I was wondering if any of you fine folks have tent camped at Richfield Nature Preserve. I can’t find much info about it and was curious if anyone would recommend it, or if it’s even still allowed.

I wanted to go tent camping this weekend, but realized that a lot of state parks around here close their tent camping sites, and along with that their bathrooms.

Does anyone know of any places to go tent camping in the winter near Dayton? I'm looking for things in about a 1 hour radius. I'd want a site where i can start a fire.

Id also be open to dispersed camping/ short backpacking suggestions.

Hi!

Anyone have recommendations on campsites that have bars/things to do close by? Looking to camp somewhere for NYE with a group of 6 (no kids). We’re located in NE Ohio but willing to travel a little bit!! Prefer to use our camper but lodging would work too!

TIA 😊

Does anyone hike / backpack / camp during hunting season on state lands? If so, how in the world do you get comfortable doing it without being worried about getting shot during?

Recently, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati decided to end its partnership with Girl Scouts in Southwest Ohio.

This may not seem like a big deal to many, and it may even seem like a good thing to a lot of folks given the collosal nightmare which is the Catholic history with children. If anything, if this was initiated by the Girl Scouts of America I'd be all for it. But this was done by a Catholic bishop in a very Catholic region and Catholic schools in Southwestern Ohio have over 40k students which represents a large percentage of students in this part of Ohio. It's meant to punish children -girls- for the politics of adults.

This region is also currently experiencing a drought of public space access for students to be at after school and schools are both logistically and financially one of the few low/no cost places for students to meet after school. This choice means many girls could lose the support, mentorship, and opportunities that Girl Scouts offer—skills that help them grow into confident leaders and strong individuals.

They're also pushing a local alternative called American Heritage Girls and that was formed as some kind of bizarre alternative to Girl Scouts and lacks the infrastructure or opportunities girl scouts offers.

This petition is asking Archbishop Schnurr to reconsider. If you believe in giving girls a space to lead, learn, and belong, please consider signing. Let’s make sure Girl Scouts in Western Ohio can continue to thrive.

I fully understand if the involvement of the Catholic Church in this is a bridge too far for lots of folks here but I would ask you to at least read the letter and then decide if you would like to support these girls.

Thank you,

Here’s the link if you’d like to add your voice: https://chng.it/kW94VZjGQk

Hello, new to this community but not to camping. I’ve been looking for a place to take some friends over the fall/winter, just a small cabin, the smaller the better. If I could find one that was wood stove heated that would be awesome but I understand if that’s not possible. There’s decent options on Airbnb, but would like some recommendations by other people who actually camp more often (my friends do not.)

I'm curious if there are good options for purchasing used gear in the Columbus area. Are there any good stores or are most people using secondhand marketplaces like facebook, ebay, craigslist etc?

Hello, we wanted to share some exciting news with the Ohio Camping community. Ground is currently being broken on a new 250 acre campground located directly on the bank of the Mohican River. Situated right next to the Bridge of Dreams in Brinkhaven, Ohio. We are offering seasonal campsites with power, water hookup and free weekly sewer service. Each site boasts a whopping 50 foot of river frontage and a depth of no less than 100 feet (sites vary with some sites totalling 50x200!) Price is $4000.00 for each lot and includes onsite winter storage. $500.00 deposit due on signing with remaining balance due 03/01/2025. Camping season runs 04/01 - 10/31/25.

We are hosting an onsite open house to select your section of the river and explore the grounds each Saturday throughout the next few weeks. Come out and stake your claim! DM me for contact information and address information if interested or follow us us on Facebook and mark going to our events page. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566115244795&mibextid=ZbWKwL.

Does anyone know if Barkcamp state park has shower houses? I’m getting conflicting answers while searching.

Anyone have experience camping in Greene County? I see the Narrows Reserve, Mill Bridge, and Constitution Park all offer camping passes for $5. Although restrooms are unavailable and the facilities at Narrow are 2 miles from the camping area.

Caesar Creek is booked and appears to be mainly RV’s. Cowan lake has plenty of tent sites at $28 a night. Does anybody know of hidden gems around Xenia, Lebanon, or Wilmington?

Love this page lots of great information and seems like a really good community. Moved to ohio last year from Wyoming due to a rare cancer diagnosis. (Wife's family is in the dayton area) I miss the wilderness, camping and fishing in wyoming would be camping, fishing, hiking, hunting almost every other week. I am going stir crazy with living in a city and all the doctor appointments, treatments and hospital stays. Told my wife end of October we are going camping. Need some recommendations that could fit my criteria due to medical conditions. Within 2-3 hours from dayton, lake close for fishing, dog friendly, not super crowded. Any recommendations would be amazing. Have found a few from looking through the other post.

I've never been there. It's a big area with lots of different campgrounds does everybody have any recommendations for or against any of the specific campgrounds or sites? Any other Insight is helpful.

