Harrison Lake State Park Campground

Found this little gem on Campendium and decided to take a chance at the end of a long day driving north. No reservations, came on a Wednesday, but the staff were very friendly and helpful. Put us on #18 in the north campground , on the backside of the first loop with woods and then cornfields behind us. Electric only. $58.00 including tax for 2 nights. They are adding full hookups in the South campground.
Very peaceful, very serene park. The lake is calm and beautiful. The Canadian fires blew smoke all the way here, so the views were a bit muggy. We look forward to coming back when the skies are clear!

Driving cross-country and rolled here for a night. The campsites, as others mention too, are of more than adequate size. Surprised that it still smelled like cow sh.t, thought we had left that behind in Sputh Dakota/Indiana but at least it wasn't bad. Unfortunately loss of people had fired (maybe to cover cow sh.t smell?) and the air was anything but clean all night. Woke up early in clean air and soon people started again lighting fires. Why can't we enjoy nice clean morning air without bad burning wood smell is beyond me. ATT shows 2 bars and works fine.

We stayed here for 2 nights in August of 2022. Reserved ahead of time and a thank you to Ohio State Parks, as they have a frequent camper loyalty program! Free to sign up, get points for your spending which you can use down the road (which beats a few other states that charge a day use fee on top of your campsite fee and/or out of state fees).
We drove in the back way, got parked then I walked to check in - nice person in office & nice little store.
Park has nice walking, a dog beach, playgrounds, benches all over & a trail around the lake.
Campsites are long enough to not have to un-hook for a short visit, some are sloped a bit, yes, you can see your neighbors, but during the week lots of empty sites. Lots of kids riding bikes & scooters - everyone was well behaved.
Swimming beach & lots of picnic areas.
A really nice family-oriented park!

This would be a great place to bring the kids, grill and play on the lake. As a solo digital nomad, it wasn’t my favorite place, but I get it.

No privacy, wide open grass fields. Laundry. Archery range. Lots of bathrooms, a few little playgrounds, soccer field, and the place is huge.

Full blast 5G on Verizon, so you’re good to work or stream. Not sure why other reviewers say no data.

Harrison Lake State Park is another gem in the Ohio State Parks system. Unlike many parks where the camping experience is often next to a destination (e.g., Hocking Hills), at Harrison Lake SP, the campground is the destination. It is here that you can relax among lush lawns, wide lots, lake beauty, open spaces, and just a more gentle pace.

Harrison Lake SP is in the middle of nowhere in northwest Ohio. Small communities with limited services may dot the farmland, but that's about it. We were hard pressed to find any area attractions for day trips except for Sauder Village (see below). There are few historical sites, natural wonders or hiking trails in this part of the state or across the border in Michigan. There’s just not much else around, and yet, this campground is the place you want to be. Our four days in mid-May were the closest thing to solitude I’ve ever found at a campground. Perhaps being so far from a population center was the reason why there weren’t many day users of the park amenities. Maybe it was our midweek "school's still in session" timing. Then again, with the early season open campsites, the noise levels were low and the ample sites seemed even bigger. The quiet was noticeable. The playgrounds, picnic areas, ball courts, beach, and adult swings were available for campers to enjoy at their leisure. The smooth asphalt roadways made walking, cycling, and even adult rollerblading a pleasant form of exercise. The abundance of mature trees provides widespread shade for cooler afternoons at your site, and the open areas are also well shaded. These are the things I would put on the list of a near-perfect campground.

If part of your camping agenda is to explore surrounding attractions, you could be disappointed, except for the worthwhile Sauder Village near Archibold, about 20 minutes away. Here you'll find a well-maintained, carefully curated village depicting life in Ohio in the 1920's and before. We enjoyed learning from the period artisans who demonstrated their skills at weaving, tin smithing, broom making, barrel making, carving, glass blowing, and more. In addition to farm life exhibits, a well-planned Main Street revisits life in the 1920s with a soda shop, theatre, bank, clothesier, jeweler, car dealer, hardware store, doctor and more. Each store had a "merchant" that offered insights into the furnishings and daily lives of the store keeps, as well as a history of the actual founding business. One fine example was the recreation of the original Farmers and Merchants Bank from Archibold. The "bank president" told us about the founding of the bank and how it played a key role in community life. Sauder Village's restaurant and nearby bakery are a draw even on days when Sauder’s is closed. (Their summer schedule begins on Memorial Day. Check the dates and times as you plan.)

If you're looking to dine out during your stay at Harrison Lake, there are limited opportunities near the campground. We found pizza at Louie’s Pizza Shop in Fayetteville, about four miles northeast of the park. Louie's offers an Italian menu with a lot of variety, but it's drive-thru service only. Other restaurants are a reasonable distance, such as the twenty minutes to Sauder Village or to the 50's-style diner we learned about in downtown Archibold. To give you an additional reference as to distances, we made a trip to Walmart in Wauseon (about 14 miles east) for gas and supplies.

If your camping objective is to relax and enjoy beautiful trees and big grassy sites in a peaceful setting, Harrison should be on your list. While this is an electric-only campground, there are many convenient bathrooms, plus shower and laundry facilities that are immaculately clean and regularly maintained. Also, if you have little kids, check out the storybook loop trail that begins near the gate house. Here, you can also rent adult sling trikes and borrow playground equipment.

We’re marking Harrison Lake SP on our "Return To" list and can recommend a late spring midweek time while schools are still in session if you want a quiet and leisurely camping experience. We may see you next time as we travel Along the Pooka Trail.

Made an online reservation 3 hours before arrival for a Thursday night in July. There were 30+ sites available then, so seems like a good day-of bet.

A very family- friendly place with lots of kids biking around, playgrounds, a lake for fishing (but not clean enough for swimming: algae and brown). Was a Christmas is July ice cream social coming up. We had a nice, big spot with electric. Our spot 112 was close-ish to road, but not a busy road.

PLEASE NOTE: north campground seems much bigger spots and further from road than south campground looked. But, south also looked fine.

The appeal to others is not lost on me. We arrived here after a long day driving down the palm of Michigan’s mitten, arriving at a decent state park, only to find it full, and thus this was the next closest option.

Dread soaked the hearts of every soul careening down old farm roads in our van as we saw the South end of the campground, rows and rows of RVs packed in like ears in a field full of corn. Signs for registration led us to the North area, where we did pass the non-electric zone, our lungs finally letting go as we realized that at the very least, we’d get a spot in one of those more spacious lots.

And after doing the drive through registration shuffle with a very pleasant campground attendant, who asked us what we’d prefer and as we said “if we could get some space that’d be nice,” found us the largest spot in that non-electric, “tent camping” zone.

Which is what this review is for, generally. The park is huge, mind you, it takes about 5 minutes each way to drive from one corner of the South camping area to the opposite side, where you register. Despite this, they jammed the tent camping all up against a road which gets a considerable amount of traffic, much of it the pedal to the metal just because I can type, and then proceeded to mow down all but a slim line of trees next to the road (and on the other side, the lake.)

While site 209 and the one immediately across the campground road are huge, five or six times as large as the others, the rest are modest at best and with not as much as a sapling arborvitae between them. Were you to actually car camp here, you and your neighbors would be quite intimate. Luckily, a van provides a wall and despite the RV spots all being full or gosh darn nearly so, the tent area was practically empty.

It may be time for me to realize that this part of the country simply doesn’t have the type of camping I feel comfortable in, and if you enjoy electric hookups, hyperdrive Verizon speed and a view of endless farmland and oncoming headlights, this may be a top tier level facility as well. If you prefer something closer to a Grizzly Adams movie though....