Best Tent Camping near Gambier, OH

tent camping two nights. very well run park. great facilities

Stayed on a tent site. Highway right in front of us with trucks all night and sites right on top of one another. I gave it two stars because the bathrooms were clean and campground was well maintained.

We tent camped and had a private spot in the woods which we loved. The campgrounds covers all the basics. We fished and swam in the indoor pool which was not heated at the time. Across the street they have a Canoe livery, mini golf, go carts, ropes course and lots more. So much to do!!

This is a huge campground! I tent camped by myself--felt very safe.  Happened to be next to the park host. No choice of where to locate my large tent.  Showers/bathrooms were OK--older facilities.  Wish this park had a laundry facility--another Ohio park I recently stayed at had a fairly new shower facility that included a laundry facility!  Did not appreciate the waste management company emptying the dumpsters at 4:00 AM!!!  There is a huge, lakeside beach that was just packed with people (no social distancing) and there was trash everywhere--not enough dumpsters.  Near to shopping (Polaris), if you are interested.  Will try to get a lakeside site next time.

We had a great time in the walk-in, non-electric section — easy to get to with its own dedicated parking. These sites had good space between them, but no real barriers from other tents, so just depends who’s staying near you!

The full electric sections were packed with RVs and trailers, looks like a fun place to be for a bit, but glad we weren’t tent camping between them all. Access to water sports and trails is great!

First time here lots of seasonal campers but also seems to be alot of good tent sites on the edges of the campground. Bathrooms are dated but also kept clean and don't stink. They have a river launch for kayaking but is currently closed to to obstruction in river they say they have some campers working on clearing it out of the way though

I love Mohican State Park. There is so much to do- canoeing, kayaking, tubing, creeking, and great trails also.

This campground is nice but is crowded in the warmer months. Look for a site along the water, that's where the tree cover is. I stayed in a camper cabin which was very nice, with microwave and refrigerator.

There is running water in the toilets, which is nice for a state park in Ohio. The showers were decent, nothing to complain about there.

The primitive tent camping sites looked nice and peaceful- take care to get a shaded spot, though, as some were just exposed in a grassy field. There is a long bumpy walk from the parking area to the primitive sites, so bring a wagon or sled or something.

I have camped here 3 times as an adult and most of my childhood here. It's quiet, the campers and staff and friendly. They have large shaded sites and a few tent sites in the back still. It's not going to blow your mind here, but I will continue to enjoy T&C because of its cost, how close it is to home, and how enjoyable of a time I've had here.

We booked our non-electric tent camp site online, the pictures of the set-up of sites online do not match at all the set-up in real life.  It took us an hour and a half to find our site because we arrived later (around 8pm) and no staff was available and no maps anywhere to be found explaining the set up of the campsites.  The original site we had booked could barely fit our single little tent (it's not a fancy double or anything like that), it was on an angle and the view we had thought we were going to get of the lake was nowhere to be found.  We switched sites the next morning only to find that every other site that had a smidge of privacy was on such an incline it literally made us dizzy to hang out there for very long.  We spent one night at the new site then left and stayed at a hotel for our third and final night of vacation because it was raining and torrents of water were flowing into our tent. The beach area had multiple notices about high bacteria content and warnings for swimming at your own risk (which we can understand this happens sometimes).  The bathrooms on the campsite we stayed in were atrocious!  I've never smelled anything so bad in my life and dirty, dirty, dirty! No showers were available in the grounds we stayed at but over by the beach area there was showers available - but you had to shower super quickly, the hot water was gone before you could even get your hair washed.  We rented a Kayak to go exploring (super fun as we had not done that before! and decently priced) but the area you have to Kayak in is so small!!  The lake is not really a lake but more of a pond.  Some of the staff (especially the lady manning the main office) were super friendly and nice, some of the staff (particularly the 'maintenance' staff) were rude and ignored you when you tried to speak with them.  The trails around the campsite were absolutely breathtaking - beautiful, serene and smelled like wildflowers surprisingly because they are used as horse-riding trails so lots and lots of horse manure along the paths.  We won't be going back to this campground for many of the reasons stated above but I do recommend that you check out the trails if you choose to stay here.

We chose this campground over the state park because it is on the bike trail and the state park is not.  You can ride your bike from Mohican Adventures Campground into downtown Loudonville without going on any roads.  

The campground is huge and we did not see all of it. It is well maintained and it seems like the owners and employees put a lot of effort into making it nice.  We were tent camping there during the week and it was extremely quiet at night.  Some of the sites seem close together, however we still had enough room for our car, bicycles, 8 person tent, EZ UP canopy, bathroom tent, and fire ring.  

One downside was that there was a big cliff at the back of our campsite which we were not aware of when booking.  We have small children so this was not good.  Our campsite was shaded and completely dirt, no grass, so if it rained it would get muddy.  Not all sites are like that, but some are.

This was our first trip ever so we decided to go to a smaller state park. This was a really nice place to start. We were at spot #6, had a porch at the end of the drive which overlooked the woods and the lake. (Will attach photos) The trails were not long at all. Less than 2 miles total and it was beautiful. Very quiet all day and all night. We stayed the first weekend of April and was a little cold over night. They do offer frisbee golf. It was just an overall relaxing weekend and felt great to unplug from work and the cell phones. Would stay here again. Forgot to mention they had tent sites, electric only or full hookups. We paid $29 a night for the full hookups. They do have a dump station as well and portable water.

