Ruby W.

Athens, OH

Joined June 2019

I like outside.

A Gaint Climbing Circle Jerk

Camping for ~exclusively~ climbers at Red River Gorge. Have been dying to go see that pretty sandstone for years. Miguel’s is infamous. $4 camping a night. Great food. Great pizza. Big climbing bro energy. Campsite is a big field. Has a pavilion, showers, restrooms, tables, and an infamous pizza shop. Sells beers for evening chats about that daily pump.

BREATHTAKING Alpine Lakes

An absolutely stunning area to camp. A relatively challenging nine-mile-hike in from the Spanish Creek campground. Turn left at the trail map and follow the well marked signs. You’ll have stunning views of the mountains, rivers, and pines on your hike in. A few other places to camp on the way in. You’ll cross a couple rivers—so be prepared to take off those boots. Once arriving at the top; you’ll find a stunning array of crystal lakes, snow melts, and glistening cliffs. We camped on top of a large cliff system across the first lake. As you hike in, there are multiple little lakes to camp and fish around. The highest lake (about 100 meters past the first) is indescribably breathtaking. Surrounded by massive mountains, a rolling stream, and a little dead forest accompanied by a campsite and fire ring—AH! I felt like I was in a simulation. Apparently you can summit the nearby mountains and reached a higher lake called Beehive. My friends went and said they enjoyed it. Tons of fishing in all of the lakes. Diverse wildflowers. Tons of bugs. But all great fun! Will certainly return when I go back to Montana.

Free Camping IN the Badlands

A crowded, but nice, site right in Badlands National Park! A great scenic drive in on awesome and well maintained gravel roads. Large loop site with tons of space for tents and parking. Definitely noisy, but well worth being inside the park. Overall well maintained bathrooms, tons of little trails, and a creek nearby. Stunning sunset views and distant views of Badland choss formations! One thing to mention—there is a massive prairie dog CIVILIZATION living in the campsite, so be prepared for squeaky little neighbors.

Affordable Site near 90

Not a lot of free camping in the Minnesota / Wisconsin area. A decent $5 little site about 15 minutes off of 90. Spent the night there while driving back home. Arrived in the night, but was pleased to see bathrooms, shelters, electric hookups, and other amenities in the morning! Great little wooded area, nice roads, solid fire rings, and a little playground all in the area.

Roadside Views and Dispersed Spots

Spent the night off of Jardin and the NF service road. Tons of little pull outs with fire rings. Most of them have a stunning view of Gardiner, Mammoth, and electric peak! A few little secret pots hidden just off of the roads. Keep your eyes peeled! The road is pretty decent, but gets worse the higher you go. Tons of stunning wildflowers as well.

Trailhead with Views

Plenty of dispersed drive in camping sites at the Spanish Creeks Trailhead. Many lots, solid roads, picnic tables, fire rings, and clean facilities. Great signage nestled behind the trees at the start of the trail. Water and a nice bathroom available. A cute little creek nestled along the side of the campground—making for good morning music. Stunning mountain views from the campsites. Head down the canyon trail a little bit to view some stunning meadows. All around a great spot if you’re looking to hit the trails early the next day!

Staggering View of the Teets

In the Bridger Tetons National Forest, thus offering some sensational ~FREE~ campsites. Remarkable views of the Tetons at both lower and upper sites. Directions are easy and available online. Bathrooms available near parking spaces at the lower spots. Following the road up the hill leads to more sites. The road is rough, but our manual Honda Civic squeaked up there. There are not many sites available, SO GET THERE EARLY. People will try to cram into little flat spaces, but the forest rangers WILL show up and tell you to leave if you aren’t in a designated campsite.

Neat Canyon

Stopped in Logan on our way through Utah. Logan has STUNNING and charming views of mountains and an vast valley. Green Canyon was recommended by a friend. Plenty great dispersed sites for car camping. Tons of little spots along a gravel road. Fire rings and multiple clean bathrooms are available. The sites has a bit of leftover trash and the occasional shard of broken beer bottles. Nothing horrible, but certainly a place where people like to party. Seems to be a highly trafficked location. Cool rock visuals above a majority of the sites. Also tons of trails and mountain bikers. Met some climbers working on a sketch little project on one of the many many boulders. Sounds like there’s some legit stuff farther down the canyon.

Great Overnight

Did a little overnight stop on the beach right across from the formal campsite area. Used some of the amenities and the boat ramp in the morning. Great little location on the CO river. Ideal for overnight boating trips on the daily! We put in just above river, floated down under the night sky, slept on the beach area, then finished at Take Out the next day. Nice lot, ramp, and cleanish bathrooms! Some shaded areas for tents near the parking lot. Overall great views of walls, mesas, and a view neato formations.

