Cassandra C.

Gahanna, OH

Joined September 2017

Loved our visit!

We had such an amazing time at HomeGrown HideAways!! We stayed at the Yome, and it was perfect for our family of four. Instead of sleeping in it, which would have been perfectly comfortable, we actually used it as more of an extra shelter and we pitched out tents in the field in front of the Yome.

The outhouse was perfectly clean, but there were flush toilets available if you took a little walk.

This place is amazing lots of room to take walks and even a good, challenging mile or so hike. There are ducks and chickens around, and the eggs are always available. There's also a few super friendly dogs to visit. The owners are wonderful people, and we really enjoyed our time there.

Hidden gem

We fell in love with this little campground. While our site wasn't lakefront, many of the sites are right on the water. We only spent one night there but we're really looking forward to returning with more time to stay so that we can take advantage of the kayak and paddle boat rentals.

Roomy sites

We had a great night at this campground. Overall it's a pretty large campground, and there sites were a nice size. We were there on a weeknight and basically had the primitive area to ourselves.

Resort like campground

This campground is very well taken care of, and huge! We did not take advantage of all of the amenities available, but the bathroom was great. It was a single room with toilet and shower - and it was incredibly clean. 

We opted for a premium pull-thru site, which included furniture and a concrete patio. This is not our typical type of camping, but I knew that the views would be beautiful, so we splurged. Our old, vintage Scotty camper was probably a bit out of place in this section of the campground, be we enjoyed being there regardless.

Well spaced sites

I stayed at site #003 in the Family Campground at Hanging Rock State Park. This was a nice site with a decent amount of privacy thanks to the slight hill that backs the site. Each site has a sand pad for the tent, a concrete fire ring, and a picnic table - and each section is defined by railroad ties. There really isn't an option to put a tent up anywhere outside of the pad on this site. Water is located right next to the site, and the bathroom is right up the hill behind the site. The bathroom has flush toilets and showers, but the showers aren't very inviting. The sites are pretty spaced out, and you don't feel like you are too close to your neighbor. Overall, my stay was nice, but I definitely prefer a more primitive campground.

Peaceful and rustic

We chose to camp at Scioto Trail State Park because of it's proximity to Salt Creek Kayak Adventures. While I had hiked at Scioto Trail in the past, this was our first visit to the campground. The primitive section is located far from the electric sites, which is desirable for us. It's also a walk-in campground, which wasn't really made clear when making reservations. That said, they do allow you to drive your car to your site for loading/unloading, which was super helpful since we weren't planning on a walk-in site.

The campground is a little confusing. Sites #64-68 are not at all what we were expecting based on the map on the website. They are all on one strip of land, and you basically walk through other sites to get to your own - which is why they don't allow you to keep your cars here. #68 is all the way in the back - we were on #67. But the sites are just beautiful. They are all decent sizes and well shaded by very tall trees. We loved our site, but I think we'd opt for #68 next time, as it's the last one in the line of sites. There are no showers and pit toilets, which weren't bad at all. The campground is also really, really dark, especially since the electric sites are in a totally different section of the park. Take a walk up to the parking area at night to check out the stars as there are too many trees to really see the sky from your site.

Great primitive section

This was our second weekend in a row at this campground. While we were here the weekend before, we decided that we wanted to camp on site #9. This site is probably the biggest in the primitive section. It is right next to the entrance road (and dumping station), which is a bummer, but the size of the site made it totally worth it, and we'll definitely stay on this site again. It was pretty quiet over this particular weekend, so that helped too. Site #9 has plenty of room for a few small tents and it's also close to the flush toilets. There are no showers in this campground of which I am aware, but the flush toilets and sinks are a nice change from pit toilets.

Small and friendly

We chose A.W. Marion State Park on this particular weekend because it's relatively close to home (Columbus area). While I had come here to hike the 5 mile trail around Hargus Lake in the past, it was our first visit to the campground. 

We reserved site #4 in the non-electric section. Unfortunately #4 isn't the best site in the campground - it was very small and wide - one of our 3 small tents ended up right next to the car. But we made it work and really enjoyed our stay. It was right across from the porta johns, so that's something of which to be aware. It's right next to #3 (obviously), which is not available for reserving because it's the extra site that remains available if someone has an issue with their existing reservation. Regardless of these little issues, we had a great time. This primitive section of the campground is really nice overall, and far away from the noisy RVs. The hosts were super nice, as were the other people camping. The distance from Columbus makes it a quick and easy weekend trip.

Beautiful, small campground

I camped at this campground after completing the 15.5 mile Scout Trail loop (aka "Hiking Trail" and Yellow trail) that runs through Oak Openings. I was able to park my car here in the morning, hop on the trail (which runs right through the campground), and return later in the day. The sites are very nicely spaced and shaded, and not right on the parking lot. There are no showers, but there are bathrooms with flush toilets. The firewood is free, which is amazing. There is also a dish washing station near the restrooms, with a huge sink and hot water. I absolutely loved my night here, as well as the hike. Definitely a great park.

Not for tent campers

This campground is HUGE (more than 500 sites), and it's absolutely jam packed with RVs and permanent trailers. We were fortunately given the opportunity to drive around the campground and look for a site that was appropriate for tents. We nearly turned around and left, but managed to find a site on the water that seemed really nice and far enough away from the RVs. The downside was that it was completely covered in goose scat, which made for an evening of dodging scat with every single step. Definitely not recommended for tent campers.

Quiet campground

I stayed at site number 063, which was an RV site with electric and water, and it was adjacent to the primitive sites. This campsite had a gravel pad, and setting a tent up outside of the pad was impossible as all of the surrounding area was a steep slope. The pad was plenty big for my one person tent, but I can't imagine anything bigger than a 4 person tent fitting in the area. I definitely recommend the primitive campsites if you're tent camping. The sites in this part of the camp were pretty far apart, and there was plenty of privacy. The park was riddled with trails (22 miles of them), many of which were also open to bikes. The bathhouse was pretty far from site 063, but they were clean.

Views that can't be beat

Really, I think that all sites at this campground are pretty great, but the ones along the perimeter are just amazing. The views of Cordell Hull Lake can’t be beat, no matter where you are. It’s a pretty big campground with 155 sites for both tents and RVs, but the sites are so big so you really don’t feel packed in or on top of your neighbor. All of the sites have water and electric, which was nice and convenient. We don’t typically use electricity while we’re camping these days, but it’s nice to be able to charge the phones (cameras). The bathhouses are clean and not too busy, but they did get pretty hot and muggy in the warm weather, and after a few showers some areas of the floor were flooded.

We were at site #10 on Lake Loop, and we loved it. It wasn't completely flat for the tents, but close enough… Site #12 was a bit better as far as the slope goes. The Bearwaller Gap Trail is right near the campground, and the trailhead was super close to our site. It's a 6 mile trail (one way), and it's a pretty strenuous hike. We didn't hike the whole thing but we managed to check out a small portion of the trail while we were there.

Great campground!

We stopped at this campground for two nights on our way down to Tennessee for the eclipse. Most of the sites were really big, and there was plenty of space and trees in between. We stayed at site P02, but I don't recommend that specific site. It was probably the worst site in the primitive camp, but I reserved it online in advance. It was far from flat, and the space provided for the picnic table was pretty much unusable. Just about every other site there looked amazing though. The primitive camp was close to the equestrian camp, and between to two campgrounds, there were only 25 sites. These 25 campsites share a bathhouse, which was very clean and quiet. This park also has an RV campground with 45 sites, but we never step foot in that part of the park.