Are you planning a trip to Jackson with your horse? We've got you covered. Camping with your horse in Jackson just got easier. These scenic and easy-to-reach Ohio campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
Hocking Hills State Park offers camping all year round - electric sites, camper cabins, group camps, and primitive sites.
156 electric sites (with 20, 30 or 50 amp electric) and 13 non-electric sites.
Each site has a paved pad and can accommodate up to a 50' unit. Heated showers. Flush toilets. Laundry facility. Dump station. Camp store. Swimming pool for registered campers. Playgrounds. Volleyball court and horseshoe pit. Tent-only group camps are available by reservation. There are also 30 walk-in family sites with pit latrines.
All Hike-In Campgrounds are off the main Entrance and depending on the Site No. It requires up to 0.5 miles to hike from the Parking Lot. You have to drive to a different Parking Lot on State route 374. All sites starting with "H“ will be on the different location.
$29 - $46 / night
$24 / night
Pets are permitted on all sites. Sites 44-60 are electric. Sites 1-43 and 61-95 are non-electric. Sites 65-81 are tent camping only.
Iron Ridge is one of two campgrounds in the Vesuvius Recreation Area in southeastern Ohio's Wayne National Forest. Iron Ridge offers a great location for outdoor recreation, with activities like boating, swimming and fishing on Lake Vesuvius. Horseback riding and hiking are also available in the rolling hills surrounding the campground.
Boating, fishing and swimming on Lake Vesuvius are the area's most popular activities. Anglers may catch bass, catfish, crappie or bluegill. More than 40 miles of trails exist in the area, with trailheads beginning at or near the campground. A 1/2-mile hiking trail connects the campground to Lake Vesuvius. Lake Shore Trail offers an 8-mile loop around the lake and shorter trails lead to Rock House Cave, a grand, tunnel-like sandstone cave that was once used by Native Americans for shelter.
Iron Ridge Campground is located on a wooded ridge above 143-acre Lake Vesuvius. A scenic forest of mature eastern hardwoods covers the area.
The closest town is Ironton, Ohio, less than 10 miles from the campground.
Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area, named for the old Vesuvius iron furnace, is the Wayne National Forest's premier developed recreation site. The 143-acre lake and 1,200-acre complex provides the perfect spot for a getaway.
Lake Vesuvius is a popular location for swimming and fishing. Anglers may catch bass, catfish, crappie and bluegill. A boat ramp is located on-site. A swimming beach is located at Big Bend. A large playing field and multiple hiking trails are available within the recreation area. The accessible 1/3-mile boardwalk along the southwest edge of the lake provides an opportunity for a leisurely stroll through the area, and the slightly longer 1/2-mile Longbow Archery Trail, accesses at least 25 field targets for shooting practice. The area boasts more than 25 miles of hiking trails and more than 45 miles of horseback riding trails.
The lake sits on Storms Creek, which was dammed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The rugged hills and rock outcroppings offer a scenic backdrop for this beautiful recreation area. The historic Vesuvius iron furnace is located at the base of the dam.
The closest town is Ironton, Ohio, less than 10 miles from the campground.
$52 / night
$20 - $175 / night
Guide
This campground has some features that are nicer than what is found in many state campgrounds. There are some secluded sites back in the woods, so you don't feel like you are camping in a parking lot in a few places. NOTE that most of these secluded sites (along the back edge of the campground) are up a flight of stairs. You have to carry all your gear up a hill or stairs to set up. You will not be near your car, which can get annoying.
The bathrooms were average, not great but not gross. We were there on their Halloween weekend, with a fun site-decorating contest and trick or treat in the afternoon, which was mildly annoying for us because they closed the roads from 2 to 6 so we could not drive back to our site, and when we finally could, someone was in our parking pot for the next hour.
The lakes are quite tiny. The one at the campground is more like a large pond- fine for paddling around on a paddleboard for practice, but don't think you'll get in any meaningful kayaking or sight-seeing on this pond. The other lake is slightly bigger, but still not big enough for kayaking more than a couple hours at most.
The new campground is on the river on what used to be the golf course- I will write a separate review for that.
The lodge has some amenities (pool, hot tub, cafe, bar), but we ate in the restaurant and it was terrible. I do not recommend. Get some apps at the bar if you have to but keep your expectations low. We had pork nachos and the pork tasted old, everything was cold and it gave me a terrible stomachache.
