Hocking Hills State Park Campground

Got in on a Thursday afternoon around 1 pm. Check-in time was 3 pm which is strictly enforced due to the road leading into the campground being extremely tight, having campers entering and leaving the campground area at the same time would be a disaster waiting to happen. We parked at the Welcome Center and hit the Old Man's Cave Trail which is located right there. The trail was very easy and well-taken care of, you get to see a lot of awesome sights. 3 pm hit and we were able to check in and make our way into the campground area.

The hill leading into the campground has a very high grade and it is a bit long. If you're towing with a smaller vehicle or have a larger trailer you may run into issues, just take it slow. Hearing some of the vehicles scream up the hill really made me feel sorry for their transmissions. There are several water supply stations throughout the campground. It didn't make a difference to us, we tow our rig with an F250, but if you're concerned about the steep grade of the hill entering the campground, then I suggest you wait to fill up until you actually enter the campground. It's just as convenient and could save you a decent amount of weight to tow uphill.

We booked site 97, which is directly to the left as soon as you get to the top of the hill leading into the campground. I will say that the staff member that checked us in advised us to fill up our fresh water tank at the Welcome Center prior to entering the campground area. This is not necessary. Our site was decent. Smaller than I imagined it to be. We had a concrete pad that required about 3 to 3.5 inches of leveling from side to side. From my observation most of the concrete pads on the sites were not level, some worse than others. We had 3 campers in our group and all had to do some side-to-side leveling. Even with my rig all the way to one side of the concrete pad my steps were still not able to be placed on the pad, it made for a difficult entrance into the camper. The concrete pad was plenty long, and I was able to fit my truck in front of my camper.

The campground is very nice and clean. Several trails have access from inside the campground which was nice to not have to drive to every hike. The campground at night was very quiet and seemed to be an older crowd, at least where we were. The full hook-up sites seemed to be a little more lively with more children. The bathrooms and showers were clean and well-kept. After walking through the campground and scouting some sites for future trips, we both determined that sites 48 and up, even numbers, in the full hook-up section are by far the best. There are decent sites located throughout the campground, even in the electric-only section, but the full hook-up sites were definitely more appealing.

The dump station was one of the better ones I've used, especially at a state park. It had access on both sides so two campers could easily dump at once. It was easy to maneuver through the dump station and took no time at all on a busy Sunday to dump. We will definitely be returning to Hocking Hills State Park Campground, that being said I would not reserve the same site again, I would try to get one of the full hook-up sites we liked or look for a larger site with a larger pad. The hiking was beautiful, but if it's a weekend expect a large crowd and in some cases difficulty finding parking.

For hiking and general beauty Hocking Hills State Park is a real gem hence the 4 star rating. Unfortunately the park campground isn't up to snuff (by itself I'd give it 2 stars. As others have mentioned the sites are close together with little privacy between them, better than most KOA's but not by much. On some loops the bathrooms are nice, modern facilities; those on the loop we were in were the pits (you know what I mean, like in the 60's :-( ). The cost quoted includes a $6.50 reservation fee. We were only there for one night and were glad we hadn't planned a longer visit. On the positive side everyone there was pretty friendly and the staff were nice. Most sites seemed fairly level, ours was only off by 3-4 inches over our 144" wheel base Sprinter.

The campground area was well organized and reflected again the excellence of the Ohio State Park system. Our site was reasonably level, which we tweaked by rolling onto our teardrop levelers. We found the sites of ample size and, with the population again low (I'm sure it's packed in the summertime), we had empty sites on either side of us.

The park map shows a trail toward the Visitor Center from the campground, but we never found it. We even asked a park employee and doubled back but never saw the trail head. Instead, we drove to the Visitor Center just past the campground entrance, parked our WonderRL by LTV at the far end of the lot, and headed inside for some ranger directions. Our thought was to take the direct path to Old Man's Cave, one of the park's feature attractions. The ranger, however, strongly encouraged us to start back further at the Upper Falls to take in the full effect of the gorge. This was the best advice we could have received. So we headed all the way back across the parking lot, crossed a small foot bridge, and began on the Grandma Gatewood Trail. My pictures are below, but they don't do justice to the beauty of the gorge. I am so glad we did the longer trail.
All of these photos (click to enlarge) are from the relatively short Grandma Gatewood Trail. We didn't even go the full length of the gorge - there is so much to take in.

Hocking Hills State Park is a gem. You'll find in the literature a reference to six areas of the park. Be aware that the attractions are not all connected by trails. Those that are can still include a hefty hike of 2 1/2 miles to 7 miles. Others are not connected by trails. So, before you leave for the day, make a transportation plan. Most of the attractions are a drive from the Visitor Center. They're all worth it, but just be aware.

With so much to see and pictures to share, I'm breaking this report into two parts to take it all in. We know from our special visit to Hocking Hills that we will return again as we travel Along the Pooka Trail.

Hocking Hills is a beautiful location in the hills of southeastern Ohio. There are numerous hiking trails and natural features to explore. At night, the area is dark and generally very quiet. The facility offers an accessible pool (in seasion), two pump out sites and a nice playground.

On the down side - there are some camp sites to absolutely be avoided. Most (but not all) of the sites from 94 - 120 are very small, unlevel and wet. And most of these sites provide very little room to sit outside your camper. All of sites 94 - 120 sit right on the main roadway into the park. The traffic in and out is nearly constant - and annoying.

Cellular coverage (at least on Verizon) is weak to non-existent. AT&T coverage is slightly better.

Beyond the group of sites I mentioned, there are some beautiful, roomy and level sites. We would return to this park as long as we weren't shoe-horned onto one of the cramped, unlevel sites.