Best Tent Camping near Sabina, OH

Great place to visit has three parks in one John Bryant and Glen Helen nature preserve and Clifton Gorge are some of the best hiking trails in south west Ohio. Camp sites are great for tent camping with a few RV spots. You can visit the near by historical town of Yellow Springs.

While the tent spots did not have a lot of shade, the sites are close to the lake and make for some wonderful sunsets. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful and all in all it was a great stay. We rented bikes from the camp store and swam at the beach which was conveniently close to the tent sites. Lots of fun and 10/10 would return again. I'm excited to come back and see how the young trees they have growing in the tent sites take off.

There's a great backpacking trail that's challenging and an easy middle meeting place for friends/family from Columbus and Cincinnati that can meet in Dayton Metroparks/Five Rivers - Germantown and take on the TVT challenge, beautiful hike through hilly terrain, and great spots of overlooks. Bring your pack and hiking poles and take advantage of trekking into the forest. Vault toliet, away from busy/crowded campsites and surrounded by nature. Access to a river for water source (bring your filter system) camp in a tent or hammock.

This campsite would have been perfect if not for the bathrooms littered with bugs, insects, and spiders. Otherwise, the campsite was quiet, the tent sites were nicely spaced out, and the bathrooms were easily accessible.

Great tent sites on mowed lawn under old growth trees. Our night’s rest was interrupted multiple times with airport noise—airplanes and helicopters. Note that at this time (COVID) you cannot just pull in and occupy a site. You must call in for a reservation.

Stopped here during a road trip with a friend. Very family friendly. Tent sites were nice and flat, felt a little cramped though. Bathrooms were clean. The lake was very nice, clear, and refreshing. Flet good to be close to it! Easy to find the campsites and pretty affordable.

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 have tent camped here three times. Small but nice campground. Nice lake close to the campground just down an access road. I would give it a higher rating but there are no showers, concrete floored, hole in the ground 'outhouses' (one men's, one woman's) by the playground and port-a-johns at the other end of the campground. The last time we were there in September 2016, the port-a-johns were absolutely full and nasty despite daily phone calls by the camp caretakers that they needed serviced. They were finally serviced just before the weekend campers came in and we were leaving. Small adequate camp store. Movie for the kids at the outdoor theater.

Great camping experience! Waited too late to book in hocking hills state park but found a site here instead. We are tent campers and stayed in site 106 on"Northridge". Loved that the non-electric tent sites were so isolated from the RV campers. Site 107 gets muddy with a lot of rain. Sites 108-112 have a pretty significant slope. Each site in the loop has a picnic table and fire ring. There's a dumpster, pit toilets, and water. It was a short drive to the rest of the campers, a great hot shower, fantastic general store, miniature golf, and the beach to swim or lake to kayak. Took us at least 30 minutes to drive to the common hocking hills hikes but well worth it. We would return.

Had a great time here. My only complaint is that the sites are very close together and there are few trees for privacy in the actual campsites, Also very little shade for this reason. For the most part the tent sites are grass, with a place to pull in. The site I stayed at was relatively close to the pit toilets and a water spigot, but also close to a bunch of RV sites, so I wouldn't say it was all that quiet. It was easy to access walking trails along a river, and also really close to Yellow Springs, which is a great little town (that I totally did not expect to find, who knew!) Cheap firewood and camp store at the entrance.

We arrived three hours after check in started and headed straight to the camp office to check in. Our tent site was ready right away and the kind lady at the desk helped us get DRY firewood and helped us locate our spot. Our campground was clean and mostly quiet. About a 2 min walk and you can walk along the lake on a trail, we caught the most gorgeous sunset. Overall a very nice and clean campground. The only complaint if I had to give one was the daddy long legs in the bathrooms. But they are not harmful at all and don’t really get in the way, but if you are not a spider person they may deter you.

Winton Woods campground has spacious paved RV spaces with full hook-ups, fire ring, and picnic table. They also have cabin and tent camping. The location is located on the lake with access to put in a kayak or canoe. The bathrooms are clean, with private combined shower/dressing stalls. There is a playground for children, and a camp store that sells firewood and supplies. I love the tall pines on the property. They made me feel like I was out west. The campground is also near paved and unpaved trails in the park that surround more of the lake which allows for walking/running/hiking and bicycling, fishing, small craft boating, with small craft boat rentals available at the marina. The park also allows for horseback riding, and a small water park for children in the summer.

