Best Glamping near Loudonville, OH

Alum Creek is just beautiful, nice sites, most of them are at least partially shaded, lots of woods, hiking trails, the lake, it is what I think of when I think of State Park campground camping in Ohio. There are a couple problems. 1. Only ONE little dump station. This is a big campground, so if you're leaving Sunday, you better get up at the crack of dawn to get to the station, otherwise be prepared to wait in a long long line of RV's. We by-passed the long line and stopped at a different State Park campground on the way home and paid 10.00 to use their dump station. 2. They never answer their phone at the campground office. I mean NEVER. If you have a question you will just have to deal with the reserveamerica people who really know nothing other than what they read on the campground website. So basically you know as much as they do. It's maddening. We will go back, but it's a 2 hour drive so it won't be anytime soon.

There is a nice lodge with a restaurant for people just looking to escape from the "city life" for a bit. Also campgrounds for sleeping outdoors with nature. Can go canoeing on the nearby river with canoe rental available and shuttle pickup at the end of your journey back to where you started. On grounds store to buy what you may need and close to nearby Loudonville for anything else.  Been there several times and have always enjoyed my experience.

We chose this campground over the state park because it is on the bike trail and the state park is not.  You can ride your bike from Mohican Adventures Campground into downtown Loudonville without going on any roads.  

The campground is huge and we did not see all of it. It is well maintained and it seems like the owners and employees put a lot of effort into making it nice.  We were tent camping there during the week and it was extremely quiet at night.  Some of the sites seem close together, however we still had enough room for our car, bicycles, 8 person tent, EZ UP canopy, bathroom tent, and fire ring.  

One downside was that there was a big cliff at the back of our campsite which we were not aware of when booking.  We have small children so this was not good.  Our campsite was shaded and completely dirt, no grass, so if it rained it would get muddy.  Not all sites are like that, but some are.

As part of a nearly 200-mile bikepacking ride, this was our last stop! We spent 2 nights in their "Class B" area down in the Mohican River Valley and loved it.

The oddly named “Class A” camping area offers everything from full-hook up camping slots for campers large and small, as well as just electric sites and 10 “walk-in” primitive sites, and cabins -- all of which are reservable. This area has all the bells and whistles of a modern campground with an environmental learning center, a nice outdoor pool, clean showers and bathrooms, an extensive playground and hiking and mountain biking trails right out the front door.

The “Class B” area offers 25 primitive sites on a first-come, first-served basis. It is almost 6 miles by road from the “A” services, but only a 2-mile flatish hike along the river trail. At these sites, there are only pit toilets and a water pump. Each site has a picnic table and a small fire ring. There is also a large group camping area just a few miles away from the primitive “Class B” area.

Tubing and canoeing are available within the park, but there are also several canoe outfitters in the area which provide rental / pick up services. The sheer number of these businesses makes me think that summer time can be crowded!!

Beautiful shaded trails meander all throughout the park and they boast some of the most challenging mountain biking in the mid-west, so read your trail maps. Hiking, equestrian and winter snowmobile trails also offer some great opportunities to get out and stretch your legs throughout the year. There is also a safe and convenient, bike lane / bike path into nearby Loudonville, which has a small grocery story and the usual fast-food restaurants.

Note: The only reason why this park didn't get a 5 star was due to their customer service. It was absolutely lousy, confusing, and the young folks working behind the counter acted as if they didn't want to be there and/or hadn't been trained. We almost left, but since we had cycled 42 miles to get there that day, we chose to stay and enjoyed our time in their Class B sites.

First off we have to say that Ohio State Park campgrounds are some of the best we’ve ever stayed in. Most Ohio state park campgrounds have spacious sites with trees or other foliage between campsites so lots of privacy and a feeling of being apart from other campers. Alum Creek is no different. The ODNR has upgraded a number of the sites to FHU though most are still electric only. Alum Creek Lake is a large reservoir (by Ohio standards) that has excellent fishing, plenty of undeveloped shoreline to explore from kayaks, canoes or paddle boards and a very large beach. Not as many hiking trails as most state parks but you’re not far from High Banks Metro Park in Lewis Center that is a beautiful park with miles of trails along the Olentangy River. We love Alum Creek and will stay again for sure.

Ohio has a lot of great campgrounds/resorts and this one is one of the best!

My wife and I spent the July 4 weekend here this year and loved our experience. At this time we were camping in our 16 ft pop-up camper so the restroom and shower house were very important.

The campground is right in the middle of Ohio’s Amish country with easy access to shopping and food and other great experiences like the large cuckoo clock in Sugar Creek (see video)

This is my favorite Ohio State Park to camp in so far. Good ATT coverage, look carefully at length of pad as some are shorter. Lovely beach nice views. Only problem was some street noise and the Trick or Treating and Halloween events first weekend of October meant there were a lot lot lot of cars and people and 1.5 hours with the streets closed for activities.

I have been extremely disappointed with Ohio State Park campgrounds. They have been congested, poorly maintained, badly landscaped, and staying at one felt like I was set-up in the middle of a mall parking lot.

