Gallipolis is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in. Experience some of the most stunning views that Ohio camping has to offer. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
"There's a great loop hike in Zaleski State Forest. High quality trees, nice little hills, cool rock formations. Fine campground for tent-camping (my preferred camping method)."
"Campsites fill up quickly & areas will be shared. Not all have fire rings. Camp 2 is very popular since it is the halfway point(ish) on the trail. Camp 1 is only a couple miles into the loop."
"We hiked in at this point near Lake Vesuvius in the Wayne National Forest. Found a secluded spot up the trail. Lots of fun and a good hike- easy enough for an 8 year old!"
$20 - $110 / night
$40 - $125 / night
"Extremely private primitive camping surrounded by Wayne National Forest and steps from the Baileys Trail System. Fire pit, picnic table and handmade hammock supplied for comfort and convenience."
"Excellent campground that is tucked out of the way. You have to walk to the site, up a steep hill, but it is very private and quiet. The bathrooms are down the hill too, but very clean and private."
ScoutWent there in October. No attendance around and not many campers. Sites are very bad for tent camping and not the bet for RV’s. Back ins are sort and most sites have no level ground even for the picnic table or fire ring. Showers were clean but cold. Vault toilets only and stuck to high Heaven. Not serviced well at all. Hiked the lake view trail, poorly maintained. The upper loop from the beach end is very hard to find and not marked at all. Even more disappointing than Hope Lake which has its own site problems for tents.
LegendThis is a strange campground, but not a bad one. It is minutes away from downtown Point Pleasant. I had spent the afternoon exploring the town and didn't feel like driving further. There aren't many campgrounds nearby, so this place came to the rescue.
The park's main feature is a lake that looks to be artificial. Maybe an old gravel quarry? The terrain around the lake is nicely landscaped. There is a paved path along the shore, along with picnic tables and shelters. Kayak rentals are available and the lake is stocked with fish.
Most of the campground is RV focused, but I stayed at a primitive tent site. These are located closer to the entrance. There are no site numbers. Just pull your car up onto the grass and set up wherever. A few picnic tables and electrical outlets are spaced out along the road. There were a few other campers here when I visited, but there was enough room for us to maintain good separation. No shade trees or shrubs for privacy, though.
This is not a particularly quiet or restful campground. The day use area around the lake was hopping, with people coming and going well into the night. No closing time, or just not enforced? Not sure. Having so much traffic was a little uncomfortable from a safety standpoint, but nothing untoward happened while I was there. There was also quite a bit of noise from the nearby road and railroad.
The biggest problem with this campground was the bathroom. It was one of the worst I've seen. It may very well have been cleaned recently, but it was so dark and dingy that I couldn't tell. No windows and just a single bare incandescent bulb for illumination. Reminded me of a gas station toilet. The sink barely drained, the toilet barely flushed, and the urinal looked like it was about to fall off the wall. I have used vault toilets that were much, much nicer than this. I found myself wishing for one of those. Gross.
There is only one other bathroom located closer to the RV area, and this looked to be just as bad. To be clear, there are only two single occupancy men's rooms for the ENTIRE campground. Yes, there are a few porta potties scattered around as well, but this is ridiculous. This place needs to invest in better facilities.
LegendHocking Hills State Park, Oh-Site 89. https://thehockinghills.org/
Hocking Hills State Park offers close proximity to most of the popular natural attractions...Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, Cantwell Cliffs, etc....but for a tent camper that prefers solitude and space, I found it unappealing.
I did arrive late on a Monday evening, mid-October and got one of the last available sites. Packed on a Monday night!
I found the camping sites a bit cramped both in depth and width. Site 89 and 90 shared the same parking pad. Limited flat locations existed for a tent and my tent footprint is fairly small. You do have a firepit and picnic table with all three in fairly close proximity, so you must be extremely cautious with wind direction when deciding for a fire, else you’ll have embers dotting your tent and picnic table. Even though the neighbors were trying to be respectfully quiet...you heard every conversation and saw their every move.
No electric, which is fine in my book...the water spigot is centrally located on the loop and happened to be next to my site.
The restroom/shower facilities were not well cared for upon my visit. The floors were very muddy and trash was piled up in the corner of one stall and out of necessities.
Construction and dump truck noise started early with a project behind the restrooms.
The visitor’s center was well-stocked and the employee was pleasant. Cell service is unavailable and even sketchy at the visitor’s center. Wood can be purchased at the visitor’s center.
Close proximity to local attractions and a swimming pool are likely the big draw.
Knowing that I prefer solitude and distance when camping, I’ll likely not return but choose nearby Lake Hope State Park for my local visits.
RangerCampground Review: With a close friend coming to visit from Spain, I wanted to show her a cool backpacking location in Southeastern Ohio. Zaleski State Forest seemed like a good choice for a new backpacker. There are multiple loops to trek, averaging about 10 miles per loop. Overall the trails are well maintained (minus a few dense areas). There was almost an excessive amount of blazes. Campsites are plentiful along the trails. We stayed at Campsite C. Each site has access to communal well-water and a restroom. Each site usually has a small fire ring and logs to sit on. Overall, the campsites were pretty decent and secluded, but nothing special view wise aside from the typical Ohio forest. I would say pretty overall, but nothing quite outstanding.
