Best Tent Camping near Cedarville, OH

Great place to visit has three parks in one John Bryant and Glen Helen nature preserve and Clifton Gorge are some of the best hiking trails in south west Ohio. Camp sites are great for tent camping with a few RV spots. You can visit the near by historical town of Yellow Springs.

While the tent spots did not have a lot of shade, the sites are close to the lake and make for some wonderful sunsets. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful and all in all it was a great stay. We rented bikes from the camp store and swam at the beach which was conveniently close to the tent sites. Lots of fun and 10/10 would return again. I'm excited to come back and see how the young trees they have growing in the tent sites take off.

There's a great backpacking trail that's challenging and an easy middle meeting place for friends/family from Columbus and Cincinnati that can meet in Dayton Metroparks/Five Rivers - Germantown and take on the TVT challenge, beautiful hike through hilly terrain, and great spots of overlooks. Bring your pack and hiking poles and take advantage of trekking into the forest. Vault toliet, away from busy/crowded campsites and surrounded by nature. Access to a river for water source (bring your filter system) camp in a tent or hammock.

This campsite would have been perfect if not for the bathrooms littered with bugs, insects, and spiders. Otherwise, the campsite was quiet, the tent sites were nicely spaced out, and the bathrooms were easily accessible.

Great tent sites on mowed lawn under old growth trees. Our night’s rest was interrupted multiple times with airport noise—airplanes and helicopters. Note that at this time (COVID) you cannot just pull in and occupy a site. You must call in for a reservation.

Stopped here during a road trip with a friend. Very family friendly. Tent sites were nice and flat, felt a little cramped though. Bathrooms were clean. The lake was very nice, clear, and refreshing. Flet good to be close to it! Easy to find the campsites and pretty affordable.

Had a great time here. My only complaint is that the sites are very close together and there are few trees for privacy in the actual campsites, Also very little shade for this reason. For the most part the tent sites are grass, with a place to pull in. The site I stayed at was relatively close to the pit toilets and a water spigot, but also close to a bunch of RV sites, so I wouldn't say it was all that quiet. It was easy to access walking trails along a river, and also really close to Yellow Springs, which is a great little town (that I totally did not expect to find, who knew!) Cheap firewood and camp store at the entrance.

We arrived three hours after check in started and headed straight to the camp office to check in. Our tent site was ready right away and the kind lady at the desk helped us get DRY firewood and helped us locate our spot. Our campground was clean and mostly quiet. About a 2 min walk and you can walk along the lake on a trail, we caught the most gorgeous sunset. Overall a very nice and clean campground. The only complaint if I had to give one was the daddy long legs in the bathrooms. But they are not harmful at all and don’t really get in the way, but if you are not a spider person they may deter you.

We had three walk-in sites to choose from on Memorial Weekend. We chose Site 113 in non-electric. It was a huge site with big trees for shade. Great for tent camping and it worked well for out camper. You have to pull in with a camper to be able to walk out onto your site. It’s a little backwards, but we only have 19ft camper so it worked for us. Plus we weren’t planning on driving anywhere so we didn’t have to worry about moving our truck. The bathroom/showers were not far and were nice and clean. For a holiday weekend it was nice and quiet. If your a bird watcher take your binoculars. Lots of robins, cardinals, red winged blackbirds and a few orioles. We drove though electric on our way out and the sites were much closer than where we were. We loved it and plan on going back.

I've stayed here in the past and Cowan Lake does not disappoint. The B site campground is all non-electric tent camping, and far enough away from the larger RV pads that it's a quiet little campsite! Also, these sites are super close to the bathrooms on the beach, which were very clean during our stay. I was incredibly impressed, because the beach gets pretty busy during the day. The beach itself was clean (for a lakeside beach- there are geese, it's Ohio) and the lake was gorgeous! I will say, the only MILD annoyance is that some of the other campers would drive to the parking lot in front of our campsite and park there into the evening hours to fish or head down to the docks. I'm an early riser, so the headlights and car doors slamming were mildly annoying after about 10p. Not enough to make me choose a different campsite, but worth noting. We rented a tandem kayak and explored the lake, and the equipment was all in good condition. The Commisary is pretty limited but they do have a small kitchen and ice cream, as well as the basics like firewood and ice, as well as the boat rentals. Overall, one of my favorite lakeside campgrounds!

Cowan Lake State Park - A friend and I were able to kayak on the lake the night of a Friday the 13th moon. It was beautiful. Sadly, no pictures as I do not have a water proof camera. The next day we also went out for another paddle under the bright sun.  The boat ramp and parking lot is easy to use and has a good layout.  They do have some tent sites close to the boat ramp area and you can see the lake from those tent sites. 

