Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Bradford, OH

the campground is seriously in need of some tlc and they have gotten rid of the deer exhibit and replaced it with a dog park which is sad because my family spent a few hours each trip just petting and feeding the deer before. also the nature center isn’t what it used to be. bathrooms are always nasty. it’s sad because this used to be our go to campground.

I’ve been camping here every summer since I was a child. There is always a lot to do for all age groups. They’ve also added in a dog park which is perfect for my fur babies! There’s plenty of trails for hiking and adventuring. Archery range, plenty of spots to fish and keep everyone occupied! Love this campground and will continue to come back for many years to come!

We love camping here! Whether it's tent camping, group camping, RV, cabin, or lodge accommodations they can fill all your needs. Very large park with playgrounds, fishing, swimming, creek access, dog park, archery practice area or walk over to the damn. The bathrooms could use a little better cleaning but all in all it's a great park! We come often and camp at least once a year! Highly recommended.

It’s a KOA, but even for a KOA this one was sub-par. Granted, we visited in late March, and they may not have been at peak season form. But... The entry road is one lane. If you meet another vehicle someone has to back up. That’s just poor design. The roads in the campground need grading. Lots of holes and ruts. The site we were given wasn’t level, and it took a bit of maneuvering to get level. The “dog park” was a mud hole. The internet was extremely slow. And, like all KOAs, sites are very close together! However, on the plus side, the showers, bathrooms and laundry were Done all clean and neat. They have a pool (not open when we visited). Also a large playground, jumping pad and a small store. There was also grass between sites, instead of gravel, which is unusual for a KOA.

We love camping in the off season but with that comes closures. Some sections of the campgrounds might not be open, no camp hosts and limited bathrooms and showers houses. This is to be expected, but when I called the morning of our trip to make sure potable water was available and I was told yes it was only to drive 2 hours and realized they were wrong. No water 🙁. This would not have been a peas we have dry camped before but all the bathrooms were closed as well.

After called the park ranger he did let us get some water at the maintenance building so we were at least able to finish the weekend. Lesson learned always pull with at least some water.

Now back to the campground itself was nice and clean. Site are a little close together. The biggest down side is you are there to enjoy the lake but the lake had algae warnings everywhere not to go near the water.

They do have a dog park, pool and splash pad when in season and a marina. Also they have WiFi and good cell coverage.

Nice sites. Diverse group of campers. Anything from people with full size house refrigerators in bed of pickup truck to people with their pet rabbits

Short hike to the lake. Great beach area and shower facilities. Pet friendly, horse trails, camp store. Liberty is a short drive and has all essentials plus J’s Dairy Inn 🤤

Beautiful park and camping if you like a parking lot for RVs. Lots of families and pets. Not great for tents but theres a couple ok spots. Not secluded. Very little shade but lots to do at the park and its very clean.

We camped here several time last year(2017). We had great experiences each time. Beautiful lake for kayaking! If you don’t owe a kayak or canoe, they offer rentals.

All sites are gravel with mature trees if you want shade or full sun. Pet friendly. Nice playgrounds for the kids or grandkids. Very nice beach area. Wonderful hiking trails and offer a variety of programs/activities.

This park is know for the lake that is kayak and canoe friendly since it doesn’t allow any kind of boat with a motor. It also features a beach , 2 playgrounds and several hiking trails. Just be careful if you hike with dogs since some trails intersect with a nature preserve which doesn’t allow pets.

The campground itself has 20 electric sites , 56 primitive sites and 4 camper cabins. All the electric sites are pull through and all sites have a fire pit but only the electric sites come with picnic tables.

Due to off season and COVID the camp store is closed and there is no camper host or park office staff around.

We did notice lots of downed trees on the poorly marked hiking trails. Some trails just started but no maps were around and no trails were blazed. It was hard to tell where we were headed or how long a trail was. I tried using the new Detour app and it wasn’t very accurate for this park.

We did have good Verizon cell coverage.

Relax on the waters edge in shear tranquility. Perfect beach for swimming, excellent trails for hiking, and awesome lake to boat. Multiple launch ramps provide ease and convenience. Rent a canoe or kayak and head out for some time alone or with your favorite person. The cabins are heated but pets are not allowed. Campground is huge as are the sites. Some are premium, there’s a few ADA and some lakeside making for a great view to enjoy your morning coffee.

Boating, fishing, disc golf, rappelling, rock climbing, picnics, WOW! Put on those hiking boots to enjoy 10 varying difficulty trails, bring your bike for one, and hit the multi-use for mountain biking. Hang out and enjoy the wildflowers, or simply marvel the outstanding trees. The views and scenery are breathtaking. Stay at the campground and enjoy hanging with your pet by the fire pit. Some sites offer only electric while the majority do not. Restrooms and a dump station are provided. Have a large party, there’s a group camp available.

This park has a beautiful lake and nice (although short) hiking trails. The problem is that there is no running water- no showers and smelly pit toilets. There is one spigot for drinking water.

Beware that the campsites are mostly in one big grassy field with no shade. I'd pick a site along the perimeter or along the lake.

