Best Equestrian Camping near Peebles, OH

Autumn is the best time to camp in Ohio. Lots of small bathrooms. Lake access. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was due to the fact there was no quick reentry. Had to wait for rvs in front of me to register.

Simple and safe... Fifteen reservable sites via online or phone. Equestrians, mountain bikers, and hikers seem to use this park often. Although no utilities... there is a shelter, restroom and trash recepticle. Campfires are permissible. Hiking trails head off from this park that cover many miles. A steep hike up Sugar Loaf will wake you up in the morning.

East Fork State Park is a popular spot for horse enthusiasts. This was discovered upon choosing a spot in the "horse loop" and receiving a suggestion to take a different site. With a successful discovery of a site without road apples we set up in the woods. If you looked at our site from the road you wouldn't even see us. It was nice to be set back from the other campers in our own private space. It is an enjoyable camping location

Great Park, several access points to the unlimited HP lake.  Recently lucky enough to watch scull Rowing races .   It is a big Park, and lots of campsites and very busy.  Total of 34 miles trails.  this is combined with horse, hiking and biking trails around the lake.

Lots of room! Privacy, some sites have accommodations for several tents as well as full hook up for campers. Some are adjacent to the playground There are tons of things to do: Miniature golf Disc golf BMX trails Small dog park Golf course Horse camp

Check your address, this park is in two locations. Very nice and well maintained. Look online before you reserve each area has its own unique set up. Site A: set up for horses w/trail(no stalls). There is a horsemanship camp too. B: The "outer" sides have good size tent areas C: is bigger more open/ sites close but still plenty of room Pavilion/playground D: open and more sites E: has some more secluded areas in the back F: not as open , more privacy, shade G: playground and basketball court Same set up as F just bigger and cottages H: more open in front area, big, spread out area. Some very secluded spots in the back. Sort of like the suburbs. (I /J/K/L did not look at) Paved bike route and boat ramp

About a 20 minute drive between the day use and campground. Horse, bike and hike trail, beach and several other activities on the far side

General: Huge state park with over 400 sites. All are pet-friendly and electric. About 20 are FHU. While tent camping is permitted, certain sites are not recommended for it as there would be no place to pitch a tent. One loop is for equestrian camping but when we were there, I only saw one horse trailer, and the rest were occupied by RV campers. 

Site Quality: All camper pads are paved and most appeared level or just very slightly sloped. A picnic table and fire ring complete the site. Some sites have more trees to provide privacy while others are closer together with little separation.

Bath/Shower House: Not all loops have their own bath house and the I loop where we stayed was one of them. We used the one in the H Loop. The bathhouses were clean, and the shower had nice hot water, however, it doesn’t seem like there were sufficient facilities for how large the campground was (H Loop had two showers, two toilets, and three sinks). Hooks or shelves would have been appreciated.

Activities/Amenities: Many activities can be enjoyed here including mini golf (small nine-hole course), soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, corn hole, boating, and bicycling. Playgrounds are in several loops (I saw them in C and G). Rentals are available but most are only in season (ended September 30). There is a nature center and several hiking or paved biking/walking trails. There is also a camper beach for boating and swimming.

When we reserved months earlier, we knew that our first night (a Saturday) was 100% full as we got the very last site. What we did not know is that there was a HUGE Halloween celebration complete with 30-40 decorated golf carts parading through the campground. The road was closed until 6:45 pm (we arrived around 7 pm) and cars lined both sides of the approximately two-mile road! If that's your thing, great but it wasn't necessarily ours!

I appreciate that this park encourages so much outdoor activity, but it is not very pedestrian-friendly. I walked the road from one end to the other and there was no shoulder and, in many spots, no place to safely step off into the grass. I’m guessing it is assumed you will either have a car or golf cart to get around. 

One final note: for a park so close to a large city (Cincinnati), I was surprised the cell service was so lacking (on Verizon). We eked out one and occasionally two bars of 4G.

What an outdoor lovers dream! Boating to fishing to disc golf you will not get bored! Enjoy a few hours or the day hiking one of eight trails or all of them. If you have horses take them out on the two loops especially for them. Lodge, campground, cabins so many options. The campground was clean, quiet and serene. Only electric at the sites, but 2 of your favorite fur babies are welcome.

My daughter and I stayed here last year in late September. We rented a cabin (#4) for a weekend. While not luxurious, the cabin was clean, beds comfortable, AC worked great, functional kitchen and bigger bathroom than I expected. The lake is smaller, but nice beach area and pedal boats are fun. We hiked the Greenbriar and CCC Trails. They are not too challenging but beautiful. Parts of the CCC trail were overgrown with briars and narrow. The campground looks nice, we plan on bringing our camper next time. Not much nearby, but Waverly has some good eats. Seems popular with horse riders.