Our campsite did not have any trees but they have planted a lot of new trees. I assume this due the previous trees having to be cut down due to Emerald Ash borer damage. Our campsite didn't have any shade but others did so you really have to pick wisely. 

The trails here are easy and short.  I loved the informational boxes and tags that they had on the trees or plants.  This is helpful if you have little ones with you or if you are like me and just like to learn about the animals/plants on the trail. 

The park also had a lending library and walking stick lending program. I thought these were simple but memorable features for this park. 

Our campsite was close to two different bathroom structures.  One right behind our site was toilets only. This did mean that sometimes folks would walk on the edge or through the camp site at times.  The other bathroom structure was further down the road and it had both toilets and showers.  The larger bathroom had an ADA shower in it as well. 

The camp store was well stocked and you could rent bikes from the store. These bikes were often all over the campground so be extra careful when driving in the park.  They do have the orange flag but as they are low to the ground it is hard to see them at times. 

The cabins here have both a fire ring and grill. This isn't the case at all Ohio State parks so it was a nice surprise.  They also have a porch that is screened in with a view of the lake. You are not able to walk down to the lake from the cabin but it is a lovely view. 

For those who want to "Walk-On" camp please take a look at the photo of the neon yellow paper as how the park approaches this will be different in the future. 

**Not all photos or videos uploading so some information may be missing. I will try to upload again later.

Visited twice in May 2021 (sites 54 & 39) bookending our camping roundtrip from Virginia to Kansas and this was one of the worst places we stayed. We lived in Dayton for a number of years and Yellow Springs is one of our favorite places. That being said, we were quite disappointed at the set up.

There is no privacy between campsites, at all. If someone on one end of the campground is having a party, everyone in the campground is going to be up all night (our first night). On our last night there, we (and the poor family with young kids in a tent 15 feet away) were audibly assaulted by a very amorous and inebriated couple in a tent until the wee hours. With no trees between sites, you have no buffer and good god what I would have given for a buffer.

Pit toilets have those heavy doors that help keep things less buggy (positive) but because they are on a raised area in the middle of an almost treeless campground, the clang of them shutting echoes throughout the night.

No showers.

No dedicated tent-pads. We were car-top camping so I can't speak to ground conditions for tent camping but do know our two spots would have put us on some sort of slope. (Unless we set up a tent right next to the road on 54).

Like I said, it wasn't bad. Definitely wasn't great.

We went camping in June during the strawberry Moon. We are tent campers, we booked site 185. But once we got there we discovered that the site was slopped down from the pad and not a great place to tent camp. So, we had to find another site. They were booked so we had to cut our vacation short because the only site open for us was reserved for the following weekend. Bummer! There are not alot of spaces for us tent campers no matter where we go. We have to at the least have electric hook ups cause my better half has a CPap he has to sleep wearing. They did have a few premative sites for tent campers. Camp is very well maintained and they are having some construction done on many sites to make them bigger, full hook ups and even Handicap accessable. Great place to ride a bike, or hike or just go for a walk. The shower houses and restrooms were recently redone and in great shape! Though the shower heads could use a changing. Weekends were a bit crowded, but by sunday night the place was cleared out and the rest of the week was quiet and relaxed. Over all a great week. Friendly and helpful staff too. the only issue I had was the state of the Beach, trashed(People there didn't seem to care about throwing their trash around. Shame on them! Also,the sand was so compacted it felt like concrete. Not the best beach. Fishing, well. It seems we didn't have the low down on good fishing spots. All of the public fishing spots were of course taken and along the dam so not great. Lodge is beautiful, and they are doing some construction there. I did not like the food. Guess I am too picky, but when my salad comes out warm and my chicken is cold I do have an issue with that. Didn't seem like they were taking food safety too seriously.

Only weekend stays and it ends in wintertime. I’m sure it’s pretty and all, but it’s hard to find legit, free dispersed camping in Ohio! Oh well, rest stops always work for car camping.

Autumn is the best time to camp in Ohio. Lots of small bathrooms. Lake access. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was due to the fact there was no quick reentry. Had to wait for rvs in front of me to register.

Cabin A, . Check-in time is 2pm and check out is 12pm. Please remember to bring your own linens, Morgan's does not supply sheets for the cabins. There are 2 twin mattresses and 1 full size mattress. **Helpful information from their reservation email. 

They have 4 cabins in our area which would be nice to get another family to join us.  Then each family has their own cabin to retire to at the end of the day. 

https://www.morganscanoe.com/ This site is close to King's Island and Fort Ancient. It also was next to a bike trail.  Close to the Little Miami Bike Trail this was easy to walk on with my friend and her two little ones.  The trail was paved which was a huge help for those of us who were extra short and didn't always attend to their surroundings when walking. 

