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Hocking Hills State Park offers camping all year round - electric sites, camper cabins, group camps, and primitive sites.
156 electric sites (with 20, 30 or 50 amp electric) and 13 non-electric sites.
Each site has a paved pad and can accommodate up to a 50' unit. Heated showers. Flush toilets. Laundry facility. Dump station. Camp store. Swimming pool for registered campers. Playgrounds. Volleyball court and horseshoe pit. Tent-only group camps are available by reservation. There are also 30 walk-in family sites with pit latrines.
All Hike-In Campgrounds are off the main Entrance and depending on the Site No. It requires up to 0.5 miles to hike from the Parking Lot. You have to drive to a different Parking Lot on State route 374. All sites starting with "H“ will be on the different location.
$29 - $46 / night
Pets are permitted on all sites. Sites 44-60 are electric. Sites 1-43 and 61-95 are non-electric. Sites 65-81 are tent camping only.
There are 78 primitiive campsites and one group site available for organized groups. Latrines, waste drains, picnic tables and fire rings are provided 10 sites are available for campers with pets
Iron Ridge is one of two campgrounds in the Vesuvius Recreation Area in southeastern Ohio's Wayne National Forest. Iron Ridge offers a great location for outdoor recreation, with activities like boating, swimming and fishing on Lake Vesuvius. Horseback riding and hiking are also available in the rolling hills surrounding the campground.
Boating, fishing and swimming on Lake Vesuvius are the area's most popular activities. Anglers may catch bass, catfish, crappie or bluegill. More than 40 miles of trails exist in the area, with trailheads beginning at or near the campground. A 1/2-mile hiking trail connects the campground to Lake Vesuvius. Lake Shore Trail offers an 8-mile loop around the lake and shorter trails lead to Rock House Cave, a grand, tunnel-like sandstone cave that was once used by Native Americans for shelter.
Iron Ridge Campground is located on a wooded ridge above 143-acre Lake Vesuvius. A scenic forest of mature eastern hardwoods covers the area.
The closest town is Ironton, Ohio, less than 10 miles from the campground.
Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area, named for the old Vesuvius iron furnace, is the Wayne National Forest's premier developed recreation site. The 143-acre lake and 1,200-acre complex provides the perfect spot for a getaway.
Lake Vesuvius is a popular location for swimming and fishing. Anglers may catch bass, catfish, crappie and bluegill. A boat ramp is located on-site. A swimming beach is located at Big Bend. A large playing field and multiple hiking trails are available within the recreation area. The accessible 1/3-mile boardwalk along the southwest edge of the lake provides an opportunity for a leisurely stroll through the area, and the slightly longer 1/2-mile Longbow Archery Trail, accesses at least 25 field targets for shooting practice. The area boasts more than 25 miles of hiking trails and more than 45 miles of horseback riding trails.
The lake sits on Storms Creek, which was dammed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The rugged hills and rock outcroppings offer a scenic backdrop for this beautiful recreation area. The historic Vesuvius iron furnace is located at the base of the dam.
The closest town is Ironton, Ohio, less than 10 miles from the campground.
$52 / night
$20 - $175 / night
We have built a park in the middle of the beautiful Hocking Hills to accommodate everyone’s desire to get away and enjoy nature. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
$60 / night
Guide
Awesome campground for families and friends. Quiet and clean.
Guide
Easy pull-thru site for our small travel trailer. Each pull-thru is set-up for horses, but RVs are allowed (according to NFS website). Maybe because it was Halloween night, maybe due to hunting season, I dunno, but there seemed to be more traffic than expected for this road. Our only neighbors got a little... rowdy, but it was okay.
Campsite fee is $15 on the honor system. If you have a National Park's Golden Age or Access pass, they honor a 50 percent discount.
I had good 4G ATT cell service. Worked well, with no drops. Data was a bit slower than usual but still good.
The only facilities here were a single pit toilet (surprisingly clean) and a trash can at each site. There may be more services during the height of the season, at least water for horses, but nothing else I could tell.
A short distance further down the road, just after it turns to gravel, at the Old Stone Church trailhead, there are grassy places to back in smaller campers/RVs. And even further down the road, after it turns back to asphalt :D, there's a private campground with utilities, I think, but we only saw it and didn't check it out.