This was our first camping trip here and it won’t be out last. We loved this little hidden gem of a park. We were on site 5 and it was level side to side but sloped front to back. The parking pad was nice and it looked like many had been freshly paved.
Some sites are just in the grass and could get muddy since the park is in a valley but they would be perfect for tent camping or a smaller camper.
Lots of hiking trails, a like for swimming and fishing, playground, and fire tower. They also had a mini golf course, outdoor movie screen and a camp store that has a game room and nature center. Most of this part was closed because of winter camping and Covid.
The staff that we saw working were really friendly and recommend some great hiking trails.

I've stayed here in the past and Cowan Lake does not disappoint. The B site campground is all non-electric tent camping, and far enough away from the larger RV pads that it's a quiet little campsite! Also, these sites are super close to the bathrooms on the beach, which were very clean during our stay. I was incredibly impressed, because the beach gets pretty busy during the day. The beach itself was clean (for a lakeside beach- there are geese, it's Ohio) and the lake was gorgeous! I will say, the only MILD annoyance is that some of the other campers would drive to the parking lot in front of our campsite and park there into the evening hours to fish or head down to the docks. I'm an early riser, so the headlights and car doors slamming were mildly annoying after about 10p. Not enough to make me choose a different campsite, but worth noting. We rented a tandem kayak and explored the lake, and the equipment was all in good condition. The Commisary is pretty limited but they do have a small kitchen and ice cream, as well as the basics like firewood and ice, as well as the boat rentals. Overall, one of my favorite lakeside campgrounds!

We had three walk-in sites to choose from on Memorial Weekend. We chose Site 113 in non-electric. It was a huge site with big trees for shade. Great for tent camping and it worked well for out camper. You have to pull in with a camper to be able to walk out onto your site. It’s a little backwards, but we only have 19ft camper so it worked for us. Plus we weren’t planning on driving anywhere so we didn’t have to worry about moving our truck. The bathroom/showers were not far and were nice and clean. For a holiday weekend it was nice and quiet. If your a bird watcher take your binoculars. Lots of robins, cardinals, red winged blackbirds and a few orioles. We drove though electric on our way out and the sites were much closer than where we were. We loved it and plan on going back.

Cowan Lake State Park - A friend and I were able to kayak on the lake the night of a Friday the 13th moon. It was beautiful. Sadly, no pictures as I do not have a water proof camera. The next day we also went out for another paddle under the bright sun.  The boat ramp and parking lot is easy to use and has a good layout.  They do have some tent sites close to the boat ramp area and you can see the lake from those tent sites. 

Our campsite did not have any trees but they have planted a lot of new trees. I assume this due the previous trees having to be cut down due to Emerald Ash borer damage. Our campsite didn't have any shade but others did so you really have to pick wisely. 

The trails here are easy and short.  I loved the informational boxes and tags that they had on the trees or plants.  This is helpful if you have little ones with you or if you are like me and just like to learn about the animals/plants on the trail. 

The park also had a lending library and walking stick lending program. I thought these were simple but memorable features for this park. 

Our campsite was close to two different bathroom structures.  One right behind our site was toilets only. This did mean that sometimes folks would walk on the edge or through the camp site at times.  The other bathroom structure was further down the road and it had both toilets and showers.  The larger bathroom had an ADA shower in it as well. 

The camp store was well stocked and you could rent bikes from the store. These bikes were often all over the campground so be extra careful when driving in the park.  They do have the orange flag but as they are low to the ground it is hard to see them at times. 

The cabins here have both a fire ring and grill. This isn't the case at all Ohio State parks so it was a nice surprise.  They also have a porch that is screened in with a view of the lake. You are not able to walk down to the lake from the cabin but it is a lovely view. 

For those who want to "Walk-On" camp please take a look at the photo of the neon yellow paper as how the park approaches this will be different in the future. 

**Not all photos or videos uploading so some information may be missing. I will try to upload again later.

Visited twice in May 2021 (sites 54 & 39) bookending our camping roundtrip from Virginia to Kansas and this was one of the worst places we stayed. We lived in Dayton for a number of years and Yellow Springs is one of our favorite places. That being said, we were quite disappointed at the set up.

There is no privacy between campsites, at all. If someone on one end of the campground is having a party, everyone in the campground is going to be up all night (our first night). On our last night there, we (and the poor family with young kids in a tent 15 feet away) were audibly assaulted by a very amorous and inebriated couple in a tent until the wee hours. With no trees between sites, you have no buffer and good god what I would have given for a buffer.

Pit toilets have those heavy doors that help keep things less buggy (positive) but because they are on a raised area in the middle of an almost treeless campground, the clang of them shutting echoes throughout the night.

No showers.

No dedicated tent-pads. We were car-top camping so I can't speak to ground conditions for tent camping but do know our two spots would have put us on some sort of slope. (Unless we set up a tent right next to the road on 54).

Like I said, it wasn't bad. Definitely wasn't great.

