Best Cabin Camping near Ray, OH

Awesome staff family owned for over 20 plus years. Extremely clean well maintained. Shower houses plenty of hot water facilities were very clean sites are well spread apart. Handicap sites available including cabin rentals fire wood and menu items delivered to your campsite from camp kitchen and store. Sites are reasonably level we had to use one 3/4 “ leveler under the wheels in one side. They have sites that are full hook up with wooden decks prices were 80.00 to 135.00 per night for those that were paved and with decks. All the others were water and electric. “ cable and WiFi “ included 70 plus channels. 50 /30 /20 amp power at all sites. Big Rig friendly. Close to all sites. Trails and state park Camp store was well stocked actually had what you needed if you forgot something. Prices were reasonable Definitely recommended to anybody traveling through the area Owner planning to stay open all year working g on some big upgrades to campground to accommodate winter weather camping. Nice swimming staff was very helpful restaurants gas stations groceries with in 10 min drive.

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;)

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.

I was looking for this camp site on Dyrt as I had a fond memory of the quiet night that I spent there on a Sept. school night. I needed to be close by and this was perfect for me. 

The cabins based on current information from their website some of them are not being rented due to the massive amount of rains we have had in recent times.  The cabins were clean, warm, and safe. The price was reasonable.  I enjoyed the quiet nature of the campground as I was there during a week day and non-peak season. 

I also knew that it was close to an outdoor drama. I was researching the play again but I have just realized that I have missed the season again. I will try again next year to make it back to the classic play. I went as a child and want to see the play again with adult eyes.  http://tecumsehdrama.com/

I am not a bike rider but I do know that I saw a bike trail very close to this camp ground. 

I went by to the near by town to Frankfort and had an enjoyable pizza meal. The owner of the campsite was able to give me some ideas for meals.  I then put the left overs in the fridge in the cabin.  She even guided me to the cabin when I had trouble finding it as it was tucked away in the hill side (part of the charm).  The leaves falling it made it tricky for me to be confident in how to get to the cabin.

I stayed at this campground because they hosted a wedding I attended. I chose to stay in a cabin, which was pretty pricy for what it was. for $175, it was a basic cabin with a queen bed and 2 twin bunk-beds, a very small bathroom with a toilet and shower, and a small kitchenette with a microwave, sink, and mini-fridge. The cabin was somewhat dirty - dust on the floor and spider webs in the corner. It had no bed linens, or towels, and the bathroom didn't even have a mirror.

There is a "lake" (more of a large pond) on the property, with fishing, and large inflatables to play on in the summer. There is also a disc golf course. The nearby town Lithopolis is cute, with some local coffee and dining, as well as antique shops.

What a nice campground. Pool, cabins, things for the kids, beautiful hiking trails and waterfalls.

I highly recommend pop's place.  I stayed there Aug 2024 and as of that date the rustic tent camping was $20.  This is an ideal base camp for riding your motorcycle on the scenic roads in that area of Ohio such as the triple nickel.  The owners are very nice people and helpful.  The porta john and shower were very clean.  The shower uses an on demand water heater.  The narrow cabin you see in some photos is now a gravel pad for RV type camping with electric.  The wider cabin in the photos is still there, but was currently rented so he couldn't take me on a tour of it.  He took me on a tour of the new cabin he is building and it will be a nice play to stay when he is done.  They sell firewood for $5.  The common grass area has wood lounge chairs, common fire ring, playground,  and cornhole boards.  If you are tent camping and need to charge your phone he has no problem with you using the electric outlet at the RV site if no one is there.  I forgot to suggest to him that maybe add an external electric outlet at the shower house since electric is there for the water heater.  There is a spigot on the outside of the shower house to get drinking water.  There is a basketball backboard near the current cabin if you happen to bring a basketball for your kids to use.  There is good verizon cell service there, I did not expect it because of the location and hills in the area.  I don't hammock camp, but it looked like there were trees far enough apart in the line of pines for hanging 2 hammocks.  One of the photos showed 3 picnic tables for tent campers.  There was only one when I stayed, but I assume it's a temporary or cyclical thing and I was the only tent camper and would have shared it anyway.

Of note for motorcyclists is that the road the campground is on is paved (good riding to the north of it) and the campground drive is decent gravel for street bikes.

Nice place to rent or bring your own boats . Staff is great and they have cabins available. Nice showers and restrooms

Great cabin with a lot of room for family. Easy access to the water for a fun-filled day off boating.

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!

Nice lake lookout from lodge, smaller separate cabins are available. Lodge has good food with a view, and boat docks are available at the end of a trail behind the Lodge.

This campground seems more geared towards small campers and cabin stays. Though tent sites are on site. It's located right off rt. 35. They have a campground office as well as a good shower house.