GuideAutumn is the best time to experience this Park. Less crowded than summer. 5 million visitors last year. More than Yellowstone. Guided hike was the best.
GuideThis is a great place to visit and camp. I am a tent camper so I was in the non electric site. The hiking is fantastic. Rose lake is also a wonderful lake and quite beautiful. Will always come back
Traveler
I was here before they sold out and seeing it now makes me sad. The bathrooms were gross, the arenas had weeds shooting up. This was a very nice place to take the horses, now it's an overpriced average campground with absolutely nothing to write home about.
Guide
Stayed one night. OHV trails closed for winter. Hiking allowed year-round. Most campsites inaccessible during off-season. Pit toilet closed for winter. Probably busy on weekends during the season. Nice place.
GuideBeautiful area with great hikes and views close by. None accessible directly from our camp which was in the walk in section, separate from the regular camp ground. This area does not have many of the amenities that the other site does, just vault toilets. The walk in can be up to .3 miles so I highly recommend some sort of cart for your gear.
TravelerStayed here for two nights. Saturday was super busy, and we snagged the last available spot with a fire ring. The second night we only had one tent near us. There are plenty of pull-off areas on the road leading up to this trailhead that were being used night one as well. There were restrooms and several fire rings. Cell service was available, but not great.
Traveler
Stayed at a non-electric site for a weekend after Labor Day. All adjacent campsites were empty. It was great with silence and space, but would be considerably less enjoyable during peak times. Showers and restrooms were acceptable and what you might expect from a state park. The lodge on the opposite side of the lake offers great food and drinks.
Guide
Stayed here for 2 nights. Scarlet Oak campground. Drove and checked out the other two campgrounds which were also nice. Some sites are really small and some are right along the road. Not crowded at all during our visit. Some sites are sloped from slight to more severe. We did have to take our camper off our truck (truck camper) in order to get level. Our site had a large “yard” and trees. All great for our two big dogs. Site had w/e.
GuideWe stayed in one of the small cabins and loved it! Very clean, with thoughtful amenities. Hot tub on the back porch. This cabin also comes with two horse stalls. Bridle trail access right from campground.
LegendWe had high hopes for this park because quite a few people raved about it. We did enjoy our stay and got a slightly larger camping spot than some of the others, but the spots were pretty darn close together for a state park. I was staring right into my neighbors door at one point from my camper :( ...we try to avoid campgrounds like tbis...they had a pool which people seemed to enjoy. We did not go in as we don't like busy pools and it was busy, but a nice amenity for some....showers were pretty darn gross for the parks reputation. We have been to many campsites and I'm usually the one complaining about showers and this time my husband came back and said it felt like his tour in Iraq back in 2005 it was so dirty. I did a spray off in our camper after hearing that...... Overall it was quiet though, very family friendly. The trails were peaceful and Old Man's Cave and lower Falls were neat and unique trails, definitely recommend....it was humid and we got rained out during our trip, so didn't do as much hiking as we would have liked. We only had a day there as the next night was booked. We did overall enjoy our time in Ohio!
LegendExcellent location for hiking hocking hills area. Bath houses could really use updating, showers were 50/10 pressure going 200 directions. The only bath house with laundry is the one by the pool. Our site looked much larger in photos but we made it work, although it was pretty steep.
GuideThe site was a good size, but not secluded. Decent hikes around the campgrounds
ScoutBurr Oak campgrounds is so relaxing and quiet I would recommend finding some wood early or buy it I'm not sure if you can bring your own so check before you do. The non-electric site's atr a little hilly but we slept in our Kia Soul next to the picnic table and fire ring
ScoutThis was our first tent camping experience and over all went really well! Our particular site wasn’t very tent friendly and was overall a little awkward with the placement of hills and our fire pit, but I think that was a one off. We made it work and had a great time! The sites are close together so be aware if you aren’t fond of neighbors :) we will definitely be back!
Scout
Stayed 2 nights at camper cabin in April. Lake Hill Cabins runs the campground and boat rentals. The prices advertised on their website are not accurate. Expect to pay about 25% more. The cabins are supposed to have solar lighting. There is a handwritten sign saying the lights don’t work taped to the light switch.
LegendIt was a wet Veteran Memorial weekend. We were at site 80 not too far from the shower house.
