Best Glamping near Shreve, OH

Upon arrival friendly staff greeted us. Bath houses are clean and well maintained.  Our site was not clean and ready.  Picnic table looked like it was not cleaned since last season and the fire pit was full of rubbish.  Had campers behind us who played music so loud we couldn't hear each other talk.  I asked the gentleman to please turn it down and they did slightly. Another camper also asked them to turn it down and again it was very slight.  Well after midnight music continued.  No park ranger made rounds until Saturday morning and throughout the day.  

The lake is gorgeous this weekend and we enjoyed riding bikes and walking the park.  

May be back to try again.

I camped at this state park in the very scenic rolling hills of central Ohio on a hot and sunny weekend and was happy to find plenty of shade. There are 183 electric sites in this campground, many shady, and almost all having at least partial shade. Pets are permitted in all sites except 1 through 32. These electric sites are divided into three sections with restrooms with flush toilets, shower houses and playgrounds in each. The restrooms and shower houses I used were very clean.

There is also a walk-in section of non electric sites that are different than what I usually think of as walk-in sites because parking was just yards away.

The camp store was well stocked and probably has anything you forgot. They also sell firewood.

The huge 18 hole disc golf course seemed to be a popular attraction.

I enjoyed the five well marked hiking trails through the woods. These trails range from easy to difficult, the longest being 4.4 miles.

From the campground, you will have to drive to the beach or hike a couple miles though the woods as I did. My only complaint about this campground is the beach. There are no lifeguards or concessions and I am told, that after a rain, this beach can look uninviting. Near the beach is a wading pool with a fountain for younger children. Adjacent to the beach area there are tennis courts, basketball courts and a very shady picnic area with tables and pavilions.

There are boat launches for your boats at the marina but the only watercraft that can be rented are kayaks and canoes.

We enjoyed renting a cabin with the family at several different times.  

The mountain bike trails are so rugged and fun, difficult for biking.  You can hike them too, and they offer nice views of the lake.

The area seems to have a skunk issue at times, and it can get smelly near the cabins.

The cabins have nice fire pits and kitchens have enough space and facilities to make a nice family dinner.

The lake is large enough to boat on and you can do paddling sports there easily. 

The park has tennis courts and lots of other recreation: boating, hiking, swimming, biking.

We arrived Friday late afternoon and set up in the rain. Didn’t see much of the park on Friday,  but Saturday we went exploring and saw the marina, beach, horse camp area, and walked some of the bridle trails. They also have playgrounds that are open and some food trucks in case you don’t want to cook.

 This is the second park we have stayed at that is part of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and so far I am impressed. Large landscape sites that are full hookup with large concrete pads. Each with its own picnic table and fire pit. They also have a boat dock for the campers to use.   The lightning bugs even put on a nightly show.

This was our first camping trip after purchasing a new to us fifth wheel camper. We chose the Cardinal Camping Center because it was only 15 miles from our home. We arrived on Thursday afternoon registered and set up at our site. Staff was very friendly and helpful, we shared some fresh veggies from our garden as we had way too much for just us and asked the welcome center to tell people to help themselves to what ever they wanted. we then toured the campgroundand found the stocked fishing lake (catch and release) the indoor swimming pool. The camp also has some very nice cabins, no restrooms in the cabin but they are very close to the public restrooms and shower house. We then went over to the shooting center and tried our luck with some silliolet and metal targets on the pistol range. Thy also have trap and skeet available. 

Our site had ful hook-ups 50 amp service with sewer and water picnic table and fire ring for $44 a night. All of the people next to us were very nice and everyone respected each other's sites.

I would go back to this campground again, we even extended our stay an extra day because we had such a good time.

I love Mohican State Park. There is so much to do- canoeing, kayaking, tubing, creeking, and great trails also.

This campground is nice but is crowded in the warmer months. Look for a site along the water, that's where the tree cover is. I stayed in a camper cabin which was very nice, with microwave and refrigerator.

There is running water in the toilets, which is nice for a state park in Ohio. The showers were decent, nothing to complain about there.