Tar Hollow State Park sits adjacent to the State Forest, in a similar setup to Scioto Trail and Lake Hope. It is pretty remote (no cell phone coverage at even the top of the hills), and really is a chance to 'get away' from the modern life. All sorts of camping is covered: RVing, trailer camping, and tent camping at electric sites, and primitive tent camping at several locations. Most of the camping is down in the valley, upstream from the lake. There is a camping area (and large paved lot) just below the dam (during this trip we saw a Boy Scout Troop with a school bus parked down there, so for those looking a for a group camping experience with a heavy vehicle that's an area to consider). This lower dam lot sits on the access trail to the main Logan Trail loop (for those wanting some serious distance hiking).

When we go, we tent camp with no electricity, so this review will focus on that style. The primitive camping is at the North Ridge campsite at the top of the hill to the north of the lake. There is a single gravel parking lot here, and you are carrying your gear in at most 100 yards, up hill, to the farthest spot. It is the crest of the hill, so the different spots have different amounts of slope. Pay attention to the descriptions in the reservation website if you're not prepared for this. The whole site is one large cleared oval, with a large grassy area (well mown) at the crest. There is room for the kids (or dog) to run around in circles, but you'll want to watch the thrown ball. It is really, really quiet. We could not hear anyone at the park down below. If you're lucky and have no clouds, there is virtually no light pollution and you can see the Milky Way. You are not within walking distance of the main park or trails, so plan on driving down to the main park or to the trail head you intend to use. There is water (drinking fountain and spigot) and his/hers pit toilets with antibacterial soap (you know the brand name).

Activities: it is a state park, so there are some things aimed at kids and there were lots of kids this past week running around looking busy and happy (even the teenagers). The lake has a sand beach and designated swim area. It is blocked off from the rest of the lake by a wooden dock from which you are able to shallow dive (it's only seven or eight feet deep). Swim at your own risk. There are peddle boats to rent (two drivers, two passengers). We rented canoes, but there is also a rowboat and several kayaks. The main lake is large enough that an hour's rental is just fine for your canoe time. Separately there is a boat launch, and a fishing dock. There is a small two-room nature center, and there is a naturalist who conducts several activities. In past years we've been able to spend an hour or so at the nature rooms, and then let the kids go off with the naturalist on an hour+ guided hike down the creek to explore for wildlife and plants. Call the camp store to get information on that. The camp store is friendly and welcoming, with a small selection of mementos (magnets, hiking sticks), a few nature-themed toys, last-minute forgets (duct tape, popcorn, table cloth and the like) and ice cream. The front porch has a swing and rocking chairs, and will definitely block a heavy thunderstorm for you. There is miniature golf, but don't expect a major chain's high quality production--this is a state park. There is a foosball table and air hockey as well in a separate game room. The park is well looked after, and the staff are friendly and helpful--everyone knows why they are there.

For committed outdoors people, it is a good base from which to explore Hocking Hills (25 minutes away) and the Tar Hollow State Forest trails. You're near the Buckeye Trail (accessed from the trail below the dam, 1.5 miles up to the Fire Tower), and the Logan Trail loop in the state forest. For the family looking to get away for a day or two, there is much to do so long as you aren't expecting a resort. And to get the kids off the electronics...oh, sorry, there's no cell phone access at all. Just listen for the hawks, the tree frogs, and the rest of nature.

We went camping in June during the strawberry Moon. We are tent campers, we booked site 185. But once we got there we discovered that the site was slopped down from the pad and not a great place to tent camp. So, we had to find another site. They were booked so we had to cut our vacation short because the only site open for us was reserved for the following weekend. Bummer! There are not alot of spaces for us tent campers no matter where we go. We have to at the least have electric hook ups cause my better half has a CPap he has to sleep wearing. They did have a few premative sites for tent campers. Camp is very well maintained and they are having some construction done on many sites to make them bigger, full hook ups and even Handicap accessable. Great place to ride a bike, or hike or just go for a walk. The shower houses and restrooms were recently redone and in great shape! Though the shower heads could use a changing. Weekends were a bit crowded, but by sunday night the place was cleared out and the rest of the week was quiet and relaxed. Over all a great week. Friendly and helpful staff too. the only issue I had was the state of the Beach, trashed(People there didn't seem to care about throwing their trash around. Shame on them! Also,the sand was so compacted it felt like concrete. Not the best beach. Fishing, well. It seems we didn't have the low down on good fishing spots. All of the public fishing spots were of course taken and along the dam so not great. Lodge is beautiful, and they are doing some construction there. I did not like the food. Guess I am too picky, but when my salad comes out warm and my chicken is cold I do have an issue with that. Didn't seem like they were taking food safety too seriously.