This campsite is HUGE. Has over 400 campsites and the first 17 have places you can keep your horses! Something I have never seen before. Some sites are not okay for tent camping and when we got there we had to go back to the office to see if we could change our site. Lucky for us you get one free site switch a stay, so that was nice. The beach is big but unfortunately no dogs allowed. It would be nice for them to include a section where dogs were allowed so we could enjoy. We spent our day on the trails instead. A lot of RV camping but overall it was a great trip!

my family have been coming here for 5 generations. it’s definitely a family favorite. Yes it can get crowded, yes there are kids and lots of noise. they’re coming here to have fun too! I grew up in the primitive campground with a huge canvas tent. We’ve graduated to an RV and are on the other side of the campgrounds now but still loving it. I’ve never stayed on the side with the horse camping but we usually run down there for the showers. Canoe the Tygart, take a trail ride, spelunk a Cave, eat a S’more, hike the red trail, see the natural bridge, come for pioneer week, Halloween is a hoot, watch out for skunks, hope you see a wildcat or two, tell a ghost story, play some corn hole, watch out for bears. Anyway go to the caves, you’ll love it.

This was a last minute reservation and only available due to a cancellation. The campground was full for the weekend. The campground is pretty big with different types of sites. Some are smaller, close to neighbors while other have seclusion with trees. From past experience, if it rains, some of the sites do flood. We had great weather this weekend. The site we reserved had a hill right next to the passenger side/door side of your camper. If you had a big camper, it might be tight to open your slides and an awning. You most likely would not sit right outside your camper door. In fact, the fire ring is behind the site and up a small hill. We set up our ez-up in the back and out of the way, it worked for us. There was also a path that led you into the playground. Speaking of playgrounds, you will hear a lot of kids if the weather is nice. We were right across from the camp host (very nice lady) and very short walk to the bathhouse. The bathhouse had 4 flushable toilets and I think 3 showers. The showers did not have benches in the stall, only on the outside directly across. With a full campground, the bathrooms were kept very clean with the amount of people using it. We walked around and noticed a lot of bathhouses and another playground. We took a hike that led us to the lodge - it was an in and out and just under 5 miles. On our way back we stopped at the camp store which was well stocked with items you may need or not. There is a putt putt course, frisbee disc course, horse trails, dog park, nature center, golf course and more trails nearby. There are plenty of things to do if you like to keep busy or are trying to keep kids entertained. (The bees and stinkbugs were out and about while we were there.)

Ranger Review: Morsel Spork at Pike Lake State Park

Campground Review:

We stayed at site 67 next to the camp host. The camp site was nicely shaded with a small creek behind it. We had a lot of shade and didn't feel like we were on top of our neighbors. Not all the sites were as spacious as ours so be careful which one you choose. In fact, there was one so small, I'm not sure where a tent would go...maybe plan on sleeping in your vehicle? The campground has drop toilets in a few spots (very clean) and up front they had a great shower house. There were four in total that had the toilet and shower all in one. There are baby changing stations in each of them as well. They were kept nice and clean. We walked up to the camp store which had a ton of items. If you forgot to bring it, they probably had it. There are two playgrounds, one in the campground and one right across the way. There is a small pond/lake that has a beach you can kayak or canoe and fish (renting them is an option). We like to hike and there were plenty of trails to follow. Some of the trails are horse and some are not. There is no cell phone service - we didn't get service until we were on our hike on top of the hill. We will definitely go back again.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time- today I am testing the Morsel Spork and Morsel XL. I was able to get 4 products. I ordered 2 Morsel Sporks and 2 Morsel XL. I got green (my favorite color) and my husband got blue. They stay in our kitchen box that we use for camping. For dinner we had a salad and mashed potatoes with Backpackers Shepherd Pie. The fork part of the spork was used for the salad and did just fine. I then used the spoon part of the spork to scrape up the small leftovers (cheese, crouton crumbs, etc.), it cleaned up really well. My husband was able to use the XL Spork to stir in the Backpackers bag, and guess what? It reached the bottom without his hand having to go deep inside to reach the bottom. The rubber edge on the spoon part is like having your own little spatula to make sure you get every last piece of your food. In the morning we had Biscuits and Gravy (in a bag) and again we used the XL Spork and ate right out of the bag instead of dirtying more dishes. They are dishwasher safe, but as my husband tells you, it's clean...I just licked everything off.

I'd recommend getting a Morsel Spork - find the size you need, they have a few to choose from.

