Best Tent Camping near Clifton, OH

Tent Camping Reviews near Clifton, OH

406 Reviews of 24 Clifton Campgrounds

• 

  Eira T.

  Traveler

  Jul. 5, 2015

  Burr Oak Cove Campground

  Quiet campground in Wayne National Forest!

  We enjoyed walk-in site #3 during a holiday weekend. The walk-in sites afford more privacy and tree cover than the drive-up sites, where you can see your neighbors on all sides. No showers or sinks, just several vault toilets. Potable water available throughout the camp. Camp sites are $10 a night.

  Neighbors were fairly quiet, and there is one trail that leads down to Burr Oak lake. The trail is 1 mile, but it seems to link up with some longer yellow and green-blazed trails that go around the lake. The campground is also a short drive from the Wildcat Hollow trail head in the Athens Unit of Wayne National Forest

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• B

  Bob L.

  Scout

  Oct. 23, 2021

  Forked Run State Park Campground

  Bad for tents

  Went there in October. No attendance around and not many campers. Sites are very bad for tent camping and not the bet for RV’s. Back ins are sort and most sites have no level ground even for the picnic table or fire ring. Showers were clean but cold. Vault toilets only and stuck to high Heaven. Not serviced well at all. Hiked the lake view trail, poorly maintained. The upper loop from the beach end is very hard to find and not marked at all. Even more disappointing than Hope Lake which has its own site problems for tents.

• 

  Shari G.

  Legend

  May. 28, 2018

  Lamping Homestead Recreation Area

  Simple, Quiet, Beautiful!

  Just a few miles from the Ohio Covered Bridge Scenic Highway, this lovely tent-only campground offers a pleasant get away. There are 6 spacious “walk-in” campsites, a small pond, and vault toilets. Each site had a picnic table and campfire ring, but there is no privacy between sites. There is no water available, other than the pond, so plan accordingly. The group picnic area is great for bigger families or groups, with a campfire ring, grills and a covered picnic area.    

  The area is great for hiking, with the North Country Trail going right by the campground, cycling through the rolling hills of the backroads, and canoeing on the Little Muskingum River.

  The closest town is Woodsfield, OH, about 13 miles from this campground and has most of the supplies you may need.

  More Information: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/wayne/recarea/?recid=6214

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• 

  Shelly S.

  Legend

  Jul. 6, 2017

  Blue Rock State Park Campground

  It's moss I think....

  Blue Rock State Park is outside Zanesville, Oh off I70. Rt 60 takes you South and then you have a choice of routes in. Good Ohio farmland scenery.

  Out of the way, small camping area with basic sites. A cool feature is a few of the sites have pavilion type covered patios that you can pitch your tent in to help stay dry during inclimate weather.

  Otherwise the sites are close together. Though there are a few sites that are more off to themselves, they are still wide open with sparse tree cover.

  The restroom is basic, the showerhouse is located at the reservoir beach as well as the camp store and boat rental.The staff was very knowledgeable about the area and conversational.

  Several trails are in the area, the Horse Camp is up the road. In addition to this area there is the Blue Rock State Forest that offers several out door activities, check out their map and site online.

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• 

  Shari G.

  Legend

  May. 9, 2018

  Lane Farm Campground

  Free, clean, and close to town!

  A cute little place, just 4 campsites and a vault toilet that is relatively clean and well-stocked. This roadside campground is near homes and a small town, so not much traffic during the day, but quite a bit during the morning and evening commuting time. Within the national forest, you will find some historic covered bridges and quite a few hiking and horse trails. The town of Marietta is just 5 miles away, and has all the things you need.

  Each site has a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern pole. It’s designed for tent camping, but Hamlet (our small camper) fit fine with some strategic parking. No drinking water is available and the creeks are quite muddy, so come prepared with water! No privacy between sites and not much shade, which worked fine in May but probably wouldn’t be much fun in the heat of the summer. It is completely FREE, though, and you can stay for up to 14 days. There are quite a few small campgrounds in the area just like this one. There is no phone service within 4-5 miles of the campground.

  Note: We have noticed that people stop by or drive through in the evening. Sometimes they stay for a couple of minutes and other times for just a couple of hours. Due to its location, this campground could be a meeting spot of sorts, but didn’t witness any shenanigans.

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• 

  David M.

  Guide

  Oct. 13, 2025

  Lane Farm Campground

  Quiet little campground for only $10.

  It is getting difficult for travelling motorcyclists to find a campground to sleep for the night as most that call themselves campgrounds are RV parks and don't allow tent camping.  Lane Farm is a gem for travelling motorcyclists.  We stayed there a week after labor day.  The rate as of 2025 is $10 and it is first come, first served for the 4 sites.  We were the only ones there.  The  amenities there are a vault toilet (it was clean and stocked with toilet paper), trash bin by the toilet building, picnic tables, camp fire ring with cooking grate, and lantern post.    It is right on Ohio state route 26, but there was very little traffic noise.  The entire campground is paved and the parking spots and sites were very spacious. There are parking spots in front of the toilet building.  As with many rustic national/state forest campgrounds there is no potable water there.  That didn't bother us as we came prepared with our own water and toilet paper.  The Little Muskingum river on the east side of the campground was very shallow and slow moving in September.  I don't know what it would be like earlier in the camping season.  All four sites are close to the river.  I was surprised to find that a week after labor day weekend there was still plenty of laying dead wood in the woods available for camp fire wood.  The forest service changed their web site structure and you'll find most of the links posted online won't take you directly to the campground page.  The current working link for the campground is  https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/wayne/recreation/lane-farm-campground

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• 

  Dave V.