The primitive tent camping sites looked nice and peaceful- take care to get a shaded spot, though, as some were just exposed in a grassy field. There is a long bumpy walk from the parking area to the primitive sites, so bring a wagon or sled or something.

The campsites were small, very uneven and dirty. We saw seasonal campers with four and five cinder blocks holding up one corner or another. The sites were so small that a “lakefront” site was more accurately called a “lake” site.

The check in staff person was incredibly rude and offered no map, no directions, no help whatsoever. The gate person was somewhat better but with five distinct campgrounds and over 600 sites, no map is unacceptable.

Don’t buy firewood at the marina—you are better off driving around Mohican and stopping along the road where local landowners are offering better quality for less.

It was somewhat quiet for the number of people and campers packed into such a small area, but if not for COVID, it would have been a very loud with parties. As it was, trucks zoomed in and out of the park all night. No one enforced the closing or quiet hours.

In short, it was all of the shortcomings of a crappy private campground, but your tax dollars and local government fees help to support it.

Never again—we’ll stay at Mohican State Park next time.

This trip was memorable for so many reasons but the Chestnuts really make this park stand out.  The park has several Chestnut trees which is usually a rare find these days.  Later on, I found a sign explaining why the park had so many Chestnut trees. They are working to bring them back.  We used our grubstick to roast them over the open fire.  Many of us fondly think of the Christmas song but how often have you roasted your own Chestnuts while camping?

The tent sites (short walk from parking lot) and one car per tent site.  Our site was not the traditional walk up/park camp site. It was a nice change of pace.  More space and great neighbors. 

The camp store at this park had a lot of great things such as corn hole outside, a mining activity for the family, trikes you could rent, and most importantly ice cream.  

The camp store is right across from the pool.  The pool is currently closed but not many state parks in Ohio have a pool right in the camp ground area.  This is a rare treat. The pool had the traditional pool, kiddo pool, and small splash pad. You could also see where they had installed a curb cut for those in wheel chairs or needing ramps. No pool lift that I could see to help someone lower in and out of the pool. This may be put away for the season so call to find out. They also had a ramp installed that led up to the pool. One side the old steps and the other side a new  ADA ramp. 

 The fire wood was in a white bag and that made it easy to move and kept the car clean which I appreciated. They also had bait so if you wanted to walk behind the pool and continue to the river it wouldn't be far to go fishing. 

The shower house by us did not have an ADA bathroom and I didn't get a chance to look for the ADA shower.  

Behind the campsites (our section) you could grab a short trail to the river. This was a lovely surprise as I followed a foot path.   We opted not to do the overlook hike to the gorge as we had fellow campers with us that couldn't do a long hike for safety reasons.  It as a nice surprise to learn that one could also drive to the overlook if they need to and all parties could enjoy the view together. Two different ways to get to the same place which means if you need to split up your campers based on physical skills then you could do so and then eat at the shelter together. 

The camp ground has been FULL several times this season so make sure you make your reservations. This park also has a way for you to put on and take out of the river.  You will see folks walking around with their inner tubes as they will float down the small section.

We also drove 10 miles away to the Mohican Lodge to treat ourselves to some food and an OSU Football game at the bar downstairs. The bar has a great back patio and view of the lake.  It too has a variety of games in the back patio. They were awesome and turned on the closed caption feature for us.  Those of us that wanted to watched the game and others were able to play various games at the lodge (Ping pong, pool, read a book by the fire, go see the owls on site, and more).

The pool at the lodge is being redone at the moment. I may try to upload that information later.  So look for it to be new and improved. The pool also has a sauna for those that need some help to warm up/relax tight muscles. Usually, you can get a day pass for the lodge pool even when you are staying at the camp sites. This is a small fee but well worth it.

While we were at the lodge an outside non-profit group was there with 2 owls.  We hope to drive up to Mansfield sometime to explore their property (90 acres) with birds they have rescued or are helping. https://www.ohiobirdsanctuary.com/  they come to the lodge usually on Sat evening at 7 PM. 

For those who are a fan of Shawshank Redemption the movie you are an easy day trip away from the Mansfield Reformatory. https://www.mrps.org/explore/tours