This campground has some features that are nicer than what is found in many state campgrounds. There are some secluded sites back in the woods, so you don't feel like you are camping in a parking lot in a few places. NOTE that most of these secluded sites (along the back edge of the campground) are up a flight of stairs. You have to carry all your gear up a hill or stairs to set up. You will not be near your car, which can get annoying.

The bathrooms were average, not great but not gross. We were there on their Halloween weekend, with a fun site-decorating contest and trick or treat in the afternoon, which was mildly annoying for us because they closed the roads from 2 to 6 so we could not drive back to our site, and when we finally could, someone was in our parking pot for the next hour. 

The lakes are quite tiny. The one at the campground is more like a large pond- fine for paddling around on a paddleboard for practice, but don't think you'll get in any meaningful kayaking or sight-seeing on this pond. The other lake is slightly bigger, but still not big enough for kayaking more than a couple hours at most.

The new campground is on the river on what used to be the golf course- I will write a separate review for that.

The lodge has some amenities (pool, hot tub, cafe, bar), but we ate in the restaurant and it was terrible. I do not recommend. Get some apps at the bar if you have to but keep your expectations low. We had pork nachos and the pork tasted old, everything was cold and it gave me a terrible stomachache.

This campground has nice big sites, not the tiny sites that some Ohio state park campgrounds have. Most of them looked relatively level. However, there is no privacy, you are smashed right against your neighbors on both sides, and some parts were essentially just an RV parking lot.

The showerhouse was fine, I wouldn't call it clean as there was hair and scummy stuff everywhere, but I was there on a fully booked weekend so I guess you'll have that. The toilet/sink building nearest to our site reeked of urine, think gas station bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in years- looked clean but smelled terrible. There was also just one pedestal sink in this bathroom, so nowhere to put your things if you want to brush your teeth, even wash your hands. 

The big problem was the noise. We were there on "camper appreciation weekend" and they way they "appreciated" us was have an extremely noisy, not-very-talented cover band blare extremely loud 70s and 80s music for three hours on Saturday night. They had big speakers, amps, drum set, the whole bit. You could hear it quite clearly and loudly from every corner of the campground. I go camping for peace and quiet, to hear the crickets and birds and the crackle of our campfire. I do not want to have to endure three hours of men wailing on their guitars and belting out every top forty hit ever written by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was extremely annoying, disruptive and jarring, and took away from our camping experience of sitting peacefully by our camp fire. If I were to return here, I would call first to make sure they are not "appreciating" the campers and putting on an unsolicited rock concert.

First, the lake here is beautiful. It has many islands, coves and inlets and is perfect for a couple of days of paddling or fishing. That's where the two stars come in. 

BUT. There are many buts. The campground is like a giant RV lot. The sites are tiny. We were in a tent-only site and we had two families right on top of us on either side. We could hear the entire conversations of one family, plus there were 11 people there, three cars, and they were partying the first night and extremely noisy.

The reservation map is incorrect. When I reserved, it showed #13 as being on the end of the tent only area. When we arrived, I found out there was a site #14 that wasn't even pictured on the reservation map, and this is where the giant screaming family was parked! I thought I was going to be on the end- it is not very accommodating for a variety of reasons for a reservation map to be so incorrect. 

The air everywhere reeks of sewage, ranging from what you smell outside a giant pig farm, to what you smell outside of a porta potty, to rotten egg smell. I don't know where these smells were coming from but it was nonstop. 

The bathrooms were extremely dirty. It looks like they haven't been renovated since the 80s. 

The employees in the office never seemed to be able to tell us what we needed to know. We asked on Friday evening where the Saturday morning naturalist paddle would be, and we were told to come back Saturday morning and ask someone else. On Saturday, the person in the office told us to go to a location that was miles away- we spent 40 minutes in the car driving around, trying to find where this activity was, only to give up and find out it was actually adjacent to the campground, not down the road in a different part of the park. 

Last, the lake is in the middle of a residential neighborhood. You can see houses around the edge of the park while you are sitting in your campsite. It is not remote, and there is a noisy, busy highway running along the side of the campground. 

I enjoyed the lake but I will not camp here again.

This 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.

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.

I just drove through here, I did not stay, but from what I could see: the sites were about 16 feet wide and VERY crowded. The "lake" is a pond and the beach looked very dirty. There was a chaotic amount of kids on the roads running around, on bikes, darting in front of my car, etc. I'm glad I didn't decide to stay here sight unseen because phew, this place was not for me. The lack of running water is what held me back, but now I know this place is too tiny and crowded.

