Best Tent Camping near Upper Sandusky, OH

PROS 

Able to reserve 144 days prior to arriving 

Very nice campground but the design leaves a lot to be desired 

Friendly camp hosts who were busy picking up trash in common areas and cleaning sites Moveable picnic table 

Metal fire ring with cooking grate 

Site D45 level asphalt parking pad surrounded by grass 

Great view of lake from D loop; some had water access at rear of site 

Quiet except for campground party animals who kept it going into the wee hours of the morning 

Coin-operated laundromats in non FHU loops $1.50 wash and $1 dry 

Free WIFI available and able to connect at campsite 

Dump Stations at Park exit have complimentary hoses 

Camp store sells hard dipped ice cream 

14 miles from the Airstream Service Center in Jackson Center 

CONS 

No senior discount

$6.50 reservation fee for self made on-line reservation 

Basically the FHU loops are out in a field…no privacy from neighbors and no shade what so ever 

Grass around sites desperately needed mowed, if you could get thru the large mud puddles 

FHU loop D has narrow roads and require driving on grass to back in trailer and some campers in other sites had to move their vehicles 

Short length of campsite required creative parking of tow vehicle 

Damn Canadian Geese poop every...what a mess! 

Site number on electric utility box 

FHU sewer connection at the back of the campsite so bring the looooong stinky slinky FHU loop D had tiny toilet building, but no showers; showers were in non-FHU loops 

No entry gate personnel on a Friday afternoon to accomplish check-in. Went to park office next morning and was informed no check in required prior to Memorial Day. Never saw a Park ranger driving thru campground

We had reservations, but didn’t figure out how to check in. The site numbers were very hard to see and figure out. The numbers didn’t appear to be sequential. The worst part for us was that there were no tent pads for pitching the tent. We were there during a very rainy time and had to pitch the tent in a ditch. Water flowed under the tent so we had quite a bit of mud on the bottom of the tent when we packed up. Luckily our tent kept us dry inspite of its location. Space was extremely limited. The picnic table was on the driveway. There was poison ivy less than a foot from our tent. Restrooms and showers were adequate, but toilet paper rolls would fall in the floor if you weren’t careful. All three showers drained into the middle stall making it difficult to keep thing dry.

Site 29 - this was a nice site in tall pine trees and colors all around. The pad was gravel and pretty level. We had trees in our site that could be used for hammocks as well. We were able to set up our ez-up and still have room to walk our dogs. It wasn’t the biggest site, but definitely not the smallest. We had electric for our camper. We had a good storm one night that caused a small pool of water out front and around the fire ring, but both areas drained very well the next day. There are vault toilets at the end of the road and a very nice shower house as you drive in that were clean all weekend. The park had a couple of playgrounds for kids, disc golf course and lots of hiking trails. The camp store is now open with limited hours. Wood is available but it’s all slab cut. There are also permanent cornhole boards. There are full hook up sites as well but are right next to one another and not a lot of trees. You can drive down to the lake and kayak and fish. It’s a very small campground with a very big park.

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.

I found Malabar Farm in Lucas, OH on my way home from Mom’s house. Never heard of it before and I have been this way for over 20 years now. Louis Bromfield was a conservationist and among many other things (including winning a Pulitzer) he was in the forefront of organic and self-sustaining gardening. This place is amazing! ( and would be an excellent home schoolers camping trip!) Not your typical going hiking kinda campground (there are trails but they are not “major”) you come here to step away from city life and tour a working farm. Ohio countryside at its best. Primitive camping with a gravel parking pad and water, fire ring, picnic table and hitching post. No reservations, this is a first come campground. There’s also a small rentable cabin open year round. Definitely worth a visit and very family oriented events. ( your teenager will roll their eyes at you but probably secretly enjoy the visit)

Eagle point is more rustic than the campground by the marina. Gravel pads, many on sloping ground. No way to know which sites might work for you until you look when you arrive. Someone did answer the phone, though, and let us move to another site.We had electric-only, by choice, for 2 nights. Water nearby. Not very many transient campers, but lots of "seasonal" to permanent-looking larger trailers. Quiet in our loop because only a few sites were occupied. Very nice bathroom and shower building. The dump station here is set up for emptying totes- not much room to park a trailer/RV for dumping at it. We drove to the dump station by the marina to have more room to work. Rinse water hose at the sewer opening had no water hose fitting on it (just a skinny brass angled spout), so no way to rinse our blackwater tank. Potable water was 40 feet away, but all water came out of a backflow preventer, so no way to use a hose. Disappointed with the dump station. Overall, it was fine for 2 nights. If you have a boat, there are lots of covers to explore on the lake. The water is very silty, and rather shallow in most places.

There are 38 grass sites that are a bit snug, but mostly pleasant. New in June 2019 are 18 gravel padded sites, with lots of space. All sites are W/E. All the new gravel sites and half the grass ones have 50/30/20A electric, the rest are 30/20A. The park has a dump station. Two of the gravel sites have sewer hookup.
All sites are clean, with tables and fire rings. There is a very nice and clean restroom/shower facility. Walking path and playground are adjacent to the campground. There is a nice swimming pool at the south end of the village park. Campers get a discounted admission. Most all sites have lots of shade.

We stayed in site 174 on the farthest loop from the entrance. This site provided full shade all day long. The pad was pretty even so not a lot of leveling to do for our a-frame camper. The pad was easy to back in to and we had plenty of room to pull our truck forward. The site has 30 amp and 50 amp and our 30 amp was not working. We notified the park staff and they responded quickly to come out and fix it. The site had a great fire ring and lots of space for chairs, an ez-up, pop-up bathroom tent off to the side and it probably could have held 1-2 tents. There were trees close enough to set up 1-2 hammocks as well. The park staff came out it seemed to be every 3 hours to spray the water fountain in the middle of the turn around. There is a showerhouse in the middle of the loop, not a far walk or you could drive as there were a few parking spots nearby. The showerhouse had plenty of flush toilets and sinks. There were three showers that had doors, but it was just one space and no bench inside your stall. There were plenty of hooks, but you could get your items wet if you weren't careful. There is a bench outside of your stall and there is a curtain that separates you from the toilets and sinks. Not the greatest changing area if you are shy. You could tell it was the weekend as the bathrooms were a little messy, but I've seen way worse. There are also two dumpsters outside the showerhouse for trash. Watch out for the masked bandits (raccoons). They were not shy at all and we had to chase them off from our campsite. Do not leave out any food or trash, they will get into it. There are lots of trails (we found a lot of mushrooms!), a beach, playgrounds and a frisbee golf course. The mosquitoes were really bad this weekend, but we had been there last year and didn't have any issues.