Guide
Easy pull-thru site for our small travel trailer. Each pull-thru is set-up for horses, but RVs are allowed (according to NFS website). Maybe because it was Halloween night, maybe due to hunting season, I dunno, but there seemed to be more traffic than expected for this road. Our only neighbors got a little... rowdy, but it was okay.
Campsite fee is $15 on the honor system. If you have a National Park's Golden Age or Access pass, they honor a 50 percent discount.
I had good 4G ATT cell service. Worked well, with no drops. Data was a bit slower than usual but still good.
The only facilities here were a single pit toilet (surprisingly clean) and a trash can at each site. There may be more services during the height of the season, at least water for horses, but nothing else I could tell.
A short distance further down the road, just after it turns to gravel, at the Old Stone Church trailhead, there are grassy places to back in smaller campers/RVs. And even further down the road, after it turns back to asphalt :D, there's a private campground with utilities, I think, but we only saw it and didn't check it out.
Guide
Autumn is the best time to experience this Park. Less crowded than summer. 5 million visitors last year. More than Yellowstone. Guided hike was the best.
GuideThis is a great place to visit and camp. I am a tent camper so I was in the non electric site. The hiking is fantastic. Rose lake is also a wonderful lake and quite beautiful. Will always come back
Ranger
Start off by saying the staff were super great!!!! Stayed in space #1 and all the upper spots are open, wish they had more trees around the spaces. Overall it was still a great experience staying at this location.
Traveler
I was here before they sold out and seeing it now makes me sad. The bathrooms were gross, the arenas had weeds shooting up. This was a very nice place to take the horses, now it's an overpriced average campground with absolutely nothing to write home about.
Traveler
Spent 4 nights, nice quiet camp grounds. Was in spot number 61, closest spot to the bathhouse. Not sure it would be the best spot in midsummer as it was also closest to the dumpster. That said it was recently graded and leveled. The primary issue I had was having a smaller camper with a lower sewer connection and the sewer connection was higher than the bottom of my unit.
Guide
Stayed one night. OHV trails closed for winter. Hiking allowed year-round. Most campsites inaccessible during off-season. Pit toilet closed for winter. Probably busy on weekends during the season. Nice place.
GuideBeautiful area with great hikes and views close by. None accessible directly from our camp which was in the walk in section, separate from the regular camp ground. This area does not have many of the amenities that the other site does, just vault toilets. The walk in can be up to .3 miles so I highly recommend some sort of cart for your gear.
TravelerStayed here for two nights. Saturday was super busy, and we snagged the last available spot with a fire ring. The second night we only had one tent near us. There are plenty of pull-off areas on the road leading up to this trailhead that were being used night one as well. There were restrooms and several fire rings. Cell service was available, but not great.
Traveler
Stayed at a non-electric site for a weekend after Labor Day. All adjacent campsites were empty. It was great with silence and space, but would be considerably less enjoyable during peak times. Showers and restrooms were acceptable and what you might expect from a state park. The lodge on the opposite side of the lake offers great food and drinks.
Guide
Stayed here for 2 nights. Scarlet Oak campground. Drove and checked out the other two campgrounds which were also nice. Some sites are really small and some are right along the road. Not crowded at all during our visit. Some sites are sloped from slight to more severe. We did have to take our camper off our truck (truck camper) in order to get level. Our site had a large “yard” and trees. All great for our two big dogs. Site had w/e.
GuideWe stayed in one of the small cabins and loved it! Very clean, with thoughtful amenities. Hot tub on the back porch. This cabin also comes with two horse stalls. Bridle trail access right from campground.
LegendDecent site by the stream. Plenty of shade and a huge hill behind our site. Bathrooms were clean.
A lot of unsupervised children running around, in the stream and riding bikes. Didn't have any problems with them, but was concerned they weren't supervised.
There was some trash at our site, a lot of broken water balloons, some bottle caps and wrappers.
One night someone stole fishing poles from our neighbor and a bunch of coolers from other sites.
Some sites are really not level!
