Best Camping near Defiance, OH

Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Defiance, OH has a lot to offer. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in. Experience some of the most stunning views that Ohio camping has to offer. Discover great camping spots near Defiance, reviewed by campers like you.

Best Camping Sites Near Defiance, OH (82)

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Showing results 1-10 of 82 campgrounds

Pet-friendly camping near Defiance

Recent Reviews in Defiance

280 Reviews of 82 Defiance Campgrounds


  • Christie S.
    Camper-submitted photo from Johnny Appleseed Campground
    Oct. 27, 2024

    Johnny Appleseed Campground

    Suppppppper Bathroom s

    They have the best bathrooms that I have ever seen in the campgrounds.You can even look out at the skylight at the sky.Why you take a shower and while you go to the bathroom is well.It's a beautiful bathroom very well kept.Thank you so much to the campgrounds....

  • Wendy F.
    Camper-submitted photo from Lake Hudson Recreation Area
    Oct. 14, 2024

    Lake Hudson Recreation Area

    Spacious sites

    What an absolute gem of a state park. Almost every site is private, with a few exceptions. Nice trails, well built picnic tables, and huge fire pits. Overall a fantastic experience.

  • BluePitMom O.
    Camper-submitted photo from Sauder Village Campground
    Oct. 7, 2024

    Sauder Village Campground

    History Lovers Heaven

    There's so much to do at the village! What a wonderful place for history lovers and/or kids. In addition to the village, there is a splash pad, a pool (in the nearby inn), and a couple of hiking trails.

    We stayed in Site 23. The sites are sizable, level, and well maintained. The shower house and restrooms were extremely clean.

    The campground was peaceful. It was full during our stay, and the other campers were very courteous. Nobody was loud and obnoxious.

    We were able to catch the Northern Lights!

  • Susan B.The Dyrt PRO User
    Camper-submitted photo from Ottawa Metro Park Campground
    Sep. 16, 2024

    Ottawa Metro Park Campground

    Nice, clean campground, adjoining a big greenway

    Very clean and pleasant campground, not far off the interstate. A 13_mile Greenway passes by there. Very nice bath and shower house. All sites paved with water and electric. Great place to spend a night or two.

  • L
    Camper-submitted photo from Ottawa Metro Park Campground
    Aug. 26, 2024

    Ottawa Metro Park Campground

    Wonderful spot

    It is first come..no reservations. Water and electric 30 Amp and some 50 amps as well. Beautiful park with bike and walking paths. Camp hosts are very helpful. Bathrooms and showers are very clean.

  • Shannon G.The Dyrt PRO User
    Camper-submitted photo from Harrison Lake State Park Campground
    Aug. 24, 2024

    Harrison Lake State Park Campground

    Great site!

    Our first time at this park and got lucky with our site. The pad was a little unlevel but easy to fix. The fire ring was fantastic and had pea gravel around it so if it rained it wasn’t a muddy mess. Great site with grass for tents and no one behind us besides a cornfield. We had a sidewalk next to us to the bathroom but there were so many bathrooms we didn’t have very many people pass by. It had pretty decent shade but unfortunately a sweet gum tree nearby so watch out if you’re barefoot. The shower house was nice but no benches in the stall and only had curtains. They were very clean and the camp hosts were friendly. We are headed back in September!

  • J
    Camper-submitted photo from Sun Valley Family Campground
    Aug. 21, 2024

    Sun Valley Family Campground

    Clean facilities, poor book keeping

    Making the reservation didn’t go very smooth, the person taking the information didn’t sound like they knew what they were doing… They charged our credit card, and lost our reservation, however they did honor our word and allowed us to camp. The bathrooms and showers were clean. The camping area had portable toilets that were clean! For just overnight it was OK, not a place I would vacation at.