The site was on the end but the fire ring is on the backside of your camper. A nice spot for non rainy days as the fire ring was full of water.
The shower house was pretty clean, flush toilets and warm. There is also a too with a washer and dryer.
Plan to take a hike if you can and go early to beat the crowds. We were dropped off at Ash Cave and hiked back to the campground- about 5 miles. Plan for steps and hills and a lot of beauty to see (even in the rain).
The road up the campground is very curvy - take your time and you’ll be fine. The rest of the campground was not too busy but know that a lot of the sites are close together, some pads are short and you may not have a lot of green space.
GuideWe came in October for a few days and it was so beautiful one of our favorite state parks we have ever been to! Our site was a little angled but views made up for it!
ScoutThere’s access to bathrooms and showers, there’s also a plug in right where we camped which was a plus but didn’t need it. The park was empty and if it was busy you would be close to other campers
Traveler
We have hiked in and hammock camped at Zaleski a handful of times. Twice it rained so much some of the trails were uncrossable but even then we still enjoyed ourselves. The is one spot about 3 miles in that is pretty far off trail, flat and on top of a hill. It's where we usually start our trip.
GuideThe site was angled so we had to turn around before we could back in/park - our 5th wheel is 43’ and it was tight even with all spots not full. The pad was level and full hook ups but the site was small and the fire pit was RIGHT next to the camper. Beautiful wooded view behind us.
There was also quite a bit of mud at the front of campsite which we used fallen leaves to cover but there should be material added there.
Walking distance to all state park trails which was great! Bathhouse was warm and clean.
GuideI stayed at a standard electric site with my truck and 19’ travel trailer. It was November so the pool was closed and a large portion of the campground was closed. The site was sloped but the parking pad was flat. Some of the sites were pretty close together but it was all pretty standard for an Ohio state park. The best part is that there are several trails leading out of the campground directly to Old Man’s Cave and the visitor center so there is no need to drive to get to the most popular camping sites. I did not use the dump station, showers, but I did fill up a few gallons of potable water. Overall I was pleased with my short weekend visit.
GuideThis is an extremely primitive place that is not run by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It is run by the same woman who runs the boat rentals at several other state parks in SE Ohio- this is her business. There are very few amenities here. There are pit toilets, potable water towards the front, and that's it. There is a road that runs alongside the entire length of the campground, right at the edge, so you can hear cars and coming and going, especially at night. I was here in late October, so I can't attest to whether this place has a loud party atmosphere like many other state parks, but it seemed pretty chill, probably due to the fact that you can't reserve a site in advance- you pay when you arrive, and pick your spot then. The boat house's hours said they were still open for the season, but I arrived long after they were supposed to open according to their hours listed on the door, and I never saw a person all day. So I went to go rent a boat at a different place. All in all, the campground is fine, just the traffic along the road was a bit annoying, and the sites are not very wide- you are close to your neighbors and there is nothing separating the sites.
Guide
If you ranked all the Ohio state park campgrounds from best to worst, this would have to fall along the bottom. First, there is no lake. There is a murky pond that you can swim in, but it doesn't look good. This is a small campground that runs along the length of a loud road. There is no escaping the sound of the cars on the road, many of which have broken mufflers, and they roar through all through the night and day. The campground is a skinny patch of land between two high ridges, which makes for very strange acoustics- you can hear noise from all over the campground, no matter where you are. I was at the far end, yet I could hear the loud, echoing screams of children from the front end. They screamed until 11pm at night. In the morning. I was awoken by someone running a leaf blower up the road for hours, because sound here seems to travel very far. It was far from peaceful, and I was there in November! The campground did have a new bathroom building, with four unisex toilets and showers for the entire campground. It also seemed to have a lot of shade (I don't know for sure, because I was there after the leaves had fallen). So it gets its one star for clean bathrooms and shade.
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.
Guidewe visited when the leaves were changing and it was absolutely gorgeous. hiking was great. campground is small, some sites too small for our 20’ trailer and truck. campground was busy, lots of kids.
Horse camping in Ohio offers a unique blend of scenic trails and equestrian-friendly facilities, making it a perfect getaway for riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Wilkesville, OH is Hocking Hills State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 108 reviews.
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