Best Cabin Camping near Manchester, OH

"Zilpo, a large, fun-filled campground on Cave Run Lake, is a prime destination for families. The scenic campground offers a cabin rental, tent camping, RV sites with electric hookups and a selection of lakefront sites.  

Views of the lake are enjoyed by those who relax on the sandy beach. Tater Knob, a fire tower open to the public, is nearby, offering outstanding views of the area."

We were planning on staying multiple night because of the reviews online but it ended up being a whole lot of families with kids running around like wild beasts for hours on end. it truly annoyed us the entire time we were there and left early in the morning. I'm sure we could have spoke to some one and moved sites. It is advertised as above as fun for the whole family so we felt like dicks haha. whatever. moving along now.

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;)

Stayed at cabin D11. Nicely maintained.  A bit on the small side but good for a place to lay your head. This cabin is directly opposite the restrooms for this loop. Cabin is about 10 x 20. The front room has two chairs a bench and table and the air conditioner. The second room has four single bunk beds.

The grounds around the cabin are nice with gravel area for setting up an outdoor kitchen or tent or lounge chairs.

I stayed at Shawnee SP campground in August 2020 (Friday night). This campground is geared towards families with kids, especially with RVs. It has all of the amenities: electric at most sites, water, flush toilets, showeres, laundry. There’s a small lake at the campground with a swimming beach and canoe rentals. They also have a gift shop and miniature golf. North of the campground there is a lodge with cabins and larger fishing lake. The campsites are very close together and the campground was full when I was there. It was surprisingly quiet at night. I prefer a little more privacy and separation from other campers. Looking around the campground I’d say that Site 8 is the best site for car camping or RV camping. There are 2 tent camping sites (111 and 112) that provide separation from other campers but you have to park and carry your gear back to the sites

Longs is an amazing place! There is so much to do here. Unfortunately they no longer do overnight camping so your options are to do seasonal, or rent a cabin. Their cabins are very nice. There is so much to do like go karts, swimming, water slides, etc. Be prepared to really go off the grid, as there is no phone service out here at all, and the wifi is terrible.

This campground has it all:)  I picked this campsite as it is further south in the Daniel Boone National Forest so it isn't near the chaos of the climbing that is found further North.  

"Peak Season Rates as listed on website - https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232370?tab=fees

Cabin Electric$75.00 Standard Electric$30.00 Standard Electric Other$41.00 Standard Nonelectric$22.00 Standard Nonelectric Other$27.00 Standard Nonelectric Double Site$33.00

Limit 6 people and 2 vehicles per single campsite; additional vehicles will be charged$8/night; additional campers will be charged$1/night A$5 nightly fee is charged for electric hookups Each cabin has 2 double bunk beds with out mattresses, Please bring your own sleeping bags or other bedding."

We wanted to check out the cabins as they looked so darling.  We couldn't quite tell if the cabins had AC or heat. 

As for the beach, it was a blast and we spent pretty much the whole day there and every day with the heat. At night the beach is sadly closed but if you go up a little more on the road you will find another "beach" spot that isn't closed so you can look at the stars over the lake. 

It is a pain to get back to town in my opinion so make sure you have what you need.

We stayed in a cabin, didn't have any mattress in lol but the view was amazing

I enjoyed every second I spent at this camp ground... very friendly staff.. great cabins.. awesome environment!! I plan on going back often this summer!

something for everyone ,rv to tent camping...also cabins and a lodge is available for reservations. great dinning at lodge. wonderful hiking trails...And cave tours.

So much fun for the whole family. They have beautiful cabins and water fun for the whole family. They have water slides, swimming, kayaking and much more. It's so much fun to take the family here.

Primitive camping and rv space. You can rent a cabin and such. There is a resort.  Everything always looks really nice. So many recreational activities, caves, hiking, horses and a lot more. I would really recommend visiting.

It’s peaceful and the area we were in was not too close to each other. They have spots for tents, campers and they also have cabins. It’s surrounded by a huge lake with fishing and a boat ramp. You do have to make sure you have all your supplies, the closest store is 30 to 40 minutes away.

I found this jewel during the pandemic. I wanted to stay closer to home than usual for vacation. It was the cutest, most affordable, safe for solo female campers, clean, wonderful owners, tons of things to do, or just relaxing. I fell in love and have returned many, many times. I have stayed in all of the cabins and campers except SS Sandy Springs and Flair. I am familiar with this area and Shawnee State Forest, aka, The Little Smokies!

We’re very familiar with twin knobs. Zilpo is the backwoods cousin. A bit more remote, but we found the campground to be fantastic. It is more densely wooded than twin knobs. The sites are generally just as good, but there is more variety between primitive/hookup/cabins. The beach is not quite as big, but plenty big, and wasn’t crowded over July 4 weekend. The beach store has bare essentials. There doesn’t seem to be ranger programming. Not all the loops have showers in the bathroom buildings.

Very clean and fun lake, close to campgrounds, boat rentals, marina, and hiking close.