My family and I had been looking forward to camping here this weekend. The weather forecast was a bit iffy with a 50/50 chance for rain, but instead of giving up and canceling we decided to try it. We got our tent set up, but the rain was so heavy that our tent began to leak. We asked if they had any cabins available, and they did, but they wouldn’t credit us the cost we had already paid to stay. They said we’d have to pay the cost of the cabin in addition to the cost we paid for the tent site. We asked if we could get a credit for a future stay and they said NO. We asked about a refund for our second night that we weren’t going to use and they again said NO. They just kept saying that their policy is no refunds for any reason unless you cancel 2 or more days before your arrival date. While we recognize the need for policies like that, we also know that some circumstances, like torrential rainfall, can allow for GRACE and a waiver of the policy, or at least a modification (credit toward a future stay). They got our $105 for 2 days we didn’t use, and if they had exhibited better customer service they might have gotten more from us in the future, but they won’t get a penny more now, since we won’t be staying here ever again.

The Mohican Adventures experience was nothing short of wonderful. Me and a friend went in the middle of the week and as a result practically had the entire Buzzard section of the Primitive tent camping section to ourselves. The few staff members we did talk to were helpful and informative. To our pleasure we were generally left alone for the two nights we had stayed. Given that only a small handful of campers had shown up during the middle of the week and only one set of campers chose the Primitive sites we were allowed to chose any campsite available and were not forced to stick with the one we had reserved originally. This worked greatly in our favor seeing as the original campsite we chose did not have the require space needed for our two tents. We took advantage of their seven mile canoe trip which was rich with scenery and again, given the time we had choosen to go, we enjoyed much solitude on the river which took about 2.15 hours to traverse in our canoe.

Mohican Adventures is a great place for families with things like go-karts, aerial obstacle course, and other fun outdoor activities available. They also offer cabins and RV sites for those wanting a more modern camp experience. They also offered several bathroom locations and a shower house which were sufficiently clean. Definitely would recommend. The only downsides in my opinion is that if you choose to walk by foot around the campground rather then drive your car to the activities across the road then you better be prepared to climb some steep hills. Also the campsites are very close together so should you choose a time when they're busy, chances are you will be very close to other campers. All in all we had a great time and plan to go again.

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.

This trip was memorable for so many reasons but the Chestnuts really make this park stand out.  The park has several Chestnut trees which is usually a rare find these days.  Later on, I found a sign explaining why the park had so many Chestnut trees. They are working to bring them back.  We used our grubstick to roast them over the open fire.  Many of us fondly think of the Christmas song but how often have you roasted your own Chestnuts while camping?

The tent sites (short walk from parking lot) and one car per tent site.  Our site was not the traditional walk up/park camp site. It was a nice change of pace.  More space and great neighbors. 

The camp store at this park had a lot of great things such as corn hole outside, a mining activity for the family, trikes you could rent, and most importantly ice cream.  

The camp store is right across from the pool.  The pool is currently closed but not many state parks in Ohio have a pool right in the camp ground area.  This is a rare treat. The pool had the traditional pool, kiddo pool, and small splash pad. You could also see where they had installed a curb cut for those in wheel chairs or needing ramps. No pool lift that I could see to help someone lower in and out of the pool. This may be put away for the season so call to find out. They also had a ramp installed that led up to the pool. One side the old steps and the other side a new  ADA ramp. 

 The fire wood was in a white bag and that made it easy to move and kept the car clean which I appreciated. They also had bait so if you wanted to walk behind the pool and continue to the river it wouldn't be far to go fishing. 

The shower house by us did not have an ADA bathroom and I didn't get a chance to look for the ADA shower.  

Behind the campsites (our section) you could grab a short trail to the river. This was a lovely surprise as I followed a foot path.   We opted not to do the overlook hike to the gorge as we had fellow campers with us that couldn't do a long hike for safety reasons.  It as a nice surprise to learn that one could also drive to the overlook if they need to and all parties could enjoy the view together. Two different ways to get to the same place which means if you need to split up your campers based on physical skills then you could do so and then eat at the shelter together. 

The camp ground has been FULL several times this season so make sure you make your reservations. This park also has a way for you to put on and take out of the river.  You will see folks walking around with their inner tubes as they will float down the small section.

We also drove 10 miles away to the Mohican Lodge to treat ourselves to some food and an OSU Football game at the bar downstairs. The bar has a great back patio and view of the lake.  It too has a variety of games in the back patio. They were awesome and turned on the closed caption feature for us.  Those of us that wanted to watched the game and others were able to play various games at the lodge (Ping pong, pool, read a book by the fire, go see the owls on site, and more).

The pool at the lodge is being redone at the moment. I may try to upload that information later.  So look for it to be new and improved. The pool also has a sauna for those that need some help to warm up/relax tight muscles. Usually, you can get a day pass for the lodge pool even when you are staying at the camp sites. This is a small fee but well worth it.

While we were at the lodge an outside non-profit group was there with 2 owls.  We hope to drive up to Mansfield sometime to explore their property (90 acres) with birds they have rescued or are helping. https://www.ohiobirdsanctuary.com/  they come to the lodge usually on Sat evening at 7 PM. 

For those who are a fan of Shawshank Redemption the movie you are an easy day trip away from the Mansfield Reformatory. https://www.mrps.org/explore/tours

Alum Creek is just beautiful, nice sites, most of them are at least partially shaded, lots of woods, hiking trails, the lake, it is what I think of when I think of State Park campground camping in Ohio. There are a couple problems. 1. Only ONE little dump station. This is a big campground, so if you're leaving Sunday, you better get up at the crack of dawn to get to the station, otherwise be prepared to wait in a long long line of RV's. We by-passed the long line and stopped at a different State Park campground on the way home and paid 10.00 to use their dump station. 2. They never answer their phone at the campground office. I mean NEVER. If you have a question you will just have to deal with the reserveamerica people who really know nothing other than what they read on the campground website. So basically you know as much as they do. It's maddening. We will go back, but it's a 2 hour drive so it won't be anytime soon.