  • N
    Camper-submitted photo from Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Barton Lake
    Aug. 15, 2024

    Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Barton Lake

    Great Family Campground

    We brought down 2 30’ campers and we had 4 adults 3 children and two dogs and stay right next to the craft barn. It is a really nice camp ground with lots and lots for the kids to do. My son had a blast and said this was the best campground he has ever been to. My only complaint is that it is quite costly to stay.

  • B
    Camper-submitted photo from Arrowhead Lake RV Park & Campground
    Aug. 6, 2024

    Arrowhead Lake RV Park & Campground

    Pretty Nice + Cheap

    Sites are large for the weekend campers. The seasonal ones all have back in and the weekends are pull through which is kinda nice. They have two ponds, one for fishing and one for swimming. The swimming one has a dock kids jump off but it only goes to about 3.5-4 feet deep at the deepest point. Overall a pretty nice camping spot. Oh and it was only $45 a night.

  • JThe Dyrt PRO User
    Camper-submitted photo from Toledo East-Stony Ridge KOA
    Aug. 5, 2024

    Toledo East-Stony Ridge KOA

    Small basic campground near Toledo

    Our site was $59.95 a night.

    We were in Site# 504. We had Full hook- up with a gravel pull-through.
    We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site along with my jeep. The site was easy to level. We were charged $25 additional for my jeep since we were towing the trailer. We also were charged $10 because we arrived at 1:25 PM and check-in is at 2 PM. The park was close to empty so arriving early was not an inconvenience. We drove ourselves to our spot (no escort).

    Our site was shaded with lots of trees. This was a smaller lot with our neighbors fairly close.

    The lot comes with a concrete patio with picnic table and fire ring. They sell wood for $6 a bundle.

    There is free WiFi, although not strong. They offer Cable TV and there are many channels.

    There is not a community outdoor kitchen or community fire pit.

    They pickup your garbage at your site daily before noon.

    You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. They do not provide golf cart rentals. There is really not a need to have a Golf cart because it is a smaller campground.

    They do have a Swimming pool but it is currently closed due to maintenance (although it just looked closed- no signs of maintenance being done).

    There is a Playground. They also offer horseshoes, corn hole, giant jinga.

    They have a basic general store. There are not scheduled activities for kids.

    There is not a snack bar/restaurant on site.

    The streets are gravel so not great for riding bikes. This is an RV park with tent camping and cabins to rent.

    They have one shower house. The shower house has individual bathrooms with your own sink, shower, toilet. These are kept very clean.

    There is a laundry facility. It is a cash only facility, but they have a change machine. There are approximately 4 washers and 4 dryers. It is approximately $2.50 to wash and $2.50 to dry a load.

    They have a small fenced in dog park.

    There isn’t tons to doin the actual city of Perryville. But Toledo is a 20 minute drive.

  • Tony T.
    Camper-submitted photo from Harrison Lake State Park Campground
    Jul. 22, 2024

    Harrison Lake State Park Campground

    Great Campground

    The sites in the tent-only section were well sized and shady. We were on the lake side and were able to get some nice views of Harrison Lake. There were families on either side of us with little kids who were well behaved, albeit a little noisy (i.e a really young child was screaming for about 2 minutes straight non-stop at 9 am until finally the parents said something). Bathroom facilities (single occupancy with shower) were about a 3 minute walk and were clean. Good stay!

  • ABBI S.
    Camper-submitted photo from Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Barton Lake
    Jun. 17, 2024

    Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Barton Lake

    Primitive camping right by a busy highway

    This was my husbands, and my 2 small babies first camping trip. We chose Jellystone in Fremont Indiana because it was only an hour from our home and has so many fun family activities. We wanted to do something close by in case things went awry, I am Glad we did that. We got to the site and we had booked primitive camping. From the map online you could not tell it was directly next to an extremely busy highway. So instead of the sound of nature we heard blaring 16 wheelers for hours on end. Our campsite was not labeled with our site number so we had to guess what site we had booked. The camp sites were on a slight hill and my youngest isn’t even 2 and is accident prone. This was dangerous given the fact that the picnic table was sloped right by the fire ring for a dangerous combination. Our chairs were unsteady and sitting around the fire in general was dangerous. We couldn’t relax at all and had to continuously be cautious of my 1.5 year old falling into the fire! It is currently June and the temps are high which we expected but the heat combined with the highway traffic at night led to no sleep for our children or us. Not to mention at 10:30 construction vehicles pulled up right next to the campsite and began their work. By 11:15 we had had enough. We decided to go home. It was the worst 7 hour experience of our vacation history. We called the next day and relayed our experience to the registration cabin and paid to have a cabin. The point of this thread is, I personally Feel like I paid to be homeless next to a highway for the week. I am Angry, camping should not be next to a busy highway. The entrance needs to be relocated to where the primitive camping is and the camping needs to be in a more secluded area. People are paying for this experience and it was the most chaotic/ anxious trip I have ever been on. We have not experiencedthe fun activities yet because we have had such a horrible time at the actual campsite we drove home and are coming back the next day so we could actually get some sleep. When we paid for a cabin and relaid our experience the woman working registration did not even apologize for our bad experience. We were not met with any form of compassion or understanding for the chaos we paid for. If you are going to keep booking primitive camping next to a busy highway, inform your guests! Be aware of construction schedules! Know what is happening in your area for the sake of your guests and their quality experience! Do not let your park become a thing of the past because you are neglecting to remember our experiences keep us coming back!

  • Mary S.
    Camper-submitted photo from Shadylake Campground
    Jun. 12, 2024

    Shadylake Campground

    It's unfortunate that I have to give them even 1 star.

    It's unfortunate I have to even give them 1 star. Absolutely horrible people to deal with and filthy place! The grounds were unkept and the pond, well, dont swim in it. We paid for the season and could not even get into our spot because he had rented out our spot to someone else! Every time we went out to make sure it was empty someone new was rented out to it. Filthy facility and the workers, when you could find one, were rude and obnoxious. We had to talk to the manager, who was hiding in the house, over a speaker. We couldn't hear him because of all the dogs barking in the background but he refused to come and speak to us.

  • J
    Camper-submitted photo from Happy Acres Campground
    Jun. 4, 2024

    Happy Acres Campground

    Stay in the Skybox

    We rented site 95 in the “skybox” it’s on the backside of the property. Super clean campground with friendly workers and seasonal residents were so friendly. Enjoyed the pool, pickleball and walking the trails. Has a 9hole disc golf. Very cool place and Angola has a lot to offer.

  • N
    Camper-submitted photo from Twin Acres Campground
    May. 25, 2024

    Twin Acres Campground

    Good Time and nice place

    Stayed here with my family on memorial weekend. Nice campground with friendly staff. Would come again for sure.

  • Rick M.
    Camper-submitted photo from Adventure Bound Pleasant View
    May. 13, 2024

    Adventure Bound Pleasant View

    Scam company

    Place is a joke, ran by two little piece of shit trolls with a god complex to over come the lack of achievement in there lives. They have zero management skills and even less people skills. Must be overcompensating for something.

  • S
    Camper-submitted photo from Powell Creek Campground
    May. 8, 2024

    Powell Creek Campground

    Old & dilapidated,

    Old campground with very little to do. Dirty shower building and dirty bathrooms( be sure to bring your own toilet paper because it's always empty). Activity building looks like it is about ready to collapse, with cracks in the concrete big enough to trip over. Run don't walk away from this place!

  • Tina G.
    Camper-submitted photo from Happy Acres Campground
    May. 2, 2024

    Happy Acres Campground

    Unexpected gem

    We made an last minute stop here on a Sunday night. The owners were helpful and went out of their way to help us. The campground looks awesome and makes you feel at home. They are also big rig friendly. We will stop back here again.

  • N
    Camper-submitted photo from Sunny's Campground
    Apr. 1, 2024

    Sunny's Campground

    Lots of fun

    I took my family there and we had a great time. My 7 year really enjoyed the swimming and riding his bike through the campground. When we stayed the campground had brought in large inflatable water slide which was a great time. They charge for WIFI and it wasn’t very good at all, but that is my only complaint.

