Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Van Wert, OH

We love camping in the off season but with that comes closures. Some sections of the campgrounds might not be open, no camp hosts and limited bathrooms and showers houses. This is to be expected, but when I called the morning of our trip to make sure potable water was available and I was told yes it was only to drive 2 hours and realized they were wrong. No water 🙁. This would not have been a peas we have dry camped before but all the bathrooms were closed as well.

After called the park ranger he did let us get some water at the maintenance building so we were at least able to finish the weekend. Lesson learned always pull with at least some water.

Now back to the campground itself was nice and clean. Site are a little close together. The biggest down side is you are there to enjoy the lake but the lake had algae warnings everywhere not to go near the water.

They do have a dog park, pool and splash pad when in season and a marina. Also they have WiFi and good cell coverage.

I spent one night here with my two dogs on Memorial Day weekend and I was much more impressed with this location than I thought I was going to be.

The park itself is very narrow and long, and stretches down the Maumee River bank.  It's very green with lots of trees and shade cover.  The paved path that goes along the camping sites is very nice and makes for a great walk or bike ride.  

We stayed in campsite 16 which has its pros and cons.  Most of the campsites in this area have one site that is closer to the river and then a site "behind" it, with little roads/walkways on each side.  The pro of 16 is the fact that they don't rent out the space in front of it, at least when I booked it, so there is no one between you and the river.  The down side of 16 is it is situated right next to the toilets, so you get a lot of foot traffic from others using the bathroom and the constant slamming of the toilet door gets a bit annoying.

However, speaking of toilets, these were the cleanest port a potties I have ever used.  I was quite impressed with the bathrooms, for what they were.

There is no direct access to the river in most areas, but there is an opening near the middle of the campsite which allows access, along with access for kayaks, which is pretty cool.  I would have liked more access to the river along different locations, but I understand the steepness of the hill down to the river and it's not really possible.

The one big drawback in my opinion and why I gave this 4 stars and not 5, is the fact that the two lane traffic road is within 50-100 yards of the campsite, so the sound of vehicle traffic is quite frequent, especially since this road appears to be a favorite of motorcyclists. 

I will be returning and I'd like to stay in another location towards the end of the site, and on a less busy weekend.  Overall this is a nice location.

I think for us this park might be better in the fall. The bugs were really bad every time we were outside. There are several nice walking trails but the mosquitoes were so bad even in the day that we kept away. The site we had was nice and wooded but if we go back I would like to try and get a water site. There was a brand new kayak launch and playground by the beach area that looked nice. The beach is one of the bigger ones I have seen in a state park and it was very clean. There were signs posted everywhere to use caution with the water because they were know to have blue green algae in the water so we had to keep the dogs away from it. If the water was clear and the bugs were down I would probably rate this park higher.

Really enjoyed this campground for the short amount of time we were in the area visiting family The park and facilities were very clean, sites were well-spaced, there is a nice walking/biking trail, and had full hook-ups.  This campground is associated with Historic Sauder Village – a living history destination in northern Ohio. (You can get discount admission to the village if you stay in the campground.) The campground filled up on the weekend but emptied out on Sunday. The RV sites are long, level, and have either 50 amp full hook-up or water and electric only. Tent sites are scattered along the pond which made for a nice view; except, the ridiculous number of geese meant there was poop everywhere along the shoreline and throughout the tent section. Staff does haze the geese but it was not enough to keep them away during the afternoon.

A fee is charged to enter the historic village or you can ask for a “shoppers pass” and visit the stores inside the village. Located on the grounds (and within walking distance of the campground) is a restaurant, bakery, gift shop and hotel (which has an indoor pool, hot tub, and game room campers are allowed to use). The restrooms, laundry, and showers were very clean and relatively new. Other amenities include basketball, shuffleboard, horse shoes, splash pad, volleyball, corn holes, lake for fishing, and free WiFi. There are a couple of covered group picnic areas available for anyone to use which is nice if you have a big group wanting to get together. 

The campground is about four miles south of the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/90) which is pretty convenient if you are just passing through and looking for a place to stay overnight. The town of Archbold is pretty small but does have a decent grocery and restaurants. The nearby town of Bryan is larger and has a really funky brewery/restaurant housed an old church (Father Johns).