Stunning Views

Pull off the loop road at any forest service road. There are many little sites to car camp out of. Ensure you’re following leave no trace and National Forest guidelines. Also be aware many of the sites are within cow pastures, so you may have some noisy (but friendly) neighbors! Amazing views of the La Sals and the lower Moab stretch. Phenomenal night sky views as well. Highly recommend these spots if you’re looking to avoid the desert heat.

Hide from the Heat

A stunning area to camp, rest, swim, kayak, and hike in! Many established little areas with fire rings and picnic tables. I highly recommend hiking to Clark Lake as well to get some stunning Mountain View’s! Clean bathrooms, good signage, and a manageable road. Tons of stunning wildflowers and aspens!

We Didn’t Even Give Kansas a Chance

On our road-trip to Utah, we dreaded having to camp in Kansas, until a friend recommended this spot. This stunning little lake is a free site with plenty of fire rings right next to a road. PERFECT car camping. And even has a clean little bathroom. Stunning views of rolling hills and cattle. Places to fish. A little trail that leads up a small hill. Stunning stunning stunning views of wildflowers and rolling hills. Great sunrise and sunset views! Phenomenal place to stop if you’re driving through Kansas. A bit of a detour from I-70, but totally worth it.

Easy Roadtrip Stop

An easy and beautiful spot to camp for free near I-70. About 15 minutes of a stunning drive away from the interstate. Plenty of sites, lots, and places to rest for the night. All free and secluded! The particular spot we stayed at was about a two minute walk from the parking lot, which was nice given we were just staying for the night while driving across the county. Camping spots are distant, clean, large, and quaint. We as two young women felt extremely safe. Following the trails down, there are plenty of access points to creeks to purify water! Pretty views along the trails as well.

Didn’t See Any Snow

Lake Snowden is a great alternative to camping at Strouds. The lake is large and clean, with an awesome new “water park” opened during the summer. Great shelters, facilities, and optional bathrooms. Many of the sites are secluded in the woods, while others are more public RV sites. Awesome boating, fishing, and swimming activities nearby!

Neat “Cliff Jumping” Location

Many of my friends from Ohio recommended checking out Nelson Ledges for apparent “cliff jumping” and a music festival. Overall the site is gorgeous with cliffs, a large lake, an island, beaches, pavilions, and decent travel roads. The cliffs aren’t that high and partially man made with cement pebbles. The rock-face was kind of painful to sit on due to its artificial nature. The location was cool, but felt very regulated and sterile. A lot of the rocks are man made with cement.There are also tons of signs up saying “no cliff jumping”, so it was kind of odd that it is known as a cliff jumping location. Definitely a pretty location with some decent amenities for campers!

Averagely Kool Family Campground

My friends and I were going to a festival in the Northeast Ohio area. The festival camping was full, so we stayed at this location for a night. The sites are very affordable if split between little people. This very family orientated campground has a gravel road system connecting a ton of camp spots, RV locations, mobile homes, a playground, a swimming lake, and a even a fishing lake. The ground itself is huge, so kids can have fun and run around with other kids in nearby sections of the campgrounds. Overall there are a ton of amenities and very friendly staff. We told the office lady we would be back late at night, and she gave us a special passcode to the gate. That was super kind of her. The land isn’t particularly pretty and the campsite for tent camping are rather close together, but it’s a good location overall for RV’s. I wouldn’t recommend this location if you’re trying to enjoy nature, because sites are pretty close together and certainly not secluded. There are positives for tent campers including water taps, outlets, trash receptacles, bathrooms, and hot showers.

First to Review
Secret Athens Camping

A close friend lives near this little site. I’ve always wondered what it was like, so we decided to check it out to see if it would be a nice place to camp. It’s quite overgrown and unmaintained. Not many amenities, and is near residential housing, so overall not a great place to camp around Athens. Definitely a cool walk in the woods, however.

Swimming in History

Lake Hope State Park is a cute area nestled in the foothills of Ohio. With Zaleski right next door, there are a ton of cool things to do around the area. There’s a swimming, boating, camping, hiking, backpacking, and a ton of cool historical sites to see. I would recommend getting an Ohio Lizard Map to find some cool secret sites that most don’t get to find in the area.

Great Remote Lake Camping

My family and I used to visit Burr Oak occasionally when I was young. In regards to what to do, activities center around the large lake. There’s an awesome lake with hiking, backpacking, and other forms of water recreation. Wildcat Hollow is another awesome location that is not far away. Overall is a good location, but nothing extremely special. However, there are a lot of lodges and cabins nearby.

Gorgeous Water Views

Right across the street from our usual spot at the New, my friends stayed at this site with a couple other friends this week. They stayed in a group with their families, we swing by to get a view of the lake and hangout on the little shelter / play area. Great location for families, with good roads, and other amenities. Right by Summersville Dam, a gas station, local shops and restaurants, and many cool boating and recreation locations. Right before the dam there is a location you can camp in for free, but this would be a better location for kids and dogs to run around.