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The Rocky Fork Campground is the ultimate basecamp for locals and travelers alike to explore Rocky Fork State Park. On the shore of Rocky Fork Lake, the campground is excellent for tent campers and RVers alike to enjoy beaches and watersports in south central Ohio. Rocky Fork campground has 171 campsites suitable for trailers and tents, 99 sites with electric hookups, 44 full hook-up sites, and 27 non-electric sites.
At Long's Retreat Family Resort, whether you are looking to bring your own camper or to reserve a rental, we have affordable accommodations for your family with tent and RV camp sites, cabins and rental units!
While camping near Columbus enjoy water fun with waterslides, beach swimming, a splash pad and more on our 20 acre lake! Prefer to stay out of the water? Try our mini golf, go karts, kiddie train, carousel, arcades, sports courts and more!
This recreation area is part of West Fork of Mill Creek Lake
$24 / night
A.J. Jolly Park & Campground is an award-winning, 1000 acre park that offers 83 Camping Spots (47 of which have been improved with water and electric) and many outdoor activities. A.J. Jolly offers approximately 20 miles of trails to enjoy a day out on the horse. We are proud of our new stable and campground, which includes a new 28 stall barn, 12 site campground with water and electric, comfort station, dump station, pavilion with grills, and a playground.
105 campsites total 25 RV back-in sites with full hookup (water, 30/50-amp electric, sewer), gravel pad and patio, picnic table, and fire ring 12 RV pull-through sites with full hookup (water, 30/50-amp electric, sewer), concrete pad, picnic table, and fire ring Water is shut off at all full hook-up sites when winter camping begins. 68 tent sites with 30-amp electric, picnic table, and fire ring 6 rustic camping cabins with one double and three single beds, kitchen table, electric, heat and air conditioning
Campground office
Camp store with café
Washer and dryer
Group activity shelter
Playground
Two dump stations ($11 fee for non-campers)
WiFi access
Walking distance to Winton Woods Harbor
$43 - $73 / night
Guide
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.
Guide
So most if the sites are large enough for 30 and larger RV’s but we’re designed by someone who was clueless. On the general setup of newer campers and motorhomes. Pad are about 12 x12 concrete so that’s a plus but the location of the pads if you want to use your RV awning means your wheels in what ever your using are goi g to be nearly off the level area or in the grass. Sites 7 11 10 3 are the best.the power for site 7 is on the wrong side so your going to need an extension possibly All the premium sites have 30/50 amp hook ups and water. Dump station is about 500 ft away. The equestrian sites are 500 ft away they are big enough for 30 ft trailers site 5 is ok but it’s pad is about 6 ft off the road between the sites. We have stayed at all the mentioned sites. Again not bad just weird setup. Bath house is new very clean closest to sites 10 12 11 9 and 7 they have a large covered area for events also in the Flatwood area most of the sites are on the lake front. Fishing is t to bad. The park has a golf course. The other side of the camp ground had 4 or so yurts for rental. And I believe this year may have cabins didn’t look know it’s in the works. The tent camping area is fairly large. Been years since we have done that type of camping. Great for pop up campers and campers smaller that 28 ft Ada access on the older side of the it’s close to shopping g for what ever you man need park is clean and well policed they also have canoe and some other rentals
Scout
Along the Ohio river Morgan’s is the perfect spot to camp if you enjoy nature. The wooded sites are very large even the small ones with mature trees. So close to everything Cincinnati has to offer but beautiful scenic river views.
Traveler
Most of the campsites have great privacy, despite being fairly close together. The beach is very nice! There are plenty of trails for the hikers, and 2 lakes if you're the boating/swimming type. Lots of elevation for Ohio.
Traveler
We broke our own cardinal rule, don’t travel unfamiliar roads at night. We were blessed as the journey to the park was uneventful, but we missed some wonderful countryside. Upon arrival at Rocky Fork we realized even with a map it took 40 minutes to find our site. This was not so much due to the darkness as it was to the poor road and site markings. The camp grounds we stayed in was nearly full and had every conceivable form of camping from tents to full size motor coaches. There were a few that appeared to have been here for sometime and that doesn’t bother us other than their site wasn’t getting yard of the month.The surrounding campers were very friendly and eager to share more local attractions. For us south Louisiana Cajuns the mild weather was a blessing, coolest night was in the 50’s 😎. We are fast becoming eastern Ohio fans. We plan on two more Ohio park stops as we move northerly. Stay tuned to the adventures of the Lost Cajuns.
Scout
An older but updated Ohio State Park. Ran by a great volunteer staff! Nice canoe and kayaking lake, no motor lake. Fishing is good off shore or boat. Had a Bat house building event when we were there. Updated restrooms and shower house. Lots of shaded sites both 30 and 50 amps, no full hook ups, but easy to get too dump and water source for filling tank.
