Best Tent Camping near Sidney, 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.

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.

Second time out love this place has a swimming pool and splash pad for the kids and lots of parks and horseshoe pits bike rentals and put put golf but everything is closed from covid definitely my favorite place to camp primitive or electric tent camp

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.

State parts are usually good parks, but Indian Lake was our favorite of the summer. A large lake, and large campground. Lots of trailer and tent camping, complete with a beach, boat dock and commissary. The campground had an ice cream stand and showed a movie on Saturday evening for kids in their amphitheater. We will definitely return!

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.

Our experience with Indian Lake was tough, unfortunately we suffered a pretty severe thunderstorm while we were tent camping, it looked like a tsunami coming in. Despite the weather, our experience was still not the greatest one, the trail was confusing and we were eaten alive by mosquitos, even with bug spray. It also was not a very long hike, just a confusing one. The campground had cut down most of the tree coverage, and it was like we were camping with our neighbors. This may be a great family friendly park with a beach and kid activities, but we dont have kids and prefer a more quiet and secluded atmosphere. We will not be returning.

Full service campground. 30, 50 am full hook ups. Water and electric only hook ups, primitive RV and tent sites. Some sites are shaded, most of them seem to be year round rented. Most sites not shaded and small. Lake with beach, fishing, boating, and scuba diving. Golf cart rentals, firewood for sale on site. Pool available. Camp store and hot food available on site. Cabins also available for rent. Within 25 min of Walmart, hole improvement stores, and restaurants. Overall nice campground with lots to offer. But in most cases there is parking lot style camping.

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.

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 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.

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.

We stayed here for free for 10 days as a part of a promotion that came with the purchase of our rig. Not sure about normal pricing though, as this campground is owned by Venture Out Resorts and they are a timeshare company (we had to sit for a hour long "pitch" to get our free days). They have 50amp, full hookup, pull through sites (and we saw 40+ ft rigs there) to tent camping to cabin rentals. The campground was clean (shower houses always looked great) and grounds were maintained. Amenities include an indoor pool, hot tub and sauna (close at 10p), but we did not partake because it was so overridden by children, chlorine, and no open windows - didn't seem worth any effort whatsoever in the July heat. The amenities we did checkout (close nightly at 8p) included their new 18 hole mini golf course, small arcade (4 games and pinball was broken 😢), loaner bikes, and water toys (we liked the paddle bikes). The company recently bought the property, so you can see what they inherited vs what it will probably eventually be like based off their sister properties (they recently added the putt putt and a big jungle gym) so it could evolve more as time passes. Regardless, in its current state as active 30 somethings, we were pretty bored. No hiking, significant highway noise, yes a couple big ponds, but a truck stop and truck storage is behind both - so no views. Most of the campers we saw were elderly or had young kids. I'd say if you fall into a category where you want to sit beside your rig all day or want your kids entertained (playgrounds, kids programming - it was luau week so they had a Moana movie night and other kid activities), go on and book a longer stay. If you're only looking for a spot to stay overnight by the highway, do it! It is simple to pull in and have full hookups to take advantage of but a 10 day stay is too long if you're paying. Other things to know: Walmart, Aldi, Lowes, and several automotive chain stores are at max 5 min away, which made grabbing some needed supplies super easy. That said truck stop above was very convenient to get into to fuel up our rig too. Fun fact: Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta and the Armstrong Air & Space Museum is also a max 5 min drive away if you want to get your inner astronaut fix.

This is part of the Dayton Metro Parks (Five Rivers Metro Parks) and it is at the Twin Creek metro park.  This is an old boy scout camp (Camp Hook) back in the day. 

During these COVID-19 times we wanted a place to park that wasn't the traditional Ohio State Parks camp site. We didn't want to share a common bathroom/bath house or playground area.  We picked this as the Twin Creek camp site only has 3 camp sites within the park.  Even then they are out of side from each other. You can somewhat hear the other two camp sites (rarely).  This meant with two little ones we wouldn't have to constantly remind them to socially distance or put on masks.  We were alone but had plenty of park supports. We had two great park volunteers/security stop by to make sure we had everything we need. 

