat locations existed for a tent and my tent footprint is fairly small. You do have a firepit and picnic table with all three in fairly close proximity, so you must be extremely cautious with wind direction when deciding for a fire, else you’ll have embers dotting your tent and picnic table. Even though the neighbors were trying to be respectfully quiet...you heard every conversation and saw their every move.

No electric, which is fine in my book...the water spigot is centrally located on the loop and happened to be next to my site.

The restroom/shower facilities were not well cared for upon my visit. The floors were very muddy and trash was piled up in the corner of one stall and out of necessities.

Construction and dump truck noise started early with a project behind the restrooms.

The visitor’s center was well-stocked and the employee was pleasant. Cell service is unavailable and even sketchy at the visitor’s center. Wood can be purchased at the visitor’s center.

Close proximity to local attractions and a swimming pool are likely the big draw.

Knowing that I prefer solitude and distance when camping, I’ll likely not return but choose nearby Lake Hope State Park for my local visits.

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.