Best Equestrian Camping near Paint Creek Lake

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

We 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.

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

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.

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.

Stayed one week with horses, corral falling down, outhouses and shower facilities beyond gross. 3/4 mile from trails, had to ride along very narrow road. Only saw owner once. There are better places to stay and enjoy riding at Hocking Hills. Place could be nice with some work

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.

Stacked Stones has a very nice location and the camp hosts/owners are wonderful. They truly make you feel like family. The only complaints that we had was the shower house seems like a scene from a horror movie. Cinderblock stalls with a wooden pallet on the floor to keep you off of the drain. The toilets are non flushing pit latrines. They have some very secluded tent sites which is great when you have dogs. They also allow horses which is nice for any trail riders. Overall a great camp ground with great people. If the bathroom was updated I would give it 5 stars for sure!

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!

I get asked "where should we go camping or hiking in the Midwest?" Hocking Hills State Park is always my go-to answer. 

It has a ton of different terrains, it's easily accessible from Columbus, OH, and has great hiking opportunities. 

This particular campground is amazing because it's located nicely to many hiking trails but far away that you aren't overly crowded so you still get the feeling that you're in nature.

I've been here a ton growing up in the horse campground area, but most recently was there for tent camping. We were surrounded mostly by RVs, but we fit in quite nicely into our site. 

The sites were nicely spaced out and the hiking trails were all nearby.

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.

Coming here before April 1 (half the campground is still winterized) is great! Low crowds and a great location! Lots of available hikes. Even this time of year, the shower house is open and working. Potable water is available to bring back to your site. And if you are an Ohio resident 60 yrs old or older, get your Golden Buckeye card for a 50% savings on Ohio campgrounds.

This is my favorite place in Ohio. The state park has amazing views and a ton of stuff to do. The campground was well maintained and was really quiet considering the amount of people camping. This is one of the most popular places in Ohio. The restrooms and the showers were clean as well maintained. Each site has shade and decent privacy. Most sites had electric but ours didn’t have water. There is so much to do in the area. Tons of hiking and beautiful waterfalls and caves. Highly recommend staying here.

Best state park in Ohio for sure! 2 1/2 hour drive from Cincinnati, 1 1/2 hour drive from Columbus, and 3 hour drive from Cleveland. This park has plenty of trails for all types of people, my favorite is conkles hollows, so I highly recommend that!

Out week long stay at Hocking Hills State Park was very good. Showers were hot and the women’s restrooms were very good. My husband frequently found the men’s restroom in need of attention, papers and litter on the floor, limited clothing hooks and need some tile repairs. Very much appreciated the non reservable sites that have been continued in Hocking Hills, while discontinued in many Ohio state parks. The close proximity to a number of interesting small towns and restaurants was enjoyed. Great proximity to many, many amazing hiking trails. We would return!

This is one of the best state parks and in my opinion the most scenic. There are lots of caves, trails, camping options and activities in the area. Be careful, however, every year someone is injured or dies going off trail, often falling from a cliff. We have camped here in tents many times over the years. The state park campground is above par compared to others in the Ohio system. The naturalists are great and run many programs even in the off seasons. Fall is the best season, the foliage is awesome. Popular with Boy and Girl Scout groups. Campground has an outdoor pool.

Out-of-staters are unaware of the incredible beauty that Hocking Hills brings to Ohio. I can return time and time again and still be in awe of the waterfalls, cliffs and coves of Hocking Hills. Campsites are accessible to all by car and offer an affordable way to spend the weekend in the caves. With miles and miles of hiking possibility this is not the place for a backpacking trip but rather a camp and day hike trip. Be sure to visit Conkles Hollow and Old Man's Cave for stunning rock formations and waterfalls. And for an incredibly exciting cave, take a trip to Rock House.

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.