Product Review: The Banner & Oak Firebiner is a neat little tool that has some really fun features! Most notable being the fire starter. The Firebiner uses a small spark wheel and replaceable ferro rod to create sparks. The sparks are pretty large for the little tool. I now use my Firebiner to start my MSR stove quickly and with zero plastic waste! I haven’t used it to try to start a straight up fire, but friends have successfully before. Most importantly, the spark wheel is just darn right fun to play with. The device has other little uses like a bottle opener, utility blade, and screwdriver. I absolutely love this device! Only complaint would be that I wish it came in different colors, but who really cares.
Here is a link to check out the Firebiner yourself: https://bannerandoak.com/products/banner-and-oak-firebiner?variant=9696793034788&currency=USD&gclid=CjwKCAjwnMTqBRAzEiwAEF3ndu9CmerLos5Y1yvjGHJ2L4FG732wg9bMpyPAJRa3m8dxlxffZ6Nt-RoC6LQQAvD_BwE
LegendGeneral: 172-site state park with a mix of full hook-up, electric, and no hook-ups in separate areas plus a 33-site family hike-in camp, two group camps, and three cabins. All sites need to be reserved – no walk-ins are allowed. There is a beautiful visitor center, and the camp office has a small store as well. There is a very nice coin-operated laundry room. Don’t count on cell service– with a fleeting one bar of Verizon, it was just enough to tease us, but the break was also a welcome respite.
Site Quality: Standard issue for state parks with paved driveways, picnic table, and fire ring, however, there are a few things to note: Some sites are decidedly not level (#105 is very sloped). 103 and 101 meet at a V at the back end and this impedes the separation between the sites. Our site (103) had a drop-off between the driveway and the rest of the site that could pose a tripping hazard if you are not careful. All of the restrooms emit a hum, but the wastewater treatment facility is very loud and is located directly behind the first 9-10 full hook-up sites.
Bathhouse: The restrooms were clean, but the showers were just adequate (not the worst camp shower but definitely not the best I have experienced) but at least there was hot water.
Activities: We came for the hiking, and we were not disappointed. This park is gorgeous! We hiked the Blue trail (Grandma Gatewood Trail) to Cedar Falls, taking in Upper and Lower Falls, and Old Man’s Cave along the way, and returned via the Rim Trail, which was much easier (fewer roots and up and down). We received a color-coded map of the trails upon check-in but had difficulty deciphering it, especially the mileage. We went to the Camp Office before starting our hike to get clarity. Once on the trails, they were well-marked with either signs or blazes. While you could do a long hike (12 miles one-way) from one end of the park to the other), don’t miss Ash Cave – we drove there the next morning before leaving. There are also mountain biking trails, two playgrounds (the one more centrally located is a bit dated and does not look very safe but there is a newer, larger one at the very end of the road (near the lake trail) and there are also horseshoe pits and a volleyball net there. In season, there is a large swimming pool.
The campground itself gets 3 stars for some of its flaws but the scenery is so beautiful, 4 stars are merited, in my opinion. I would recommend reserving in one of the “spurs” as there would be less traffic.
TravelerWalk-in campground provides a nice amount of quiet for the price of carting your gear in (up to a .6 mile, depending on site chosen). Several sites are somewhat hidden from the path while others have little-to-no privacy from your fellow campers . Pit toilets are adequate. Water pump located in the parking lot along with access to biking trails. All sites include picnic table and fire ring.
GuideHocking Hills park is beautiful- definitely a great place for the hikers!
We stayed at the walk in sites- I will not go again. It is a pretty far walk to get to some sites, I understand they have vaulted toilets- some of the doors wouldnt close properly and the smell was worse than other vault toilets.
Our site was completely flooded from the rain with standing water. Luckily there was another one open so we were able to set up there.
The staff was friendly and great.
If you go to hocking hills don't stay at the walk in sites- I would suggest another campground in the area.
GuidePark and facilities were clean shower houses and restrooms were clean an well maintained the sites were. Very close some were level most were sloped on one or two directions. Big rig friendly. No WiFi poor cell service so if that’s a concern your outta luck. Trails are Awesome had a very nice Visitors Center. Store has. Gius selection of daily camping supplies looked at a few things state park Mugs walking sticks. T shirts. Extremely Over priced. “Typical state park crap “ no water in any sites need to fill up water tanks before or at the gate. Plenty of water available through out the camp ground. Along with gray water dump stations. 35.00 a night handicap accessible sites. A gun. Very clean and well maintained
TravelerStayed 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.
Tent camping near Gallipolis, Ohio offers a blend of natural beauty and outdoor adventure, perfect for those looking to escape into the wilderness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Gallipolis, OH?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Gallipolis, OH is Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area with a 1-star rating from 1 review.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Gallipolis, OH?
TheDyrt.com has all 23 tent camping locations near Gallipolis, OH, with real photos and reviews from campers.
Keep Exploring