LegendWe had high hopes for this park because quite a few people raved about it. We did enjoy our stay and got a slightly larger camping spot than some of the others, but the spots were pretty darn close together for a state park. I was staring right into my neighbors door at one point from my camper :( ...we try to avoid campgrounds like tbis...they had a pool which people seemed to enjoy. We did not go in as we don't like busy pools and it was busy, but a nice amenity for some....showers were pretty darn gross for the parks reputation. We have been to many campsites and I'm usually the one complaining about showers and this time my husband came back and said it felt like his tour in Iraq back in 2005 it was so dirty. I did a spray off in our camper after hearing that...... Overall it was quiet though, very family friendly. The trails were peaceful and Old Man's Cave and lower Falls were neat and unique trails, definitely recommend....it was humid and we got rained out during our trip, so didn't do as much hiking as we would have liked. We only had a day there as the next night was booked. We did overall enjoy our time in Ohio!
LegendExcellent location for hiking hocking hills area. Bath houses could really use updating, showers were 50/10 pressure going 200 directions. The only bath house with laundry is the one by the pool. Our site looked much larger in photos but we made it work, although it was pretty steep.
GuideThe site was a good size, but not secluded. Decent hikes around the campgrounds
GuideTent camping sites were set back, in the woods, down a private path (about 75’) and totally secluded.
The park had a clean, nice outdoor movie theater, mini golf, and a lake with rentables.
ScoutBurr Oak campgrounds is so relaxing and quiet I would recommend finding some wood early or buy it I'm not sure if you can bring your own so check before you do. The non-electric site's atr a little hilly but we slept in our Kia Soul next to the picnic table and fire ring
ScoutThis was our first tent camping experience and over all went really well! Our particular site wasn’t very tent friendly and was overall a little awkward with the placement of hills and our fire pit, but I think that was a one off. We made it work and had a great time! The sites are close together so be aware if you aren’t fond of neighbors :) we will definitely be back!
Scout
Stayed 2 nights at camper cabin in April. Lake Hill Cabins runs the campground and boat rentals. The prices advertised on their website are not accurate. Expect to pay about 25% more. The cabins are supposed to have solar lighting. There is a handwritten sign saying the lights don’t work taped to the light switch.
RangerKOA Review
The campground it’s self is very clean and taken care of. We were there in early March with winter temps. The staff was extremely nice and helpful, bath house and laundry was clean. The water at our site was inoperable and they offered to move us without me even having to ask which was nice. The site could be maintained better ours had lots of tire ruts and fire pit could have been better for the price. Overall it’s a good campground with amenities in great shape. A good little dog park that was extremely clean, putt putt, and more. I would come back again in the off season just cause we like camping with less crowds.
LegendThis isn’t a very big campground. And some of the pad lengths are really really short. You should know that on the campground map they have written the pad lenoon them which is great. There are two shower houses which are really nice with flush toilets and showers. The only thing about the showers is there is no bench inside the stall and not really anywhere to hang your items so you will get wet. Shawnee State Park is very hilly. There is a campground store, very small and closed during the off-season. The comfort stations are also closed in the off-season, but they are spread out throughout the campground. Some sites are really best fit for tents only or you can hammock and at the actual tent sites they have nice tent pads for them. There is a playground, putt putt course, small lake that you can kayak or paddleboard in. They’ve got a great little nature center with lots of trails and again it’s hilly so pick your trails wisely, but very very pretty. We were the only people on our side of the campground.
LegendIt was a wet Veteran Memorial weekend. We were at site 80 not too far from the shower house.
The site was on the end but the fire ring is on the backside of your camper. A nice spot for non rainy days as the fire ring was full of water.
The shower house was pretty clean, flush toilets and warm. There is also a too with a washer and dryer.
Plan to take a hike if you can and go early to beat the crowds. We were dropped off at Ash Cave and hiked back to the campground- about 5 miles. Plan for steps and hills and a lot of beauty to see (even in the rain).
The road up the campground is very curvy - take your time and you’ll be fine. The rest of the campground was not too busy but know that a lot of the sites are close together, some pads are short and you may not have a lot of green space.
GuideWe came in October for a few days and it was so beautiful one of our favorite state parks we have ever been to! Our site was a little angled but views made up for it!
ScoutThere’s access to bathrooms and showers, there’s also a plug in right where we camped which was a plus but didn’t need it. The park was empty and if it was busy you would be close to other campers
Traveler
We have hiked in and hammock camped at Zaleski a handful of times. Twice it rained so much some of the trails were uncrossable but even then we still enjoyed ourselves. The is one spot about 3 miles in that is pretty far off trail, flat and on top of a hill. It's where we usually start our trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Jackson, OH?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Jackson, OH is Hocking Hills State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 107 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 19 equestrian camping locations near Jackson, OH, with real photos and reviews from campers.