My husband and I are driving from Atlanta to Buffalo for Christmas, and would love to break up the trip by tent camping somewhere in Ohio. This will need to be car camping since we won’t have time to hike in anywhere. Somewhere comfortable, not too crowded, not too far off our route (basically along 75/71), and preferably with a good view or something neat to explore at night or in the morning before heading out. TIA!

Anyone been recently? Have a cabin booked there and wanted to have some extra people down one evening for cookout for my kids bday. The rules are that you can't have more than the 8 the site allows. We're definitely not getting wild lol, how hard do they enforce this stuff?

My son and I are looking for a good trail and campsite for our first backpacking trip. I'm thinking maybe one of the shorter loops in Zaleski State Forest, but open to other recommendations for beginners. We are hammock camping so any campsites must be hammock friendly.

Does anyone have any experience camping here? Looking to tent camp. Don't know if the drive up tent campsites or the walk-in tent campsites in area number two are better. Not looking to do the hike camping site. Does anybody have any input?

I’m looking for Ohio state park campgrounds and site numbers with one secluded site (two or three secluded sites together could also be helpful if we go with friends too) away from other campers, that have electric or full hookup. We found one so far, but I don’t have the energy to go through every single state park map to see if they exist anywhere else. The one that we’ve found is spot 29 at Tar Hollow. Please list here if you have any other recommendations for site number(s), that offer at least electric, and are a good bit away from other sites. Thanks!!

Looking for recommendations on where to camp in Wayne National Forest. We are planning a two-night stay (Fri-Sun) for my birthday towards the middle or end of October. It will be myself, my wife, and our dog. I want to be able to park my truck at the campsite as it will be used heavily for making meals and sleeping out of but also have our tent we plan to have set up.

Would be interested in having nearby lake/river access to be able to kayak but that is not a requirement. Biggest thing we are looking for is a great view and relaxing area.

Places we are considering are Iron Ridge Campground and Wildcat Hollow. Only thing with Wildcat hollow that I'm not sure about is that it looks like you really need to backpack in and set up camp, which is not what we want.

Let me know your recommendations!

We’d like to do some family camping at a state park this fall before it gets too cold to tent.

We’re looking at: Wolf Run SP Strouds Run SP Lake Alma SP

Hoping to kayak & hike a bit as well.

1. Any recommendations for location, given it’s a Sienna, tent, and a few kids?
2. Any particular precautions, such as a bear bag or local meth heads or other…inconveniences?

New to OH and am looking for a hammock-friendly campground with primitive sites and access to swimming. Ideally, it would also be fairly secluded, without too many people nearby. Any gems out there?

TLDR: I want to go dispersed camping with ATVs and off-road go karts. Need advice

I'm trying to organize a dispersed camping trip with friends. My only experience is with parking in clearings off of forest state roads in Allegheny, and setting up tents 15-20' away from our trucks. I'd like to plan a camping trip that includes riding

I've got two main ideas for how to do this.
The first idea is treating the off-roading as an activity The second is building the trip around the off-road vehicles

I'd like to do the second idea but I'm not entirely sure if it's possible

The first idea is to setup a base camp just like I've done in the past but we bring the ATVS and we just go out riding from the base camp and come back before night

The second Idea is we find a parking spot load our gear up in the buggies/ATVs and then we go out riding and find spots to camp out at. And we take the vehicles to various spots for things like fishing/archery/ hiking. Essentially making it an adventure.

My original plan was standard dispersed camping in the upper peninsula late September for a 3 night trip (8.5 hr drive) but then I saw for 300$ and a bit of welding for a reliable off road go kart and I had a spark of genius. Is there anywhere with 8.5 hours from Cleveland we could do this at?

I’m looking for a place near Cincinnati where I can hold my birthday party in the woods and people can stay in their cars, just any parking lot that isn’t controlled by money or a superstore please help thanks

Anyone know if the primitive sites have trees that would allow for Hammock camping? Any sites better than others?

I'd love to just throw up a tent and a fire and spend the night on the lake somewhere.

I’m new to the hobby. I’ve been hiking a bit recently and tried solo camping recently. I was a little disappointed with finding out that most camping just feels like…setting up a tent in a parking lot. Like what is the point being surrounded by a bunch of people and RVs and paved roads everywhere you look. So my issue is I don’t even know what to look for. I tried searching for primitive camping. I wouldn’t mind hiking to find a good spot. But every “primitive” camping I can google is still just paved roads and loads of people. I just want to feel like I’m lost in the woods for the night. What do I look for? Is there opportunities like that in Ohio?

I'm planning a weekend camping trip to Hocking Hills hike in camping in a couple weeks. I've been looking around online for what yo expect without much luck. I'm an experienced backpacker and novice car camper.

I'm curious about how people manage food... do I need to bear-hang? Is a cooler safe at the site? Do I leave food at the vehicle and carry in what is needed for each meal?

Is it worth hiking in a screen tent for bugs and rain?

Am I going to be able to forage firewood?

What else am I forgetting that might not be immediately obvious?

Thanks in advance!