The nice thing about the Dayton metro parks is that each night in the front county camp sites they include a bundle of fire wood. This is not the small sad bundle that you often buy at gas stations or other markets.  This is a huge bundle. It is dry and cut in an easy to use manner. It is also kept in a little box so it is dry even if you do have weather while camping. If you wish to add an additional bundle of firewood the price is very reasonable at $10.00. I do this every time I camp there to support their campsites/metro parks. I have yet to use up their firewood in the box when I camp for a whole weekend. It is also nice that we don't have to put it in our cars so less clean up after camping. It also helps with the whole burn local fire wood so you are not transporting bugs. Or you don't have to cross your fingers and hope someone close by sells firewood. 

The nice thing about their site is the additional tables made it easy for us to socially distance.  When I camp at local state parks and we only have one table it can be tricky to keep coolers, food, and people separated. We also were able to have kids do craft at one of the tables while we were preparing meals. This camp site is listed as a 10 person camp site. There is no water on site so make sure you bring all the water that you will need. 

We also were able to hike the easy trails around the camp site. No need to put the kids in the car unless we wanted to.  Which we still did:) 

We drove into town and discovered a covered bridge that I had missed on an earlier camping trip. (Germantown).  This town also has the Florentine which is one of the oldest inns in Ohio. It was closed while we were in town but it is well worth a stop. The town also has a community pool as well that you can buy a day pool pass. 

The campsite does have two spots that would be neat for a wedding. You can reserve an amphitheater. 

The campsites during peak season are $20 during week days and $28 for weekends. I still find this to be one of the best values for camping in Ohio. Especially, when you consider the level of privacy that you have on these sites.  The vault toilets are one of the best as they are always clean. We have hand sanitizer and toilet paper. We didn't have to share our vault toilet with any other family units. 

All of these small touches really made COVID-19 camping with kids much easier. We look forward to being back at this camp site in the fall. 

Here is the website to make a reservation https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786190&api=facilities&type=camp

You're learning to backpack the Buckeye Trail, and you want to take the first steps towards that without worrying about the physical load you're going to have to carry. You can drop the tent on this portion! This Adirondack shelter, located between Points 6 and 7 on the St. Mary's Section of the Buckeye Trail, is perfect for you. Built as an Eagle Scout project by Parker and Keaton Cole of Troop 95 (in Sidney), it is large enough for six or to sleep comfortably off the ground. You cannot miss it as you go along the trail. There is a fireplace (stone, make sure you check that the chimney is not blocked) large enough to cook your hotdogs and keep you happy as you sit in the shelter.  There is deadfall from the trees around you that will serve as kindling and fuel for the fire.  If you start in Lockington or Fort Loramie, this shelter is approximately 10 miles in and the right place to break a two-day backpacking trip.

This is a small and beautiful park. It’s a primitive campground with many tents and some small RVs. The sites are spacious with large trees for shade. We enjoyed some great hikes through the state park to the Clifton Gorge preserve. A beautiful part of Ohio! The village of Yellow Springs is nearby for a burger or ice cream run.

We stayed at John Bryan so we hike the Clifton Gorge and we love the town of Yellow Springs. The campground was a pretty basic Ohio campground, but did boast a frisbee golf course and access to the trails right from the campground. The campground is surrounded by wood, but pretty bare otherwise. There was very little privacy and sites just seemed to be placed randomly in the field. The pit toilets were relatively clean, and the campground roads safe for kids to ride bikes. We stayed at site 64 which was probably about the most private site there. We did need to position are cars around us to get this. Once dusk hit the raccoons were unbelievable. They would come out of the wood and stare at us fearlessly. Despite packing up our food properly, they were all over our table and right up next to our tent scavenging for food as soon as we went in our tent. The camp host was out searching the woods because they stole some kids backpack during the night. The trails were cool, but very poorly marked. There were paper signs that had fallen off the trees and the maps proved difficult to use because there were so many unmarked side trails. Better trail markers would make a huge difference.