However, Dillon has been a completely different experience. The people in the office are very nice, the pad is almost perfectly level, the grounds are well kept, and the buildings (while a bit long in the tooth) are well maintained.

I haven't made it down to the lake yet, but so far I'm a happy camper.

I love Mohican State Park. There is so much to do- canoeing, kayaking, tubing, creeking, and great trails also.

This campground is nice but is crowded in the warmer months. Look for a site along the water, that's where the tree cover is. I stayed in a camper cabin which was very nice, with microwave and refrigerator.

There is running water in the toilets, which is nice for a state park in Ohio. The showers were decent, nothing to complain about there.

The primitive tent camping sites looked nice and peaceful- take care to get a shaded spot, though, as some were just exposed in a grassy field. There is a long bumpy walk from the parking area to the primitive sites, so bring a wagon or sled or something.

I found Malabar Farm in Lucas, OH on my way home from Mom’s house. Never heard of it before and I have been this way for over 20 years now. Louis Bromfield was a conservationist and among many other things (including winning a Pulitzer) he was in the forefront of organic and self-sustaining gardening. This place is amazing! ( and would be an excellent home schoolers camping trip!) Not your typical going hiking kinda campground (there are trails but they are not “major”) you come here to step away from city life and tour a working farm. Ohio countryside at its best. Primitive camping with a gravel parking pad and water, fire ring, picnic table and hitching post. No reservations, this is a first come campground. There’s also a small rentable cabin open year round. Definitely worth a visit and very family oriented events. ( your teenager will roll their eyes at you but probably secretly enjoy the visit)

This is a huge campground! I tent camped by myself--felt very safe.  Happened to be next to the park host. No choice of where to locate my large tent.  Showers/bathrooms were OK--older facilities.  Wish this park had a laundry facility--another Ohio park I recently stayed at had a fairly new shower facility that included a laundry facility!  Did not appreciate the waste management company emptying the dumpsters at 4:00 AM!!!  There is a huge, lakeside beach that was just packed with people (no social distancing) and there was trash everywhere--not enough dumpsters.  Near to shopping (Polaris), if you are interested.  Will try to get a lakeside site next time.

This is another of our favorite Ohio State Parks.  The campground is setup in a nice layout with each of the separate sections having a spoke and wheel layout with a bathhouse in the middle.  Sites are roomy and we like the wooded feel.

The dog part was quite muddy and actually closed while we were there and we were a bit disappointed by that but there was plenty of space to walk the pups.

Located near the town of Delaware, you aren’t too far off the beaten path and we even had decent service with Verizon.

I also noticed that the6 had a nice storm shelter on the property that was well marked and easy to get to from any of the campground areas.

This is a nice campground for Ohio because there are a lot of trees, making many sites secluded with privacy. I haven't camped here, I've just driven around because I boat on the creek, so I can't attest to the condition of the bathrooms.

Beware that sites close to the water may flood, or may be pretty damp in the spring.

The beaches are nice, the reservoir is nice for boating, but the horsepower allowed is too much if you want to kayak on the main water, in my opinion. There are nice inlets and coves where you can take smaller boats. Hopefully big boats observe the no wake zone, but they don't always. I don't think there is any hiking, the main attraction is the water and the beach.

This was the only park we’ve gone to this uear with both a large dog park AND a fenced in dog beach! Folks were friendly at the dog park with bunches of chairs set around like a conversation pit. Lots of water and dog tennis balls were available.

The dog beach was fenced so your dog can be off leash. There is even a fenced in area out in the water to keep the pooches from swimming across the Lake chasing geese.

The campground itself was quite nice and spacious. Some of the most private camping sites I’ve seen in Ohio. Shower facilities we a bit above average mad seemed to be looked after at least once a day (we were there in the off season).

IMHO, one of the nicest campgrounds in the state.

Campsite number 3 is also on a short creek crossing. Nothing to worry about with your pack on this August sunny day. It had plenty of space for tents and hammocks. It was close enough to hang out by the creek if you wanted. 

No cell phone service for Verizon. On this post for the Park and Pack I focused on the forest postings.  Do register before you do the long walk out here (depends on which way you do the loop). 

You don't want to do illegal camping at the Park and Pack sites as they do keep an eye out for it. They also want folks to call it in to discourage bad behaviors.  I spoke to such a guy in the Park and Pack parking lot as illegal campers had taken up a spot for another park and pack camper that did register. 

It is nice no official check in and check out time like you have at the state park campsites. However, the early bird does get the worm or in this case the camp site. It is harder for folks that live further away to get their hands on a site. As there are only 10.  

The ranger office is closed at this time. Make sure you go to the Mohican Memorial Forest office and not the Mohican State Park office. They are located close to the covered bridge in the park.  I use the GPS address Co Rd 939, Perrysville Ohio to locate the ranger office.  That being said going here you can register and see where everyone is going by looking at the clip board. 

As always keep the local numbers handy and take photos of the map. They do have a few at the trail head kiosk but no maps were at the registration kiosk.