  Legend

  Aug. 27, 2017

  River Run Campground — North Bend State Park

  Deer Heaven

  North Bend State Park is about 10 miles south on Rt 16 off of Rt 50...east of Parkersburg, WV.

  When you slowly wind your way along twisty backcountry roads, through a small town, you'll ultimately find yourself entering North Bend State Park.

  Immediately to the right is Cokely Campground. Initially, you don't see it...you must drive up and over a roller. At the top of the hill, you observe a handful of picnic tables and fire rings, a porta-potty and a small woodshed with a water spigot alongside. Very little delineation from site to site and more of a mown field. Only the top two locations are the only quasi-level sites along a narrow tree line. No electric. These sites are $16 nightly.

  Traveling over the hill and turning to the right you see the main Cokely Campground with newer showerhouse/restroom building and playground. Campsites are blacktop with water and electric, apparently for large RV/Campers. These sites are $28 nightly.

  If you were to bypass the RV/Camper location, you would continue down the side road to the boat ramp and lake.

  The grounds and restrooms were clean, maincured and well maintained. Midweek the RV sites were already filled.

  We decided against Cokely Campground and returned to the main park road deeper into the State Park to River Run Campground.

  You pass the Lodge/Restaurant and the huge "L" shaped outdoor pool on your right as you descend (Note: the pool is seasonal and with college aga lifeguards that exit for school early, it was closed mid-August).

  Winding down to River Run, deer in abundance were lining the the roadway, so use care. River Run Campground runs along a river...imagine that!

  Tent sites are situated between the roadway and the river on the left...then additional tent sites are around a small half acre pond on the right. Most the roadside tent sites are level, but sit at a lower level, so when it rains (and it does in WV)...it gets soggy. No visible distinction or foliage between tent sites. One porta-potty sits at the crossroads across from the office.

  Saturday it was quiet with only one other tent camper, but rain was forecasted...although a pumphouse, located at the entrance to River Run, kicks on periodically with a low, annoying droning. Being at site 45, it was quite noticeable, as I imagine with all sites in the 40's. The tent specific sites are non-electric with central water spigots ($22 nightly). As you pass the tent sites and the office, you enter a loop of paved RV/Camper sites with blacktop drives, water and electric ($28 nightly). The Showerhouse/restrooms are located in the center of this area...and are very clean and maintained. The coveted RV/Camper sites are along the bank of the river and offer more distance between neighbors. On the inner ring, a split rail fence separates neighbors.

  While the sun didn't shine during our visit, it appears the thick forest canopy keeps all river sites shaded. The grounds and facilities are neat at clean.

  All the trails bisect this campground, some foot only, others multipurpose. River Run also has a nice playground for the kids. Trails have difficulty drying out, so rocks and roots were muddy and slick, but still enjoyable.

  Note: Mountainbike races are often held here, so campgrounds can get crazy and packed. Additionally, because of the pool, this is a very busy campground. Be forewarned that the pool is 58 steps up from the parking lot to the pool area.

  There were a lot of trails I did not get to travel, and I'll bring my bike next time for the Rails-to-Trail. Nice but popular campground,

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• A

  Adam B.

  Scout

  Oct. 18, 2020

  Burr Oak State Park Campground

  Nice trails, not so nice campsites

  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.

• 

  Ruby W.

  Ranger

  Aug. 12, 2019

  Zaleski State Forest

  Ranger Review: Banner & Oak Firebiner at Zaleski South Loop

  Campground Review: With a close friend coming to visit from Spain, I wanted to show her a cool backpacking location in Southeastern Ohio. Zaleski State Forest seemed like a good choice for a new backpacker. There are multiple loops to trek, averaging about 10 miles per loop. Overall the trails are well maintained (minus a few dense areas). There was almost an excessive amount of blazes. Campsites are plentiful along the trails. We stayed at Campsite C. Each site has access to communal well-water and a restroom. Each site usually has a small fire ring and logs to sit on. Overall, the campsites were pretty decent and secluded, but nothing special view wise aside from the typical Ohio forest. I would say pretty overall, but nothing quite outstanding.

  Product Review: The Banner & Oak Firebiner is a neat little tool that has some really fun features! Most notable being the fire starter. The Firebiner uses a small spark wheel and replaceable ferro rod to create sparks. The sparks are pretty large for the little tool. I now use my Firebiner to start my MSR stove quickly and with zero plastic waste! I haven’t used it to try to start a straight up fire, but friends have successfully before. Most importantly, the spark wheel is just darn right fun to play with. The device has other little uses like a bottle opener, utility blade, and screwdriver. I absolutely love this device! Only complaint would be that I wish it came in different colors, but who really cares.

  Here is a link to check out the Firebiner yourself: https://bannerandoak.com/products/banner-and-oak-firebiner?variant=9696793034788&currency=USD&gclid=CjwKCAjwnMTqBRAzEiwAEF3ndu9CmerLos5Y1yvjGHJ2L4FG732wg9bMpyPAJRa3m8dxlxffZ6Nt-RoC6LQQAvD_BwE

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