This park is overrun with feral cats (or it was when I was there). Some people might think that is cute. I consider feral cats to be wild animals that carry disease. What's really bad about them is that they've been fed so they are comfortable around people. We spent the whole weekend trying to fend them off- every time our backs were turned, they jumped up on our picnic table. They ate our food, which we had to throw away. When we sat by the fire, they rubbed up against our legs, which is disgusting, considering they carry Bartonella, which is transmitted through their fleas and ticks (Bartonella is a co-infection of Lyme, or you can get it on its own. I know- I've had it since middle school. Feral cats probably carry Lyme too, as they are mammals). I can't express how stressful it was, trying to keep these wild cats away from us the entire weekend. I don't know why the park can't get them under control.

Sure, cat people will be offended by my statement, but would you want raccoons or skunks up on your table, eating out of your pots and pans? Would you want raccoons rubbing up against you while you are trying to relax? These cats are also wild animals, yet way too tame for comfort. Ugh,I shudder remembering it.

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

Perfect example of this park...my husband and I were quickly becoming homeless and with 2 cat's needed someplace to go fast! It just happened to be Memorial Day weekend.We had a 10 person tent that we had no clue how to put up. We left to get more supplies and upon returning we found 10 guy's waiting to help us put it up! We had no idea who they were, but they put the tent and another screen tent for us and refused to be paid. We were so touched by their help! The park staff found the very last spot after hearing our housing dilemma and checked on me everyday while my husband went to work. Very clean park and safe as the sheriff's department cruised through every night. Campers helped each other with food and wood and picked up after themselves. Very relaxing as it is a drive off the highway which allowed nature to unfold all around campers.

My wife and I had a great time visiting Hueston Woods and visiting the Raptor Center. Located north of Cincinnati along Ohio’s border with Indiana.

We stayed here with our pop up camper and felt right at home. The bathrooms and shower houses could use some updates and there were no full hook up sites when we went but our site was nice and quiet.

Our dog, loved the miniature golf and visiting Acton Lake.

We stayed in Site 12, which was huge and conveniently located close to a fairly new shower house. That facility was among the very best I've seen! Amazingly clean!

There are many things to do here: Saturday night movies, Bingo, and, of course, the lake. Canoe, paddle board, and kayak rentals.

The park was not full but somewhat busy, yet, outside of kids playing and dogs occasionally barking, there was little noise.

We drove through the entire campground. Some sites were bigger than others. Most sites were relatively flat.

Fall is a good time to visit Caesars Creek. The trees are turning beautiful colors. Also, the park is convenient for the Ohio Renaissance Fair and events at Roberts Arena.

After not being able to camp a majority of the summer due to having 2 brain surgeries - it was nice to at least get one camping trip in before the kids start back school. It was definitely not an easy task to get a camp site here as a walk-in. We checked on reserve America several times with no luck. So finally when Friday (8/9) morning came I rushed up to buck creek to get a spot. The camp store opened a little after the posted time. I politely asked the attendant if they had any walk-up sites available and at first she said no. I then said you don’t have anything at all? She finally said they had a few non-electric sites (which was totally fine!) I happily paid for the site and we sat up. The park was totally FULL by evening. The attendant at the store wasn’t the friendliest. It was slightly upsetting she tried to hide that they had a few non-electrics available. We also witnessed her telling children/teens they couldn’t come into the camp store without an adult. And, there was a stray, very scrawny looking cat that hung around the camp store that some people were giving food. The attendant came out of the store and yelled at the kids for feeding it - instead of explaining why they shouldn’t. The camp store is very basic it has wood, ice, lighters, and things of that nature. The camp sites can feel a bit cramped (especially when they’re full) they’re about 15ft from one cement pad to the next. The restrooms were okay and by Saturday evening desperately needed cleaned. Also in the main woman’s restroom only one out of three stall doors actually locked. The showers were warm though so that is a positive especially when camping. The camp doesn’t do very many planned activities. They have a movie at dark which our kiddos enjoyed. They have a basketball court which is usually full of teens. The playground is nice and within walking distance from all the campsites. However our 6 year old was a bit disappointed that the tetherball didn’t have a ball. Buck Creek has a lot of great trails to hike. It is very common to see wildlife especially deer on a hike here. The kids love it and it’s always fun to look for big foot on hikes for them.

Our family camped for 3 nights at site 268 and 269 . The sites are spacious with plenty of room for cornhole games . Showers were nice and hot and bathrooms were clean. Had a good time at the beach and caught a few fish at a couple different fishing spots. Overall good times, except the raccoons stole our hot dog buns we had sitting on the picnic table for literally 5 minutes while we cooked our hot dogs. It was a little too busy for my liking on Friday night , but Wednesday and Thursday we basically had the loop to ourselves!

A great place for family and friends to get together to camp! Rv’s and tents! Horses and dogs! Kayak and swim!

I was blessed to grow up down the road from Hueston Woods, frequently camping, hiking, fishing, etc. Beautiful park, great campgrounds, numerous trails, large nature center, and awesome beach for dogs.

I like the beach, wish they could have a beach dog to chase away the geese.

Camping is also nice. More trees please.

Love the Meteor Show Campout on the beach. Best even of my summer.

My wife our dogs and were at site 207 from 07/29/21- 08/01/21 camping in a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108 TB. The campground was ok, but away from activities. If we had a boat or bikes we would have been able to do many other things.

Traveling with a dog is not always easy, but I throughly enjoyed my stay. Will be back again, happy it wasn’t full of people. Wifi strong, Verizon service great, premium electric (I have 30amp and there was a hookup), no water as it’s winter meaning no bathrooms (there is a porterhouse). Clean sites and friendly folks.