Traveler
This KOA sets the bar for the Ohio locations we have visited. The bathrooms are amazing and private. The tent site we had was huge and there were actually trees for our suspended tent and hammocks. The dog park wasn’t huge, but larger than most. The campground was completely full but still quiet and peaceful. The staff are amazing.
GuideThis is a great park in southern Ohio, easy to reach, 20 minutes off the interstate 275. There are a number of good sites, but some with a significant slope that leveling would be an issue. There are a few site close to the water but are more compact. Plenty of well kept restrooms spread throughout the camping area. Bath house is clean and modern. There is potable water in multiple sites and a double sided dump station. The staff and the host are very pleasant and helpful. It's a park I will definitely return.
GuideWe chose this campground for its proximity to Serpent Mound. It's very middle of the road. The camp store is better than average, but the grounds themselves leave a lot to be desired. Very little privacy, small, uneven sites, bathhouses out of an 80s slasher movie. So much goose poop. The firewood we purchased from the camp store was just awful. Wouldn't light, it just smoked. It's not the first time we've had this problem with wood from an Ohio state park camp store.
The staff was super friendly and everyone we encountered was very nice, but it's certainly not somewhere I would want to spend more than a night.
LegendShawnee State Park was totally without any phone signal. Right on the border of Kentucky, in Ohio, you are in the small town almost South.
Beautiful countryside, fortunately I was on Rt 125 when I lost all clue where the park entrance was. Then I saw the Shawnee Range and kept on driving. Definitely get a map because the whole park offers a lot of out door opportunities.
Backpack trail, 23 and 40 miles loops with 7 camping areas, register and enjoy. Equestrians get 70 miles and primitive camping.
The camping area is small ( a good thing ) the restrooms are clean and basic. Showerhouse and laundry. The attendant was super helpful and knowledgeable.
RangerNestled close to the Ohio River and the Shawnee State Forest, you will find rolling hills and valleys that offer serene beauty and picturesque landscapes. Wildflowers run rampant throughout this enchanted state park, and deer, raccoons, and turkey frolic throughout the more than 1,160 acre paradise. Challenge your family members for a round of mini golf or basketball, or set out on a geocaching adventure. Cruise along one of the numerous hiking trails and or set off on a relaxing ride on the two bridle trails. Rest your head at one of the campsites offering a dump station and showers, or stay in a cabin. If neither of those are your thing there is a beautiful lodge that provides swimming pools, a game room, and breathtaking views of either the river or forest.
GuideRecently looked at staying at the RV Flat Woods section. They haven’t done any camping upgrades. To the RV section the electrical. Is on the wrong side if a few sites. So you will need 25 ft 50 amp extension cord. The sites are Not Paved. They are Nit full hook up most of the pads they poured are in the Wrong position for a 5th wheel. For 45.00 a night. Your better off going to anyone of the Kentucky or Ohio State parks. They do have canoe rentals. and a huge frisbee golf course. “Rolling eyes “ really. They spent money on upgrades. Mainly on planting grass and walking loops. The few RV sites. Are gravel. Un even un kevel. And Over priced hasn’t changed for the past 4 years other than the price going up. The park area fir day use is nice. Ball field upgraded. Boat ramp. Same location just upgraded. With better automatic gate. Again the park is nice. But the rv section SUX. Especially fir 45.00 a night plus
TravelerI'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!
GuideWow! Beautiful place, huge lake, very peaceful out by the water.
Campground was not the best- sites were VERY close together, with most of the campground completely exposed with no shade. It was like trying to relax on a huge parking lot jammed with RVs and people. At most of the sites, you'd literally have a family up against you 20 feet to the left and a family 20 feet to the right. This might be fun for kids, but not fun if you are looking for some peace and quiet.
The bathrooms were average for Ohio State parks- icky and grungy, but not gag-worthy. I'm used to the ickiness of state park bathrooms, so I wasn't grossed out. The showers and toilets nearest my site had big puddles of standing water full of dirt, bandaids, plastic wrappers and other gross items floating there the duration of the weekend. One sink was full of dirt the entire weekend. Showers were hot though, which is always a plus.
Great place for kayaking. There was a little free library, which is a great idea. The snack bar was hopping the whole time. They need to make more than one pot of coffee at a time in the mornings (1 pot when they have 249 sites? They are missing out on $$!!), but I only buy coffee on the morning I'm packing up.
Overall, I enjoyed it here, but I'd only go if there are LOTS of free sites and you know you aren't jammed up against 2-3 other groups of people.
