Best Glamping near Hanging Rock, OH

Most of the campsites have great privacy, despite being fairly close together. The beach is very nice! There are plenty of trails for the hikers, and 2 lakes if you're the boating/swimming type. Lots of elevation for Ohio.

Shawnee State Park was totally without any phone signal. Right on the border of Kentucky, in Ohio, you are in the small town almost South.

Beautiful countryside, fortunately I was on Rt 125 when I lost all clue where the park entrance was. Then I saw the Shawnee Range and kept on driving. Definitely get a map because the whole park offers a lot of out door opportunities.

Backpack trail, 23 and 40 miles loops with 7 camping areas, register and enjoy. Equestrians get 70 miles and primitive camping.

The camping area is small ( a good thing ) the restrooms are clean and basic. Showerhouse and laundry. The attendant was super helpful and knowledgeable.

In the short videos I posted you will notice that I did not add a transcript.  Please turn on your Google Accessibility for Live Captions to access the spoken information within the video clips. 

Shawnee State Park (Little Smokies of Ohio)

Has a great ranger/naturalist (Jenny) she made the days go by in a memorable way as we were able to do a creek crawl with her one day, kayaked for free with her on the lake, and had several other activities that we enjoyed.  ODNR has a gem in Jenny as she was able to tailor the events to a wide range of abilities, interests, and ages. 

Cell Phone service is weak at the park.  We didn't always have a signal at the camp grounds but if you go over to the lodge you will have a signal.  You can also access Wi-Fi while at the lodge if needed.  The lodge has a restaurant that you can eat at if you wish.  They also have an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and an indoor hot tub. If you camp at the state park campsites you can pay for a day pass.  This is a great thing to do when you need a change of pace or if it is rainy and you want to swim indoors. They even have a game room (old school arcade). 

Near the Shawnee State Park is a dairy bar that my family has gone to for many years. It is a part of the tradition to get Turtle Sundaes. https://www.facebook.com/Buckeye-Dairy-Bar-Miniature-Golf-166451746787194/

In the Shawnee lodge if you look closely at the main mural you will notice Raven Rock. We totally overlooked this while we were growing up.  Thanks to the internet we now know this is a nature preserve. https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/raven-rock-state-nature-preserve

Our first campsite was number 12.  We arrived at 5:55 PM and the camp office closes at 6:00 PM. The gal waited for us to check out the site and we promptly came back as she did indicate it was a rough site.  This site and 13, 14 is what I would expect for a backpacking campsite.  Not for a traditional car camping non-electric campsite.  If we had any older or younger family members with us it would have been inaccessible.  We didn't like the walk up to the site and the big draw back was the table in the poison ivy. We promptly for the 1st time in my camping career paid a fee to switch to a new site. Luckily the park was not super busy as it was a weekday.  

Bathroom access such as the stairs, bathroom stalls ADA, and other access points will need to continue to be improved for those with mobility issues. This would have greatly impacted my friends and family had they been with me on this trip.  

The showers in the bathhouse are motion sensor based. That means if you get too far from the sensor the shower will turn off.  Also, make sure you take your shampoo items etc. out with you before you get dressed as if you reach back in to grab your items you will promptly get sprayed. 

Another favorite spot is the fire tower https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/copperhead-fire-tower  Please make sure to respect the fire tower as it is one of the few fire towers that you can still go up in and look at the beautiful view.  You will not have a signal here so make sure you also ask about how to get back as we didn't have a GPS signal for the way back and just explored our way back to civilization. 

The park was not super busy while we were there in June.  It is a well kept secret as I found this to be one of the most charming parks that I have been to in a long time.  I suspect the cell phone signal and location has impacted folks coming to this park compared to others. It isn't super close to a major city but for me that is part of the charm. 

For those of you who like to mountain bike do check out the new mountain bike trails. I cannot report on those as I am not talented enough to go out on those trails;)

Paved, well maintained sites but a bit close together. Don’t expect privacy if it’s booked. Reservations close 4 days prior, after that it’s first come, first serve. However, surprisingly very quiet during my visit. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring with grill, and water & electric hookups. Cannot comment on the showers because no running water at the time of my visit (water line break, scheduled for repairs).

We love coming here. It’s local for us so if we just want a weekend to get away we typically come here. The restrooms are clean, the sites are well maintained and the lake is close by for some good kayaking and fishing.

Sadly, it was raining the entire time we were at this site. However, the campground was very nice! It was quaint and quiet. Nice view and close to the lake as well! There is a beach about a 10 minute drive away from the camp. Very nice showers and bathrooms!

Most of the sites shaded and separated by trees. Love the privacy this provides. Our favorite “close to home campground”!