We were a little nervous as the cabin is so close the river. This is part of the charm but when you have a 3 year old in your group then it is smart to keep an extra sharp eye on the kiddo as the river is a huge draw.  We enjoyed being able to be close to the river and then being inside with a floor/door which a tent wouldn't have given us that extra security.  We had plenty of space for my friend, her two kids, and me. 

The cabin didn't have heat and I tend to get cold easily.  For the average person in the summer and spring you will be fine. I needed to layer up. We had two little ones so during the day instead of the usual King's Island we went to Entertainment Junction. https://entertrainmentjunction.com/ and I was also able to get a Groupon to reduce the cost. 

Price:$60.00/night for 2 Adults and up to 3 kids(3-16 years of age) 2-night minimum  required for weekends and 3-night required for holiday weekends.  The cabins weren't on top of each other. I felt that this was a better deal than some other local cabin prices and the atmosphere was better as well .

The tent sites which I explored on my walks are huge. A great camp site to have a bunch of friends meet up and camp at as it is so close to Cincinnati. This camp site, is far enough to get away but close enough.  This means that everyone can easily get there after work. We didn't want a long car drive with two little ones and this was a great way to start exposing them to camping in our "backyard". 

The prices equal the local state parks but the sites are bigger.  The area has huge trees and grassy areas to put your tents up without feeling like your neighbors are right in your space.

This is part of the Dayton Metro Parks (Five Rivers Metro Parks) and it is at the Twin Creek metro park.  This is an old boy scout camp (Camp Hook) back in the day. 

During these COVID-19 times we wanted a place to park that wasn't the traditional Ohio State Parks camp site. We didn't want to share a common bathroom/bath house or playground area.  We picked this as the Twin Creek camp site only has 3 camp sites within the park.  Even then they are out of side from each other. You can somewhat hear the other two camp sites (rarely).  This meant with two little ones we wouldn't have to constantly remind them to socially distance or put on masks.  We were alone but had plenty of park supports. We had two great park volunteers/security stop by to make sure we had everything we need. 

The nice thing about the Dayton metro parks is that each night in the front county camp sites they include a bundle of fire wood. This is not the small sad bundle that you often buy at gas stations or other markets.  This is a huge bundle. It is dry and cut in an easy to use manner. It is also kept in a little box so it is dry even if you do have weather while camping. If you wish to add an additional bundle of firewood the price is very reasonable at $10.00. I do this every time I camp there to support their campsites/metro parks. I have yet to use up their firewood in the box when I camp for a whole weekend. It is also nice that we don't have to put it in our cars so less clean up after camping. It also helps with the whole burn local fire wood so you are not transporting bugs. Or you don't have to cross your fingers and hope someone close by sells firewood. 

The nice thing about their site is the additional tables made it easy for us to socially distance.  When I camp at local state parks and we only have one table it can be tricky to keep coolers, food, and people separated. We also were able to have kids do craft at one of the tables while we were preparing meals. This camp site is listed as a 10 person camp site. There is no water on site so make sure you bring all the water that you will need. 

We also were able to hike the easy trails around the camp site. No need to put the kids in the car unless we wanted to.  Which we still did:) 

We drove into town and discovered a covered bridge that I had missed on an earlier camping trip. (Germantown).  This town also has the Florentine which is one of the oldest inns in Ohio. It was closed while we were in town but it is well worth a stop. The town also has a community pool as well that you can buy a day pool pass. 

The campsite does have two spots that would be neat for a wedding. You can reserve an amphitheater. 

The campsites during peak season are $20 during week days and $28 for weekends. I still find this to be one of the best values for camping in Ohio. Especially, when you consider the level of privacy that you have on these sites.  The vault toilets are one of the best as they are always clean. We have hand sanitizer and toilet paper. We didn't have to share our vault toilet with any other family units. 

All of these small touches really made COVID-19 camping with kids much easier. We look forward to being back at this camp site in the fall. 

Here is the website to make a reservation https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786190&api=facilities&type=camp

This is a sweet campground near Cedarville/Xenia. It’s got quite a bit of space for campgrounds and has a few mild hiking trails and a meadow nearby. It’s a nice place for a last minute get together with friends or large group camp weekends. Fire pits available and near other hiking sites like the Clifton Gorge.

This is a small and beautiful park. It’s a primitive campground with many tents and some small RVs. The sites are spacious with large trees for shade. We enjoyed some great hikes through the state park to the Clifton Gorge preserve. A beautiful part of Ohio! The village of Yellow Springs is nearby for a burger or ice cream run.

