Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lima, 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 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

We had an excellent time with our camping trip at Kiser Lake. We were incredibly impressed with the kind staff. We had purchased 8 bundles of wood ($5/bundle) and it was all wet and not usable. The staff worked hard to find us replacements that may have come from a different shipment. We were able to use that to get going and dry out the wet bundles.

We booked a group site which was perfect for us with our dog and our group. It seemed like the regular campsite seemed too crowded for our taste.

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 think for us this park might be better in the fall. The bugs were really bad every time we were outside. There are several nice walking trails but the mosquitoes were so bad even in the day that we kept away. The site we had was nice and wooded but if we go back I would like to try and get a water site. There was a brand new kayak launch and playground by the beach area that looked nice. The beach is one of the bigger ones I have seen in a state park and it was very clean. There were signs posted everywhere to use caution with the water because they were know to have blue green algae in the water so we had to keep the dogs away from it. If the water was clear and the bugs were down I would probably rate this park higher.

great like campground on Ohio’s biggest inland lake

This Ohio State Park is in a small quaint town. Good sites, nice beach + a real swimming pool. Many places for fishing from shore OR launching your boat ! There is even lots of wildlife especially of the pink vriety !

Campground had a nice well maintained pool with lifeguards. Campground had clean bathrooms and showers, and everything was well maintained. Would have liked more hiking trails. Only hiking trail is rather boring. The camper hosts nag about a lot of minor things that we’ve never experienced out of the several Ohio state parks we’ve camped out. So I would say average place.

Van Buren State Park is very easy to access from I-75. It has tons of trails and a pond. There are a few places to car camp or RV camp nearby. I love getting out of town and visiting Van Buren State Park, and I have lots of good memories. It gets 4 stars because I now live in Montana and Montana camping outshines Ohio, but I can't bash on Van Buren State Park at all.

I spent one night here with my two dogs on Memorial Day weekend and I was much more impressed with this location than I thought I was going to be.

The park itself is very narrow and long, and stretches down the Maumee River bank.  It's very green with lots of trees and shade cover.  The paved path that goes along the camping sites is very nice and makes for a great walk or bike ride.  

We stayed in campsite 16 which has its pros and cons.  Most of the campsites in this area have one site that is closer to the river and then a site "behind" it, with little roads/walkways on each side.  The pro of 16 is the fact that they don't rent out the space in front of it, at least when I booked it, so there is no one between you and the river.  The down side of 16 is it is situated right next to the toilets, so you get a lot of foot traffic from others using the bathroom and the constant slamming of the toilet door gets a bit annoying.

However, speaking of toilets, these were the cleanest port a potties I have ever used.  I was quite impressed with the bathrooms, for what they were.

There is no direct access to the river in most areas, but there is an opening near the middle of the campsite which allows access, along with access for kayaks, which is pretty cool.  I would have liked more access to the river along different locations, but I understand the steepness of the hill down to the river and it's not really possible.

The one big drawback in my opinion and why I gave this 4 stars and not 5, is the fact that the two lane traffic road is within 50-100 yards of the campsite, so the sound of vehicle traffic is quite frequent, especially since this road appears to be a favorite of motorcyclists. 

I will be returning and I'd like to stay in another location towards the end of the site, and on a less busy weekend.  Overall this is a nice location.

Very clean and pleasant campground, not far off the interstate. A 13_mile Greenway passes by there. Very nice bath and shower house. All sites paved with water and electric. Great place to spend a night or two.