  • fThe Dyrt PRO User
    Camper-submitted photo from Kimpels Hickory Acres
    Mar. 8, 2024

    Kimpels Hickory Acres

    Decent place, will try again

    There is a Waterpark, pool, and hot tub at this campground you can access for an additional price. I camped in a tent next to the cabin that my sister rented so I'm not sure about the tent sites that are available. There are ALOT of full time campers here so I was under the impression that a good site will be hard to find here, but the bathrooms were good and there were things to do so I will try this place out again.

  • Kim B.
    Camper-submitted photo from Fish Lake Family Resort
    Oct. 30, 2023

    Fish Lake Family Resort

    A real family campground with a friendly community.

    The owner was wonderful, friendly, and responsive! 

    The site was good for an overnight stay.

    It seems most sites were seasonal and those folks were very friendly.

    We would definitely stay again when going through the area.

    Lots of things happening...and even though we were just a one-night stay, passing through, we were invited to take part in everything going on.  We felt very welcome.

  • Shona S.
    Camper-submitted photo from Blue Water Campground
    Sep. 8, 2023

    Blue Water Campground

    Okay

    It had the facilities, but we were unimpressed with the service when booking, price quoted at reservation and online was different to price charged and we were placed right by the dump ground


Drive Time


Guide to Defiance

Camping near Defiance, Ohio, offers a variety of experiences for outdoor enthusiasts. From serene lakes to family-friendly parks, there’s something for everyone in this beautiful region.

What to do:

What campers like:

What you should know:

  • Busy Weekends: Expect crowds during peak times. A visitor at Chain O' Lakes State Park Campground warned, "A very hard campsite to navigate and a busy weekend forget about dumping lol you're gonna be there a while."
  • Limited Cell Service: Some areas have poor reception. A camper at Pokagon State Park Campground noted, "The shower & restrooms are atrocious!!!"
  • Reservation Fees: Be prepared for additional costs when booking. A visitor at Indian Lake State Park Campground mentioned, "The online reservation system is clumsy to use at best."

Tips for camping with families:

  • Kid-Friendly Activities: Look for campgrounds with amenities for children. A parent at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Barton Lake said, "My son had a blast and said this was the best campground he has ever been to."
  • Safety First: Choose sites that are safe for young kids. One reviewer at Johnny Appleseed Campground mentioned, "The only problem so far has been the water distribution."
  • Plan for Quiet Time: Be mindful of noise levels, especially at night. A camper at Indian Lake State Park Campground noted, "No one seemed to care about the 10 pm quiet time."

Tips from RVers:

  • Check Site Sizes: Make sure your RV fits the site. A visitor at Pokagon State Park Campground advised, "Some sites are level, some aren't."
  • Bring Long Cords: Electrical hookups can be far from parking spots. A camper at Lake Hudson Recreation Area mentioned, "Make sure you have extension cords!"
  • Dump Station Access: Know where the dump stations are located. A reviewer at Harrison Lake State Park Campground said, "Dump Stations at Park exit have complimentary hoses."

Camping near Defiance, Ohio, has its perks and quirks. With a little planning, you can enjoy a fantastic outdoor experience!

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What camping is available near Defiance, OH?

    According to TheDyrt.com, Defiance, OH offers a wide range of camping options, with 82 campgrounds and RV parks near Defiance, OH and 1 free dispersed camping spot.

  • Which is the most popular campground near Defiance, OH?

    According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Defiance, OH is Harrison Lake State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 16 reviews.

  • Where can I find free dispersed camping near Defiance, OH?

    According to TheDyrt.com, there is 1 free dispersed camping spot near Defiance, OH.

  • What parks are near Defiance, OH?

    According to TheDyrt.com, there are 10 parks near Defiance, OH that allow camping, notably Delaware Lake and Clarence J. Brown Dam and Reservoir.