We broke our own cardinal rule, don’t travel unfamiliar roads at night. We were blessed as the journey to the park was uneventful, but we missed some wonderful countryside. Upon arrival at Rocky Fork we realized even with a map it took 40 minutes to find our site. This was not so much due to the darkness as it was to the poor road and site markings. The camp grounds we stayed in was nearly full and had every conceivable form of camping from tents to full size motor coaches. There were a few that appeared to have been here for sometime and that doesn’t bother us other than their site wasn’t getting yard of the month.The surrounding campers were very friendly and eager to share more local attractions. For us south Louisiana Cajuns the mild weather was a blessing, coolest night was in the 50’s 😎. We are fast becoming eastern Ohio fans. We plan on two more Ohio park stops as we move northerly. Stay tuned to the adventures of the Lost Cajuns.

We stayed at John Bryan so we hike the Clifton Gorge and we love the town of Yellow Springs. The campground was a pretty basic Ohio campground, but did boast a frisbee golf course and access to the trails right from the campground. The campground is surrounded by wood, but pretty bare otherwise. There was very little privacy and sites just seemed to be placed randomly in the field. The pit toilets were relatively clean, and the campground roads safe for kids to ride bikes. We stayed at site 64 which was probably about the most private site there. We did need to position are cars around us to get this. Once dusk hit the raccoons were unbelievable. They would come out of the wood and stare at us fearlessly. Despite packing up our food properly, they were all over our table and right up next to our tent scavenging for food as soon as we went in our tent. The camp host was out searching the woods because they stole some kids backpack during the night. The trails were cool, but very poorly marked. There were paper signs that had fallen off the trees and the maps proved difficult to use because there were so many unmarked side trails. Better trail markers would make a huge difference.

Sites are large. Pads for RVs are large. Every site is close to the reservoir, with tons of hidden beaches. Deer are everywhere. Watch out for raccoons. If you are tenting, bungee your coolers. Leave other food in your car. The raccoons have chewed through peoples’ tents to get their food.

This is one of my favorite campsites in Ohio.  5 Rivers Metro Parks really knows how to provide a great camping experience.  They provide a bundle of firewood for each night that you have reserved the site.  In addition, you can easily purchase more wood that will be right there at the site for you.  "Your camping permit comes with one 2' x 2' bundle of firewood per night. Additional firewood available at checkout(+$10.00 per 1/32nd of a cord)." https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786297&api=facilities&type=camp

The ranger checked in on me and also let me know he was closing the gate to the park.  I had his contact information and felt safe and secure while camping here. We had an awesome conversation and I look forward to seeing him on a future visit. 

I love how easy it is to put away the trash and recycle as this isn't something I see at the larger campgrounds within the state. It is refreshing to see the attention to small details such as this when camping. 

The bathroom is simply a porta john.  It is the accessible one and was fairly clean while I was at the site.  No running water, electricity, or other perks such as being able to buy ice at the campground.  You are close enough that you can run into town to stock up on more ice and items. 

I spent my time at Argonne Lake but you will notice folks fishing at that lake and the other smaller lakes onsite. 

Buckeye my campsite is rated as for 5 parking spots and a capacity of 12 folks.  This is much more than what is allowed at our local state parks.  As I mentioned it is nice and easy for a group of us to camp here.  I have friends that come over from Columbus and I come up from the Cincinnati region.   It is an easy drive and the parking situation is much easier for all of us to drive ourselves from each city with our own gear no shuffling of items. This spot does have other larger campsites if you need to look into that for a larger group. 

"This walk-in campsite is located near Argonne Lake parking lot. It features access to hiking trails, nearby sustainable farm and demonstration gardens, as well as fishing in both the lake and fishing ponds(no license required). This site includes a picnic table and fire ring. Potable water and a restroom are located within 600 feet of campsite on the southeast side of the lake." https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786296&api=facilities&type=camp

I have friends that love to explore the lake, ponds, sustainable farm, and the easy access to the trails.  For those that need something interesting to look at you will find old abandoned items such as a pool and street car in the woods.  The land has an interesting history you will want to explore. 

Another thing that is impressive is that they also have a rental program.  If you do not have camping gear but still want to get out and try it then you can rent it from them. https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/rentals/equipment/  A set of 6 is $50.00 for the weekend. This includes the tent, sleeping pads, and sleeping bag.  If you only needed a tent for the weekend that would b e $30.00.   For folks that want to take advantage of their other campsites (backpacking) they have a full rental of backpacking gear for $40.00.  If you only needed the backpack and and tent that would be $25.00 and if you only needed a back pack tent for the weekend that would be $15.00