This campground has nice facilities- a nice hot shower (four stalls only for the entire campground) a total of 6 flush toilets, a snack bar and a picnic pavilion with electrical outlets if you need to charge your phone. We were on a riverside campsite but unfortunately none of the brush had been cleared so we could not see the river. Imagine how much more fun it would be to actually be able to see the river and watch all the people floating by! It wouldn't be that hard to cut down some brush to create a view. 

The noise was not the greatest. They assured us that there was a night person who monitored noise and partying, and there were signs everywhere saying that quiet hours started at 10, but a group of loud, drunk men right on the river were allowed to yell and make a ruckus until at least 2am, probably later, because I stopped looking at my clock after that. This was really irritating that they would be allowed to party so late and make so much noise that you could hear them all through the property. There were also kids in the water right in front of our site from sunup until way past dusk, screaming their heads off constantly, so if you are camping for peace and quiet, this is not the place for you. It was barely the place for me, but I wanted to be on the river for a weekend so I just tried to ignore all the noise. 

Our site was quite muddy but I guess that's to be expected when you are next to the river. 

I'd called a few times to make sure they would transport our kayaks and they said "yes, sure" as if that was no big deal, so I was a bit shocked to discover upon arrival that the cost of transporting a personal kayak was the exact same cost as renting one of theirs. This is pretty expensive, and why would we bother with transporting our own if they charge the same to use theirs? If I had known, we would have brought two cars, so I found that very irritating. It cost us $67 for two people to spend 3 hours on the river. Pricey, in my opinion. 

All in all, I would return, but be more prepared with two cars and heavy-duty earplugs to block out the loud parties.

I drove through here on a Sunday, and I just read online that the dam may be getting repaired, so that might explain the creepy, horror-film vibe I got from this place. It was completely deserted on an August Sunday, except for two RVs in the small campground.

The sites are shaded, which is nice, but pretty close together. The only bathroom within the campground area is one porta-john, so I bet that gets pretty disgusting. There was a latrine out on the road by the playground (a bit short walk from the campsites), but I didn't go in. The camp office was locked up.

The lake was deserted and it looks like some kind of sad chemical waste area. There is no beach, and what is probably a snack bar or boat rental place was all boarded up, and the floating docks were dragged up onto land. The edges of the lake were all dry and rocky looking, which is why it looks like some kind of place where there was mining or some other industrial activity. I don't know the history of the area, but it was underwhelming and not very pleasant. 

I won't stay here- I checked it out and now I know it isn't for me.

This campground is so thoughtfully planned out, it's amazing. Every site is separated by a line of brush/bushes, maybe trees, so that you aren't jammed up against your neighbors. Some sites have shade, some do not, but at least you have shrubbery. The bathrooms were clean and some had doors you could lock yourself in- I appreciated this safety feature. 

I'm sure it gets crazy in the summer, but I was there during the week in September and it was nice and quiet. There is an awesome marsh trail, a beautiful beach on lake Erie, a hill you can climb up for great views, marsh trails and more.  You could easily spend 3 days here and not get bored. 

I'm almost reluctant to review this because I don't want it to get too crowded! Shh! Don't tell anyone!

The park itself is huge with many hiking trails, a huge lake with unlimited horsepower (bad for kayaks), an interesting historical museum, a cave overhang and lots of Bigfoot lore. 

The campground is average for an Ohio State Park- think huge, exposed fields with no tree cover, and hundreds of RVs parked 12 feet apart. The sites are tiny and exposed, and the main campground is constant chaos in the summer. Think 6-10 dogs surrounding your site and barking all at once, all night long. 8-15 children on bikes going back and forth, mostly on training wheels (NOISY!), screaming from your driveway from 7am to 10pm. Adults who think it is appropriate to yell at full volume to people ten feet away, all day and all night long. Parents who scream at their children from four feet away. You get it- the opposite of peaceful. I left a day early, I was so frazzled by the five dogs across from me barking at each other all day and all night (they were all at the SAME SITE. Why did they bark at each other? Why did no one stop them?) and all the yelling people. Insanity. 

I drove by the primitive site and it looked much more peaceful, but it was also a big grassy lot with the tent spaces side by side, maybe 18 feet apart. Not sure if they were sloped or not. Note it is a long drive from the primitive site to the shower houses, and this site has pit toilets. 

The bathrooms in the main campground were average- not clean but not disgusting, so that's a plus. 

