Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Paint Creek Lake

Very clean, well maintained. A lot of nearby activity, private and open sites, lake, beach, trails, marina, bikes, putt putt, dog park, playground, laundry, water close, electric at sites, many "comfort stations" "wash houses" so not far from one.

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

Generous sized campsites, a lot of them are wooded which we prefer, with around 400 sites there are plenty to choose from! Bathroom/shower facilities are updated and usually well maintained. There is a large public beach but it's on the other side of the park so you have to drive all the way around to get to it, no short cuts. They have a camp ground beach but it's been closed the last 2 years. Lots of hiking trails, bridal trails and a bike path. Wish list for this park: Boat rental, dog park, dog beach/water access. Overall a beautiful park.

Only weekend stays and it ends in wintertime. I’m sure it’s pretty and all, but it’s hard to find legit, free dispersed camping in Ohio! Oh well, rest stops always work for car camping.

It’s a KOA, but even for a KOA this one was sub-par. Granted, we visited in late March, and they may not have been at peak season form. But... The entry road is one lane. If you meet another vehicle someone has to back up. That’s just poor design. The roads in the campground need grading. Lots of holes and ruts. The site we were given wasn’t level, and it took a bit of maneuvering to get level. The “dog park” was a mud hole. The internet was extremely slow. And, like all KOAs, sites are very close together! However, on the plus side, the showers, bathrooms and laundry were Done all clean and neat. They have a pool (not open when we visited). Also a large playground, jumping pad and a small store. There was also grass between sites, instead of gravel, which is unusual for a KOA.

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.

Private campsites, nice big lake for swimming, fishing and boating, pets allowed. Perfect for all seasons! Horseback riding available as well!

This walk in camp ground was located just minutes from Old Man’s Cave. It’s a family friendly and pet friendly camp ground. Our stay was quiet and relaxing.

This was our first time camping here and it was a large park. There was several miles of bike trails , bridle trails and hiking trails. There is also a beach and marina for campers away from the main beach and marina for those just visiting the park for the day.

The nature center offered movies in the evening for guest.

The park was very clean and maintained. Trails were well marked and the camp hosts were very friendly.

We were there over Labor Day weekend and it was a quiet park except for the occasional golf cart late at night going by.

I did see a few dogs off leash which is always a pet peeve of mine.

Verizon cell coverage was good.

Beautiful park and camping if you like a parking lot for RVs. Lots of families and pets. Not great for tents but theres a couple ok spots. Not secluded. Very little shade but lots to do at the park and its very clean.

Hocking Hills is a wonderful destination to go for camping and a weekend of hiking. There are trails all over the park. Can be a bit busy during the warmer months. The park is pet friendly and has a nice nature center before you hike down to Old Man’s Cave.

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.)

We love camping @ Cowen Lake State park! There are organized activities on the lake and through the nature center. You can also do your own thing. There are plenty of shady campsites, sunny ones, electric, primitive, pet-friendly, handicapped, and pull-thoughs. We love camping in the shady tree-lined areas where we have big sites for family gatherings. We've been camping here for over 10 years and love it!

Was a great place to stay me and my wife both used to go as children and it was as we remember a great place to be and have your family pet friendly everybody's friendly just a little pricey and some locks are a little too car so Choose Wisely or call ahead to reserve would be the smartest thing if you're a veteran definitely use it as discount... All in all it was a "GREAT" first trip... ENJOY!!!

Boating, fishing, disc golf, rappelling, rock climbing, picnics, WOW! Put on those hiking boots to enjoy 10 varying difficulty trails, bring your bike for one, and hit the multi-use for mountain biking. Hang out and enjoy the wildflowers, or simply marvel the outstanding trees. The views and scenery are breathtaking. Stay at the campground and enjoy hanging with your pet by the fire pit. Some sites offer only electric while the majority do not. Restrooms and a dump station are provided. Have a large party, there’s a group camp available.

