Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Otway, OH

KOA Review

The campground it’s self is very clean and taken care of. We were there in early March with winter temps. The staff was extremely nice and helpful, bath house and laundry was clean. The water at our site was inoperable and they offered to move us without me even having to ask which was nice. The site could be maintained better ours had lots of tire ruts and fire pit could have been better for the price. Overall it’s a good campground with amenities in great shape. A good little dog park that was extremely clean, putt putt, and more. I would come back again in the off season just cause we like camping with less crowds.

The folks that run this RV park are very nice and obviously have a lot of pride in their place. Valley Breezy is very well kept and clean. Good amenities- electric/sewer/water hookup. Pets allowed (on-leash).

Quiet spot next to an industrial area. Nice view of man-made lake with a number of fishing huts for catch-and-release fishing. Pets allowed leashed, with no tie-outs permitted. Helpful owner who escorted us to our campsite with full service hookups but no picnic table or fire ring (some sites had tables). We had a peaceful overnight stay.

The camp site we reserved wasn’t where it wasn’t indicated on the map. It had no fire ring or picnic table and the person in the site next to our site had his tent in our site because his site had a bunch of trees in his and where his tent should have gone the people in the next site had put their tent there... Campsites had no borders so there was no telling where one was compared to the next. The center section the sites were basically all on top of each other. There were ton of kids playing throughout (no problem with the kids) but because there was definition between sites they would come running through our site. We have a dog so we worried about the kids getting tripped by the dogs rope and just coming over to visit the our dog.

Also since the sites were so close to each other, it was great to be able to hear the neighbors get falling down drunk, make x-rated prank phone calls and try to fight each other. Very entertaining

I can see how this state park appeals to families- there is putt putt, a cute general store, an outdoor movie screen, a small beach and paddle boats. But if you don't have kids, I'd find a better place to camp. 

The campground sites are tiny and all squished together. I had a literal 9-foot rectangle of grass, right up against RVs on both sides. It didn't help that the families, who were mere feet away from me the whole time, spent the weekend screaming at their kids and dogs (four dogs with one family. Four. Why aren't there rules about that?) and later beating their dogs. Yep. I got to see dog beating all weekend long. That's the kind of clientele this park seems to attract. 

The trails didn't seem that great- barely marked, going through a dense forest, with not much to see besides the trees themselves. The "lake" is really a pond, or an extremely small lake. The swimming was decent but the bottom is quite slimy- bring water shoes if you want to swim. 

Also, my campsite was literally 10 yards away from a disgusting pit toilet that reeked the entire time. Why do they put campsites right up against sewer pits? I had to breathe in feces fumes all weekend long, and I doubt that is healthy. 

The shower was hot, I'll give them that. I will not return to this park. I called the reservation agency to tell them about my experience but they did not get back to me.

The Iron Ridge Campground sites are relatively close together; however, the Iron Ridge campground boasts a handful of sites that sit below the road, and, thus, offer more privacy. I didn't camp at Oak Hill, but I have explored it a few times. Even during the week, that campground was packed with campers. If you're a tent person using Vesuvius as a home base for trail hiking, stick with Iron Ridge. The fishing isn't bad at Vesuvius, but the shore access can be crowded, which has resulted in a limited number of keeper fish. The Lakeshore Trail is well-marked and generally nice, but, at times, a bit unkempt in the summer. The lake views are somewhat limited by brush and trail/lakeside growth, but there are still plenty of opportunities to get a good view of the lake. We also hiked the Whiskey Run Trail, which was short and hilly, but conveniently located right off the campground. The Whiskey Run also offers just enough lake access to let your dogs swim or to put a pole in the water. It also passes an impressive rock shelter. The very short (but rewarding) Rockhouse Trail is a right on top of the major lake action (near the boat ramps and beach area). The benefit is a nice rock house at the end, as well as interpretive signage that sheds light on Ohio's iron industry and history.

We stayed for just one night at site #34. It ended up being a great site for us and our dogs. There was space between us and our neighbors and we had access to the water. We did not venture out since we were there for one night but noticed it was very family friendly. The only downside we would mention is that most of all the other sites were packed in right next to one another.

Site 57 - this site backs up to the ravine and is nice and large. It has a lot of shade and grass. We were able to run a line between trees for a dog run. Great neighbors on both sides but right across the site is the playground. It’s a little noisy but if you have kids, it works. The fire ring was nice, but trash was left inside of it. I found out that there Is no campground host. They did have park staff cleaning the bathrooms both the shower house and the drop toilets. All of the water fountains were closed due to COVID. There was one pump available for water. There are two trash bins on either side of the campground. There is another bigger playground right across from the campground with more parking. There is a small lake with a beach. You can kayak, but it’s really small. Lots of trails to hike and the camp store was open. I would recommend bringing your own wood as it’s just slab cut. The trees and shade were the best part - lots of birds and pretty views.

This is a small campground situated next to a golf course. There are several nice sites but others are not ideal. Our site (13) was ok, other than the scattered broken glass and trash. The main issue was lack of oversight from staff. The site next to us was completely packed with their fifth wheel, a large tent, pop up canopy, four vehicles, a kayak trailer, and a boat that was in the corner of our site. They did not leash their dogs and did not pick up after them. We didn’t complain about them encroaching on our site but felt that the campground should enforce their own rules. Another site nearby setup a construction light at night that lit up the entire campground like a stadium and stayed on late into the night. Basically, campers are left to do as they please regardless of whether it is inconsiderate of other campers. The positive is the location is only a few minutes from the boat ramp for the most popular kayaking spot.

Small quiet beautiful campground with some of the friendliest people you can meet. Enjoyed our spot overlooking the Ohio river and the sounds of barges and trains going by.

Great for families who need lots of entertainment. There was showers and washing machine, general store, movie night, playgrounds and more. We stayed in the S loop which is for tent campers which was lower fidelity than the other loops. Our site didn’t have a table, it had been moved to another site so we had to commandeer it. The drive there was a very interesting tour of trump flags Amish buggies and more. Would come back if I was stranded in Ohio, but overall great pit stop for cleaning up on a long journey. They were the only camp with spot open 4th of July weekend in Ohio.