Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Grand Rapids, OH

This is our second time camping here and both times were for a group camping event. For this type of event it’s a great park. We had a whole sector the event with water and electric sites.

If we were going to camp here on our own I am not sure I would like it since it’s mostly set up for seasonal campers. So there are no hiking trail and there is also a lot of golf cart traffic.

They do offer a swimming pool , pond with inflatable slides , dog park , bound pad and miniature golf.

We have been here a few times. Really enjoy the secluded sites and the lake. It’s a small campground but it’s clean and quiet. Most sites don’t have water hookups but they do have electric. There isn’t much to do outside of the campground but there is a nice lake with canoe and kayak rentals. Very pet friendly and even has a dog beach.

This is a small campground no question! That being said we had one of our best camping experiences. Our site was right along the Maumee River and our view was just breathtaking. We watching the seagulls play and catch food while great blue herons skimmed that water and fisherman were out fly fishing. It was just a very peaceful setting.

There are lots of bike trails as the towpath trail goes through the park and it even leads into the little town of Grand Rapids. A quaint town with lots of antiques store and boutique with a brewery and pizza shop. ( the ice shop was closed for the season 🙁)

The only odd thing was your potable water and dump station were located at the Marina about a 1/4 mile down the road. Not a huge deal but a little inconvenient.

The Verizon cell service was great as well.

We will definitely go back to this park.

Only 30 minutes down the river from Independence Dam State Park, this park was markedly different. Because there was a two-night minimum reservation on weekends and we were just passing through, we decided to try and roll the dice and see if we could slide into a spot for just a night without a reservation. Alas, the only spots still available were walk-in tent sites which would not work for us. This park was laid out more like an RV park with the sites very close together and no privacy between them (Site 16 looked to be the best one for privacy). Except for the walk-in tent sites, electric and/or electric/water hookups were available. As we pulled in, the host immediately greeted us and was very friendly (she genuinely wanted to find us a spot). There is a marina/store close-by and the quaint town of Grand Rapids (which you could walk to if you wanted) had several shops and restaurants. We would have stayed here for the night if a site had been available, so make sure you make reservations if you are coming on a weekend (and can stay for two nights).

The camping area is nice. It is a little open for our like but there good activities you can do with the kids or pets.

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.

We rented a yurt as a local weekend escape. Our kids loved the yurt. It was nice with a little mini fridge and 4 double beds. Campground showers and bathrooms are clean. It is one of the only state parks in northwest Ohio, a beautiful little spot nestled in farmland of Ohio. The lake is nice for swimming and there are bike rentals which was fun as well. We did not use it, but there is a dog beach as well. Sites are crowed and close together.

Huge beach, large boat dock and lots of campsite spaces w power. The beach and water is full of litter. Boat launch was big with plenty of parking. We launched kayaks and paddled over to the swim area. Dogs and cigarette butts all over the beach. Walking to the restroom, it was a long walk and I could not locate any trash cans. Family friendly picnic areas with tables are spaced along the beach. Campsites are small and mostly dirt. Saturday night was packed with partying campers. Lots of dogs of all varieties, and temperaments. Unless you had a camper with a fan to drown out noise, then getting our kids to sleep would have been very difficult. Barking dogs, teenagers running through and past campsites until around 11pm. All fell pretty quiet by midnight, after rangers walked through. Dirt lots but paved camper pads.

They have everything you need for a long stay. Pool, lakes, very dog friendly, activities, food, washer and dryer, showers!

This campground is pretty rustic with water and electricity at some sites, no showers or restrooms, a dump station for one at a time, Porta potties scattered around, small beach, small boat launch, mostly appears to be seasonal sites without sewer or rustic sites. Some but not a lot of shade, rolling fields being made into smaller sized sites. Dogs and dogs pens are allowed, and they do not appear to have parents who are attentive or keep them from barking. Friendly staff and family of four owners.

Nice area in the Irish Hills. The campground has a couple of loops. Most sites around the outside are decently wooded. There’s a nice little mile nature trail through one of those loops.

There’s a nice dog run that we took advantage of.

There’s a couple of lakes where you can fish and kayak.

The day use area has a nice big grass picnic area. The beach is pretty small but it’s still a beach. Dogs are allowed at the day use area.

Update: we went camping at MIS for NASCAR and this state park is about a 10 minute drive from the track and the campgrounds at the track. We camped at the track but used the Lake here. I also noticed campers from the race using the dump station here at this park!

Solo camped with my dogs. Had a friends with me the first night with kids. Super nice site lots of space the kids had a great time. Safe and friendly. And only 9 minute drive to the Jet Express to jump over to Put in Bag for a day!

The first time we stayed here we were coming in late... and the owner said Are you Beth... as she watered the flowers. Yes, wow that felt welcoming... then she helped us back in and our neighbors brought us drinks on a tray. Where are we? This is amazing! Welcoming at its core!
Nice sites, a great little lake to swim another area to fish. They had great fireworks and simple outdoor fun. We’ve been back about 4-5 times and will be back in a week for our longest trip ever - 11 days. We have teenage kids and dogs... we all love it!

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.

I had a fantastic and totally welcoming weekend at Maumee Bay State Park with my dog. First time taking him camping and I was so appreciative of the facilities at the campgrounds & the park - I was able to focus on making sure he was comfortable instead of worrying about anything else!

Campsite neighbors were very respectful - lots of RVers and large family groups. The park store was clean & efficient and the park itself offered coffee & donuts every morning for a dollar. Very sweet!

One item of note is that there are sooooo many mayflies around - flying, landing on you & your gear, and oftentimes covering the ground around the park. Totally fine if you’re not shy of bugs, but something to be mindful of.

We like this place a lot. Tucked away in NW Ohio, close to the Michigan & Indiana border. 

We were in the north campground. Sites are all level, many very spacious which is unusual for Ohio SPs. No FHUs but don't let that stop you from visiting.