GuideThis campground has nice big sites, not the tiny sites that some Ohio state park campgrounds have. Most of them looked relatively level. However, there is no privacy, you are smashed right against your neighbors on both sides, and some parts were essentially just an RV parking lot.
The showerhouse was fine, I wouldn't call it clean as there was hair and scummy stuff everywhere, but I was there on a fully booked weekend so I guess you'll have that. The toilet/sink building nearest to our site reeked of urine, think gas station bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in years- looked clean but smelled terrible. There was also just one pedestal sink in this bathroom, so nowhere to put your things if you want to brush your teeth, even wash your hands.
The big problem was the noise. We were there on "camper appreciation weekend" and they way they "appreciated" us was have an extremely noisy, not-very-talented cover band blare extremely loud 70s and 80s music for three hours on Saturday night. They had big speakers, amps, drum set, the whole bit. You could hear it quite clearly and loudly from every corner of the campground. I go camping for peace and quiet, to hear the crickets and birds and the crackle of our campfire. I do not want to have to endure three hours of men wailing on their guitars and belting out every top forty hit ever written by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was extremely annoying, disruptive and jarring, and took away from our camping experience of sitting peacefully by our camp fire. If I were to return here, I would call first to make sure they are not "appreciating" the campers and putting on an unsolicited rock concert.
LegendCowan Lake State Park is near Wilmington, Ohio and they have been making a lot of improvements to the park. It is a great location between Cincinnati and Columbus with easy access from the highway. This is good if you want to meet with friends somewhat in between. It isn't too close to the highway so you don't hear the road noise as it is a few miles away but it is an easy drive to the park.
They have been revamping the Nature Center to make it more accessible to folks as they have recently added a ramp. The Nature Center actually has two buildings side by side used for different purposes. Then behind the Nature Center they have a location where several birds are located in cages. Then next to where the birds are kept you will notice a new paw print trail that is a short but informative hike.
The commissary has great pizza and ice cream. We also bought our firewood and ice from them as well. We didn't need to leave the park. We had a few trails to pick from and picked two of the shorter ones for members in our group.
The cabins have been revamped as well. They are all close to each other so if you wanted to have a family reunion or a get together this would be a great spot to do so. At the end of the main road it will lead you to the lake. You can use the dock to put your boat out (kayak and certain motor boats). Folks are fishing at the lake or simply enjoying the beauty of the lake.
The beach is simple but that is part of the charm. It is clean and we were able to swim on the hot days that we had while camping.
LegendCowan 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.
LegendIn 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;)
TravelerCamped three days in September 2020.
Not a bad place to camp but has the feel of a commercial campground. There's a distinct lack of charm. It's geared more toward those who own Boats and like fishing over hiking.
The shower house was very clean, the crew was around regularly to empty trash and clean. The hot water in the shower house left something to be desired (took forever, lasted about a minute and a half).
As a matter of personal preference, I was not a big fan of Rocky Fork but as a campground, it was completely fine.
GuideThis is a very nice campground. Nice lake, boating, playgrounds, bath houses, some full hook up sites. There are more good sites than bad. 4,5,9,10, 147-165 those were my favorites. Small town with stores and restaurants was only 8 min away.
ScoutVery nice grounds, lots of paved pathways for bike riding, skateboarding, ect.. Air conditioned shower houses. Very nice size spaces, we were in a full hookup site.
TravelerSites are large, most with concrete pads. Grounds are well kept. Camp sites available next to the lake. Beautiful lake for kayaking, boating and swimming. Only downfall is that you have to drive a few miles to get to the beach.
ScoutThe campsites are on top of each other. It has very little woods around it. You can hear the street traffic and airport all day. The planes are taking off right by the camp. They have a very loud chapel service starting at 7:30am on Sunday morning. You have to leave park to do any activities like hike or swim.
LegendRocky Fork State Park doesn’t have a lot to offer unless you were there to boat or fish.
The park was very loud and more of a party crowd at least the weekend we were there. There were only 2 short hiking trails and they were both overgrown with no real views or destinations.
The camp store was nice and well stocked. They did have a mini golf course and a few holes of disk golf.
I will say the near by town of Hillsboro was definitely worth the visit. Several cute stores , a great bakery and we even went to the local farmers market.
Great Verizon cell coverage
TravelerGreat campground... excellent fishing
TravelerThis is our first trip to Rocky Fork State Park. We are impressed with the campground amenities and spacious camp sites. Over 40 full hook up sites! Will definitely be returning.
ScoutCamp sites were clean. Shower houses and bathrooms kept very clean and nice. Great place to camp with children. Tons of things for them to do. Beach was clean and lake nice to swim and play in. Fishing was good.
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