Very clean and private campsites

Great campground with super easy access to the trail and lake. The sites are spread apart enough so you aren’t right beside someone - and shaded. Well prepared sites with a clearing, fire ring, and a picnic table. Nice host and rangers too! Bathrooms were meh: the walls need cleaned or painted, no where to put your things, and there was no hand soap - no biggie though.

I LOVE camping here, unlike a lot of camp grounds they're actually within the woods so you feel like you're actually part of the forest and the nature. It's a simple place, they have showers and restrooms. The hiking trails are scenic and pretty and the lake while not overly big, is clean and great for swimming(there's a beach) , kayaking, and fishing. They have plenty of crappie, bass, and catfish stocked in the lake and there are bait shops close by.

Over all it is a very relaxing place to camp and cheaper than most other places even for a camper hook up.

Nice, quiet campground. Not a ton of privacy, but much better than an RV park. More shade and privacy here than the nearby Oak Hill campground on the other side of the lake. Tons of hiking trails around the lake. We will definitely be back!

This campground above Lake Vesuvius was nice. Not a lot of privacy, but sites are comfortably spaced out. Great hiking and Lake Vesuvius is small but beautiful. Also, there’s a hidden gem of a cave/overhang along one of the hiking trails.

Loved this campground. It was kind of off the driven trail yet close enough to stores. The staff and host were notch. Clean and well maintained. The area was quiet and very pleasing. Back to nature for us.

Nice little place. Nearby town is absolutely not dog friendly. No dogs allowed in many of the parks.

Great hosts but make sure in your reservation to specify grill or fireplace.

Pretty good Koa. Sites are level gravel, ground are clean. WiFi is pretty good. Bathhouses are new, clean and adequate. Easy access from I64 but no noticeable road noise.

Stayed here again, apparently this KOA has new owners. Not sure about it now, didn't seem as nice as before, atmosphere felt 'stuffy'. Sites were still OK. Gravel and level where we stayed. Grand daughter loved that we were beside the pool and playground. Mini golf was run down, but had a fresh coat of paint.

Very friendly people and my dog loved the dog park.

Rude! Employee even warned us that the owner is a bitty!! Nothing to do!! Save your time and money!!

KOA staff was very friendly and accommodating. We were able to stay extra days with out any problems. It was A practice run for us since we just started camping . For our first adventure every thing worked out fine. The campground has miniature golf , A playground, A fenced area for dogs a pond and A swimming pool.

We stayed for an overnight. Site was NOT very level. On gravel. Picnic tables and fire ring. Didn't appreciate the grill in the next site (thought it was too close to us). We were in Site #8. Not sure what all is around here. Easy off and on to I-64 - far enough from highway so you don't hear it.

I called KOA Ashland on July 3rd and spoke with an employee about cancelling my reservation I had on Aug 7th. She informed me that I would forfeit $10 as a cancellation fee. I informed her that I’m a VIP member and per KOA cancellation policy the cancellation fee is waived. She stated that per the campground owner they are an independently owned and that KOA policy does not apply to them. I told her that as a franchise of KOA they cannot pick and choose which policies to follow. I then said I understand that you are just the messenger. She even shared with me that the system was even showing her to issue a full refund. I asked her to inform the manager that I would be contacting KOA corporate on Tuesday in refence to this matter. On July 3rd I posted a review simply stating I’m not recommending this campground with the comment “ They don’t follow KOA cancellation policy for VIP members!”.

On July 7th the owner called very angry because I called KOA and posted the reviews. I tried to explain to the owner but there was not talking to him. This owner has no customer service skills at all! If he would have called and said that we must have a misunderstanding, how can we make this right? But he immediately went into everything was my fault without trying to understand what his employee stated. He went on to say that my reservation was not even cancelled. I can only speculate that when I spoke with his employee that she was hesitant to cancel until after she had an opportunity to speak with the owner. Regardless, I had asked for the reservation to be cancelled. Arguing on the call was not getting us anywhere. I asked the owner would he cancel my reservation and process a full refund. The owner’s response was “I might not” and hung up.

A short time later in the day I received an email cancellation with no refund at all. The cancelation fee was listed at $46.08. Therefore, from my prospective the owner stole my money as a penalty for the review. This is clearly not the documented cancelation policy. I will continue to work with KOA to resolve this very unwelcoming and dishonest situation. Campers beware!!

Was nice and quiet. Wanted to get away for a couple days and our favorite place to go was booked so this was the next closest spot. We stayed on the upper end by the veterans cemetery, even though it's close to the pool and playground, it was pretty quiet. Sites were a bit unlevel, but easy to back into.