This park has a reputation for having a party atmosphere and I didn't observe that from my site, but when I was in the nature center, this dude walked in and he was one of the drunkest people I have ever seen in my life. Don't get me wrong: I drink a lot, I've experienced a lot of drinking environments, but this dude was HAMMERED. He followed me all around the nature center, wouldn't leave me alone, and the ranger just asked him if he was feeling ok. I shudder to think that this dude was driving a boat- he would have killed someone. But this isn't the park's fault, just note that I think that there is a big party atmosphere on this lake and take caution.

In all, I would try the primitive site to see if that's better, but I'll never camp in the main campground again. There are other campgrounds nearby that are probably more peaceful than this one.

I had to leave early, this place is so crowded and chaotic. The sites with electric hookups are basically one giant, exposed field with no trees. The tent-only non-electric sites are tiny- the size of the parking spot, one picnic table and a 12x12 space for your tent- if that. That's it. I had three other people's tents literally within arm's reach of my small tent. I left early because one tent contained a teenage boy who coughed horribly for 24 hours straight- five feet away from my pillow. 

The noise at night NEVER stopped- dogs barking in all directions all through the night, cackling bachelorette parties until sunup, screaming children until 2am and starting back up again at 5am. You name the kind of noise, this campground had it, nonstop day and night. 

I'm giving it two stars because the lake is pretty, and there are some nice hiking trails along the water. The huge beach has completely washed away, so people had to cram into the tiny area that's left near the point of the peninsula. 

Bathroom cleanliness was below average for a state park, probably because of the crowd. I never saw a ranger or a cleaning person the entire time I was there. 

The only time I'd recommend this park is in September, after kids have gone back to school, and during the week only. Unless you want to be crammed into a chaotic party scene, then go ahead, you'll love it.

This is a smaller state park. There is a lake (one of the smallest I've seen in a state park), some trails and a small campground. The spaces are pretty spread out, which is very nice. There is a big equestrian camping area, which is cool. If you kayak, you could spend about two hours exploring the different bends in the lake. 

We stayed in the camper cabins, which are right at the edge of the campground- we could hear the freeway (I-70) the entire time. It even woke us up at night. The cabins have a view of the dumpsters and the dump station- not the prettiest view.

There are pit toilets, which are never great, but the ones nearest us had newish buildings, the first I've seen in Ohio state parks. The buildings themselves were clean, but the toilets were icky and needed to be hosed down. I never went in the shower house so I don't know if it was clean or not.

The worst part about our experience was that there was a group of cows somewhere nearby that were moaning in distress all of Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday morning. I enjoy agricultural sounds- the sound of a cow mooing every once in a while would make me happy. But these cows were bleating and moaning as if they were in danger. When it continued after sundown, I started worrying about them, so I googled it. It turns out that in the mid fall (when we were there), calves get taken away from their mothers, and the mothers will cry out in distress for days at a time. I wish I hadn't googled it. The sound was SO LOUD and so distressing. It drowned out any sound of owls or coyotes or anything else all night long- these cows were deafening.

So, I won't be back. Not much to do there once you've seen it, unless you camp with your horses- then I think it would be good.

Wow! Beautiful place, huge lake, very peaceful out by the water.

Campground was not the best- sites were VERY close together, with most of the campground completely exposed with no shade. It was like trying to relax on a huge parking lot jammed with RVs and people. At most of the sites, you'd literally have a family up against you 20 feet to the left and a family 20 feet to the right. This might be fun for kids, but not fun if you are looking for some peace and quiet.

The bathrooms were average for Ohio State parks- icky and grungy, but not gag-worthy. I'm used to the ickiness of state park bathrooms, so I wasn't grossed out. The showers and toilets nearest my site had big puddles of standing water full of dirt, bandaids, plastic wrappers and other gross items floating there the duration of the weekend. One sink was full of dirt the entire weekend. Showers were hot though, which is always a plus.

Great place for kayaking. There was a little free library, which is a great idea. The snack bar was hopping the whole time. They need to make more than one pot of coffee at a time in the mornings (1 pot when they have 249 sites? They are missing out on $$!!), but I only buy coffee on the morning I'm packing up.

Overall, I enjoyed it here, but I'd only go if there are LOTS of free sites and you know you aren't jammed up against 2-3 other groups of people.

I've never seen such a dense campground. Granted, I was there Labor Day weekend, but this campground was huge, with very few trees and small lots very close together. It was chaos with people everywhere! 

The shower house was just ok. Not clean, but not extremely dirty. Like most Ohio State campground shower houses are, mildly to very dirty. 

I won't be staying here again because there was no privacy. I go camping to experience nature, not to be 12 feet away from five other families and hear their chaos all day long.