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.

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.

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.

Cabin A, . Check-in time is 2pm and check out is 12pm. Please remember to bring your own linens, Morgan's does not supply sheets for the cabins. There are 2 twin mattresses and 1 full size mattress. **Helpful information from their reservation email. 

They have 4 cabins in our area which would be nice to get another family to join us.  Then each family has their own cabin to retire to at the end of the day. 

https://www.morganscanoe.com/ This site is close to King's Island and Fort Ancient. It also was next to a bike trail.  Close to the Little Miami Bike Trail this was easy to walk on with my friend and her two little ones.  The trail was paved which was a huge help for those of us who were extra short and didn't always attend to their surroundings when walking. 

We were a little nervous as the cabin is so close the river. This is part of the charm but when you have a 3 year old in your group then it is smart to keep an extra sharp eye on the kiddo as the river is a huge draw.  We enjoyed being able to be close to the river and then being inside with a floor/door which a tent wouldn't have given us that extra security.  We had plenty of space for my friend, her two kids, and me. 

The cabin didn't have heat and I tend to get cold easily.  For the average person in the summer and spring you will be fine. I needed to layer up. We had two little ones so during the day instead of the usual King's Island we went to Entertainment Junction. https://entertrainmentjunction.com/ and I was also able to get a Groupon to reduce the cost. 

Price:$60.00/night for 2 Adults and up to 3 kids(3-16 years of age) 2-night minimum  required for weekends and 3-night required for holiday weekends.  The cabins weren't on top of each other. I felt that this was a better deal than some other local cabin prices and the atmosphere was better as well .

The tent sites which I explored on my walks are huge. A great camp site to have a bunch of friends meet up and camp at as it is so close to Cincinnati. This camp site, is far enough to get away but close enough.  This means that everyone can easily get there after work. We didn't want a long car drive with two little ones and this was a great way to start exposing them to camping in our "backyard". 

The prices equal the local state parks but the sites are bigger.  The area has huge trees and grassy areas to put your tents up without feeling like your neighbors are right in your space.

Stayed two nights at Tar Hollow's North Ridge Campground, which is the tent only campground. Be sure to visit the "Camp General Store" to pick up your permit before heading to your campsite. If your GPS takes you to the North Ride campground, just drive past and continue on until you see the general store/putt putt area. Believe the camp store is open until 8pm during the week. 

We were on site 106, which is at the far end of the campground. The campground is about 2-3 acres large, situated on a hill with a path dug out around the perimeter. 

Some positives about the campground and site 106: 

-the path around the hill allows for great drainage; a huge help if you're camping in rainy weather. 

-the north ridge campground is in an entirely separate area of the park than the RVs and there aren't many campsites, so in that way it feels a little more remote and secluded. 

-In addition to the path around the perimeter of the campsite there is a path leading up through the middle of the campground with the campsites situated on either side of the path. Since site 106 is at the far end, you don't have anyone walking by your campsite to and from the parking lot. 

-Pine lake is a beautiful little spot to fish, rent a paddle boat, or just relax. There is also a pretty spacious beach area.

-There is a water spigot, restrooms, and a dumpster.

-There is no cell service. Enjoy the outdoors! You are off the grid! 

Some negatives about the campground and site 106: 

-You cannot park your car directly at your campsite. There is a parking lot at the bottom of the campground hill. You have to carry your items to your campsite. Depending on what site you reserved you could have to walk uphill for about 100-150 yards. This could be an issue for differently abled people. Also, it means you need to be crafty about securing your food at night if you don't want to walk it back down to your car. 

-Many of the campsites are situated on pretty intense slopes. 106 wasn't too bad. I would guess 105 is probably the most level site in the campground. 

-Site 106 is the farthest from the parking lot. Great for privacy, bad for lugging your stuff to and from the car. 

-The bathrooms are pit latrines. Normally, I wouldn't be too concerned about this (you're camping! it's cool to rough it a bit!) However…these are some of the dirtiest I've experienced. The bathrooms are also very narrow and perhaps most importantly, they are not lit, so you have to make sure you bring your headlamp with you at night. I also couldn't get the latch to lock on the doors, but maybe that was user error. There is toilet paper and hand sanitizer (but I always double sanitized with my own sanitizer back at our tent--such was the state of these bathrooms.) 

-The campsites are all pretty close together. We got lucky and there was no one next to us, but even so we could still clearly hear conversations at other campsites and folks snoring at night. 

-There is no cell service. Be sure to give anyone who may need to contact you a heads up.

All in all, we had a positive experience and were glad we went. That said, there are better spots to tent camp in and around OH.