Sites are large. Pads for RVs are large. Every site is close to the reservoir, with tons of hidden beaches. Deer are everywhere. Watch out for raccoons. If you are tenting, bungee your coolers. Leave other food in your car. The raccoons have chewed through peoples’ tents to get their food.

great like campground on Ohio’s biggest inland lake

This is one of my favorite campsites in Ohio.  5 Rivers Metro Parks really knows how to provide a great camping experience.  They provide a bundle of firewood for each night that you have reserved the site.  In addition, you can easily purchase more wood that will be right there at the site for you.  "Your camping permit comes with one 2' x 2' bundle of firewood per night. Additional firewood available at checkout(+$10.00 per 1/32nd of a cord)." https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786297&api=facilities&type=camp

The ranger checked in on me and also let me know he was closing the gate to the park.  I had his contact information and felt safe and secure while camping here. We had an awesome conversation and I look forward to seeing him on a future visit. 

I love how easy it is to put away the trash and recycle as this isn't something I see at the larger campgrounds within the state. It is refreshing to see the attention to small details such as this when camping. 

The bathroom is simply a porta john.  It is the accessible one and was fairly clean while I was at the site.  No running water, electricity, or other perks such as being able to buy ice at the campground.  You are close enough that you can run into town to stock up on more ice and items. 

I spent my time at Argonne Lake but you will notice folks fishing at that lake and the other smaller lakes onsite. 

Buckeye my campsite is rated as for 5 parking spots and a capacity of 12 folks.  This is much more than what is allowed at our local state parks.  As I mentioned it is nice and easy for a group of us to camp here.  I have friends that come over from Columbus and I come up from the Cincinnati region.   It is an easy drive and the parking situation is much easier for all of us to drive ourselves from each city with our own gear no shuffling of items. This spot does have other larger campsites if you need to look into that for a larger group. 

"This walk-in campsite is located near Argonne Lake parking lot. It features access to hiking trails, nearby sustainable farm and demonstration gardens, as well as fishing in both the lake and fishing ponds(no license required). This site includes a picnic table and fire ring. Potable water and a restroom are located within 600 feet of campsite on the southeast side of the lake." https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/reserve-a-campsite/?id=786296&api=facilities&type=camp

I have friends that love to explore the lake, ponds, sustainable farm, and the easy access to the trails.  For those that need something interesting to look at you will find old abandoned items such as a pool and street car in the woods.  The land has an interesting history you will want to explore. 

Another thing that is impressive is that they also have a rental program.  If you do not have camping gear but still want to get out and try it then you can rent it from them. https://www.metroparks.org/rentals-permits/rentals/equipment/  A set of 6 is $50.00 for the weekend. This includes the tent, sleeping pads, and sleeping bag.  If you only needed a tent for the weekend that would b e $30.00.   For folks that want to take advantage of their other campsites (backpacking) they have a full rental of backpacking gear for $40.00.  If you only needed the backpack and and tent that would be $25.00 and if you only needed a back pack tent for the weekend that would be $15.00

The park and facilities are beautiful. Campground has a new bathhouse with 2 family showers/bathrooms and 3 showers/3 toliets for each women and men's room. The grounds had a nice modern playground, pavilions, volleyball net and much more.
We stayed at the group site which was outside of the main park. This area had vault toliets and potable water faucet only. So you had to drive to the main park to use bathhouse and anything else. Upside was the low car traffic in that area.

Complete downside and what will keep us from returning are the sheer number and boldness of raccoons. They are lingering the edge of the woods day and night ready to grab anything. At night the main dumpsters has raccoon in/around/on top of them. One night a newb camper in our group didn't lock up his cooler and at 130 am there was a mob of fighting/growling raccoons which carried on for at least 30 min. He said there were upwards of 30 raccoons swarming his cooler while he tried to recover and lock it up. I have never in my camping experience seen/heard anything like it. It freaked the kids and new campers out. I hunkered down in my tent and advised others to do the same. The group campsite also is stated to fit 50ppl. It is not that large. I would say 20ppl would be more adequate. Our tents and cars were less than 5ft from others tent and cars. We had to park cars next to tents bc raccoons and keeping food in cars. Everything else about the park/staff/general area/activities were great.

This Ohio State Park is in a small quaint town. Good sites, nice beach + a real swimming pool. Many places for fishing from shore OR launching your boat ! There is even lots of wildlife especially of the pink vriety !