I didn't stay here but I drove through the campground and kayaked on the lake. The campground feels like a huge field- very few trees, a huge exposed area, and lots are extremely close together. The lakeside camping area looked like an RV parking lot.  I was there Labor Day weekend and it was absolute chaos, with people everywhere and kids just covering the street. Not my cup of tea!

The showerhouse is old and not that clean. The shower seemed to spray the entire wall in front of it- water was everywhere.

The lake was huge and open. Not great for kayaking but nice if you have a pontoon or fishing boat. 

I won't be staying here, not my style.

This state park has a beautiful lake and a nice beach. There are boat rentals and a frisbee golf course. Overall, this part of the park is beautiful. 

The campgrounds, however, leave a lot to be desired. The people were really nice, but the facilities were terrible. The pit toilets were filthy- covered in flies, spiderwebs and dirt. They look like they have not been hosed out since the 70's. The showers and sinks are in an old, old building- it could be fine if it were cleaned daily, but it was filthy too. I was there 3 days and the showers and sinks were never cleaned. They were pretty gross from the start, but then by Saturday night one shower housed a pile of feces. No kidding. Poop in the shower. 

We stayed in the camper cabin, which is just a very basic shed with a bed, bunk beds, air conditioning and heat. We stayed there because it was July and I wanted A/C and electricity. The cabin smelled like mold. 

I'd go back to this lake but will not stay in the campgrounds again.

This campground has decent, wide sites, but there are very few trees or privacy. Sites are side by side, one after the other so you have no privacy and sound carries all the way up the loop. All the sites say "partial shade" on the reservation page, but beware, this shade only happens as the sun is going down.

Bathrooms were fine, relatively clean. There is a little store, but note that the firewood is in huge, unburnable pieces, (as most Ohio state park firewood is), so you'll need tons of kindling and several firestarters, or an ax and some way to hack at the logs.

The lake is huge and very pretty; there is a pioneer village that is interesting to walk around, and 3 or 4 canoe liveries nearby. All in all, it's a decent campground, just not too quiet or isolated if you are trying to get away from people.

Right on the river, which is interesting, but it's also right alongside State Route 33, so you hear freeway traffic constantly. Trucks and motorcycles woke me up all night, AND there is a train track right across the river (about 200 yards away), so be prepared for trains coming through any time of the night or day.

It has flush toilets, which worked fine Friday and Saturday, but all of the women's toilets were clogged by Sunday morning, and the shower house needs to be hosed down- covered in dead bugs. Showers have this weird slimy grate on the floor- bring flip flops. The shower house is up on top of this steep hill, so you'll need a flashlight to get there in the dark.

The sites are very close together- one family moved in late at night practically on top of me- their tent was literally 4 feet from my picnic table. I could hear every word they said (or yelled) all night long. I moved down one site for a little peace and quiet, but be prepared- when crowded, you will be right on top of groups less than 12 feet to the right and left of you.

It's nice that the sites are right on the Hocking river, and there is constant traffic of canoes and kayaks going past. I thought this was fun. There is no way to put your own boat in here, though. The campground is on a very steep, muddy embankment and even putting in a lightweight kayak is very difficult (I tried and succeeded, but hurt my knee and fell into the water because of the mud- I wouldn't try this again).

All in all, I had a decent weekend, but I wouldn't stay here again because of the freeway noise and the way the sites are so close together.

This campground has beautiful, cliff-side sites right on the water, which is probably not good for small children. The interior sites are just ok, but most are level with a bit of shade.

There is a rocky beach, boat rentals, and lots to do all over the island. There are shuttles from the campground into the main part of town.

What you need to be aware of here is the party atmosphere. Many young people camp here so that they can party in Put-In-Bay all day and night. Last time I was here, a group of 20-somethings came home at 2am and blared their music til 5. They quieted down a bit but started right back up at 7am. Not fun at all. This made me reluctant to return to this campground in the summer, as beautiful as it is. I'd try it in mid-September or October, but never summer again.

This is a nice campground for Ohio because there are a lot of trees, making many sites secluded with privacy. I haven't camped here, I've just driven around because I boat on the creek, so I can't attest to the condition of the bathrooms.

Beware that sites close to the water may flood, or may be pretty damp in the spring.

The beaches are nice, the reservoir is nice for boating, but the horsepower allowed is too much if you want to kayak on the main water, in my opinion. There are nice inlets and coves where you can take smaller boats. Hopefully big boats observe the no wake zone, but they don't always. I don't think there is any hiking, the main attraction is the water and the beach.