Nestled close to the Ohio River and the Shawnee State Forest, you will find rolling hills and valleys that offer serene beauty and picturesque landscapes. Wildflowers run rampant throughout this enchanted state park, and deer, raccoons, and turkey frolic throughout the more than 1,160 acre paradise. Challenge your family members for a round of mini golf or basketball, or set out on a geocaching adventure. Cruise along one of the numerous hiking trails and or set off on a relaxing ride on the two bridle trails. Rest your head at one of the campsites offering a dump station and showers, or stay in a cabin. If neither of those are your thing there is a beautiful lodge that provides swimming pools, a game room, and breathtaking views of either the river or forest.

We camped here in late spring. It was still pretty cold and even got a little snow one night. We were pretty much alone in the campground. The sites were huge! No water in our site but we did have electric. The rolling hills in this part of Ohio are beautiful. There is a huge lake that you can access from the camp ground. It was still really cold when we went but my understanding is that the fishing here is excellent. The restrooms looked brand new. There was a lot of downed trees, mostly ash trees. So this made for easy gathering for firewood. The campground staff was really nice and welcoming. This is a huge state park with a variety of accommodations. Overall excellent place.

This is your standard Ohio State Park campground.  It has the usual parking, water, restrooms, camp store, and activities. 

East Fork is rather nice as it has the lake and long trails.  Just be prepared if you go on hikes to get turned around.  The park is huge so not everything is in the campground area.  If you drive around to the other side and do some of the trails over there be aware that two trails use blue blazes.  They could use more blazes on the trails in general but watch out for the two blue blazes in the same area as it got us turned around. 

This is great when you want to get away from the city but you don't want a long drive.

If you ranked all the Ohio state park campgrounds from best to worst, this would have to fall along the bottom. First, there is no lake. There is a murky pond that you can swim in, but it doesn't look good. This is a small campground that runs along the length of a loud road. There is no escaping the sound of the cars on the road, many of which have broken mufflers, and they roar through all through the night and day. The campground is a skinny patch of land between two high ridges, which makes for very strange acoustics- you can hear noise from all over the campground, no matter where you are. I was at the far end, yet I could hear the loud, echoing screams of children from the front end. They screamed until 11pm at night. In the morning. I was awoken by someone running a leaf blower up the road for hours, because sound here seems to travel very far. It was far from peaceful, and I was there in November! The campground did have a new bathroom building, with four unisex toilets and showers for the entire campground. It also seemed to have a lot of shade (I don't know for sure, because I was there after the leaves had fallen). So it gets its one star for clean bathrooms and shade.

I've stayed here in the past and Cowan Lake does not disappoint. The B site campground is all non-electric tent camping, and far enough away from the larger RV pads that it's a quiet little campsite! Also, these sites are super close to the bathrooms on the beach, which were very clean during our stay. I was incredibly impressed, because the beach gets pretty busy during the day. The beach itself was clean (for a lakeside beach- there are geese, it's Ohio) and the lake was gorgeous! I will say, the only MILD annoyance is that some of the other campers would drive to the parking lot in front of our campsite and park there into the evening hours to fish or head down to the docks. I'm an early riser, so the headlights and car doors slamming were mildly annoying after about 10p. Not enough to make me choose a different campsite, but worth noting. We rented a tandem kayak and explored the lake, and the equipment was all in good condition. The Commisary is pretty limited but they do have a small kitchen and ice cream, as well as the basics like firewood and ice, as well as the boat rentals. Overall, one of my favorite lakeside campgrounds!

Wow! Beautiful place, huge lake, very peaceful out by the water.

Campground was not the best- sites were VERY close together, with most of the campground completely exposed with no shade. It was like trying to relax on a huge parking lot jammed with RVs and people. At most of the sites, you'd literally have a family up against you 20 feet to the left and a family 20 feet to the right. This might be fun for kids, but not fun if you are looking for some peace and quiet.

The bathrooms were average for Ohio State parks- icky and grungy, but not gag-worthy. I'm used to the ickiness of state park bathrooms, so I wasn't grossed out. The showers and toilets nearest my site had big puddles of standing water full of dirt, bandaids, plastic wrappers and other gross items floating there the duration of the weekend. One sink was full of dirt the entire weekend. Showers were hot though, which is always a plus.

Great place for kayaking. There was a little free library, which is a great idea. The snack bar was hopping the whole time. They need to make more than one pot of coffee at a time in the mornings (1 pot when they have 249 sites? They are missing out on $$!!), but I only buy coffee on the morning I'm packing up.

Overall, I enjoyed it here, but I'd only go if there are LOTS of free sites and you know you aren't jammed up against 2-3 other groups of people.