This was our second weekend in a row coming to this campground, but this time we are in non-electric. We scoped out the site ahead of time and although not our first or second pick, the site turned out to be very nice. It's has a site right behind it, but has a nice size green space for an ez-up. The pad was a nice length and held our small camper and truck with room to spare. The closest bathroom was the handicap porta-potty, but a little further up you use the flush toilets. (no showers) The campground had at least 2 camp hosts and a small camp store. We walked down to the lake. If you like to fish, it's a short walk. This site is further away from the playground, but close to a trail head. We did have a small furry visitor - a very friendly orange cat.

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.

We stayed in Site 12, which was huge and conveniently located close to a fairly new shower house. That facility was among the very best I've seen! Amazingly clean!

There are many things to do here: Saturday night movies, Bingo, and, of course, the lake. Canoe, paddle board, and kayak rentals.

The park was not full but somewhat busy, yet, outside of kids playing and dogs occasionally barking, there was little noise.

We drove through the entire campground. Some sites were bigger than others. Most sites were relatively flat.

Fall is a good time to visit Caesars Creek. The trees are turning beautiful colors. Also, the park is convenient for the Ohio Renaissance Fair and events at Roberts Arena.

I can see how this state park appeals to families- there is putt putt, a cute general store, an outdoor movie screen, a small beach and paddle boats. But if you don't have kids, I'd find a better place to camp. 

The campground sites are tiny and all squished together. I had a literal 9-foot rectangle of grass, right up against RVs on both sides. It didn't help that the families, who were mere feet away from me the whole time, spent the weekend screaming at their kids and dogs (four dogs with one family. Four. Why aren't there rules about that?) and later beating their dogs. Yep. I got to see dog beating all weekend long. That's the kind of clientele this park seems to attract. 

The trails didn't seem that great- barely marked, going through a dense forest, with not much to see besides the trees themselves. The "lake" is really a pond, or an extremely small lake. The swimming was decent but the bottom is quite slimy- bring water shoes if you want to swim. 

Also, my campsite was literally 10 yards away from a disgusting pit toilet that reeked the entire time. Why do they put campsites right up against sewer pits? I had to breathe in feces fumes all weekend long, and I doubt that is healthy. 

The shower was hot, I'll give them that. I will not return to this park. I called the reservation agency to tell them about my experience but they did not get back to me.

Our family camped for 3 nights at site 268 and 269 . The sites are spacious with plenty of room for cornhole games . Showers were nice and hot and bathrooms were clean. Had a good time at the beach and caught a few fish at a couple different fishing spots. Overall good times, except the raccoons stole our hot dog buns we had sitting on the picnic table for literally 5 minutes while we cooked our hot dogs. It was a little too busy for my liking on Friday night , but Wednesday and Thursday we basically had the loop to ourselves!

A great place for family and friends to get together to camp! Rv’s and tents! Horses and dogs! Kayak and swim!

A new site for us at this campground, site 59 which is an inside site. We also had friends who booked 2 inside sites very nearby so we were able to all set up in the middle and share a large space for 10 people and 7 dogs. We were able to be socially distant, have space for cornhole and lots of room for the dogs. Our site pad was pretty level. My husband went over the pad just a little onto the grass, as the other side sloped. So when we stepped out of the camp, we wouldn't be stepping down on a slope. This is one of the quietest campgrounds we go to even though there is plenty for kids to do (playground). Had the weather been better, we would have brought our kayaks for the lake. You have three different types of restrooms. The ones closest to use are the drop toilets, a little further is a porta potty and the furthest was the flush toilets (no showers). It's our little slice of heaven so we like to try a new site each time if we are able. We take our dogs with us so we have to be a little more picky so we don't bother anyone.

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!

We enjoyed this site a lot. Neighbors weren’t sitting on top of one another. There was a tree for shade and plenty of space and grass to walk our dogs. Shower house was great!