Lake Hope State Park Campground

We loved camping here it was very quiet. The stars at night were amazing.

We wanted to take one star off because the parking spot was very small and you had to parallel park and it barely fit our truck width wise so once the passenger door was open to step out and have another 2 foot drop onto the ground because the asphalt was raised above the slope of the ground and I fell on it twice. 😂😂 but I’m young and sprightly so it didn’t bother me much but I could see how if I was elderly or less mobile how that would be a problem.

Everything was very clean and well kept the bathrooms and the bath houses were very nice to use. The bath house we used had hot water the entire time we took a shower.

The firing was kind of a problem because it was able to be moved in therefore it was raised up off the ground too much so we had to think of some ingenuity of ways of keeping the fire contained in the ring. We were really thankful it wasn’t wimdy because it was fall so there were dry leaves everywhere and if it was wimdy the leaves would’ve blown underneath the ring into the fire.

We loved how close it was to all of the hiking we wanted to go to while we were there. However the nearest convenience store is about 20 minutes away but if you’re looking for some primitive camping it was awesome.

In the Hocking Hills of Ohio, this campground has 161 sites with 60 of them electric. There are shower houses and flush toilets on either end of the campground with vault toilets and potable water interspersed in between. Pads are all asphalted, but rarely level. They come in various lengths, small car to a few pull throughs. Great place for tent camping, group camping, hiking and kayaking. Staff and hosts are friendly. Toilets are cleaned daily. There is also a lodge with good food and reasonably priced.

Traveling south through Ohio and needed an overnight stop. Looked at the sites online and a couple seemed like we’d fit. Luckily we arrived on a Sunday evening when most everyone had left the park. Had there been any other campers next to the site we were on we would not have been able to get in or out.
We did get on the site but it was extremely unlevel. Since we were there for only 1 night it was fine. We did draw a lot of attention from the campers there as I think most big rigs avoid this park.

We got site 64 for one night in late October. Maybe it was the time of year, but the experience was exactly what I’d been looking for in a state park - quiet, beautiful and near perfect!
My only gripe was that we were close to the shower house and people made late night visits and parked with their brights on that shined right into our window. But hey when you gotta go, you gotta go, I guess.
We will definitely be back!

We made a last minute change to go to Hocking Hills and that campgroumd was full so we ended up staying at Lake Hope so we could explore the area. As others have noted unless you're in an electrric site, the majority of sites aren't really intended for rvs but only as a pkg spot for your vehicle while you set your tents up in the mostly unlevel hillsides around the sites. What rvs that were there were doing a lot of leveling and sites were tight. Our site selection was very limited but we found a level enough spot on the side of the road towards the upper lot that worked for us in a 22' class b less than 7' wide.
Be aware that a lot of sites share the same pad so look closely at pics. For example, sites 11 and 12 are adjoining so if you're not there with the other campers it will be very tight living quarters. Park was packed on Saturday with a lot of groups. Everyone was having fun but it did take a few hours into quiet hours for the conversations and barking puppies to settle down.

Upper shower house and laundry were nice and both were clean but older. Upper toilets by rv area are flush toilets and sink and were very clean. Can't say that for the pit toilets next to our site. Even the guys weren't going in.
Never saw the camp host but the lady at check in was pleasant and helpful.
Campground has tons of hiking trails and also lots of mountain biker trails. No view of the lake from campground but we drove over to lake area and spent a lovely day just hanging out by the lake, fishing and hiking. Had dinner from the restaurant and were happy with our selections.

I did not spend 28 days here in a row but have stayed here between 28-34 nights here in my life as an estimate, starting in 1994 - including spending Christmas Eve camping here several times. Most of the complaints and low ratings are due to people coming in with RV’s and i agree that would be a challenge but tent camping is plentiful and reasonably easy for Ohio. The private sites get seized quickly on weekends but it’s almost a ghost town most weekdays from the end of September through June. Bathrooms are usually cleaned well each mid morning and the sites are well maintained. It’s extrmely crowded October and warm November weekends so get there early, as well as anytime in the summer. Be prepared for noisy neighbors on warm fall nights.