Maple Lakes Campground

Loved this campground wish we could have stayed longer. The online doesn’t let you make same day reservation which stinks but call the office and they will get you setup. We came in after hours but they told us exactly what to do and had no issues. They have a ton of amenities! Pool, laundry, gift store, rock mining area for kids, pond, even a baseball field. Lots of space in between lots. Plenty of trees on most of the spaces. We were 18 and didn’t have trees. So if you need shade skip sites 17, 18, or 19 for pull thrus. Dumpsters are down where you come on so quite a long way to throw trash away. I thought they were very pet friendly and no issues there. Hope to stay again on our way back home.

This may just be an issue for me, but it was something I had never heard of or experienced. I am a very conscientious dog owner; especially when it comes to dog barking. I use a bark collar when necessary and I exercise my 2 pups a lot; running with them about 5 miles a day. I don’t walk around the campground where other campers are for the pure fact that I don’t want to cause the inevitable commotion of other dogs barking as we would run by. I always run out of the campground to the surrounding streets. I thought the campground looked wonderful, lush grounds and a fresh and clean reception area with a store. But after I checked in but not gone to my site yet, I asked if they had a dog area as the place seemed to have a lot of green area that is not used for camping. I told him that I stopped early just to take my pups on a run and that’s when he told me of a near by park. It’s only a half mile away and he mentioned driving down. I don’t have a tow vehicle, only my 22 ft camper, I travel with my 15 year old and he was looking forward to some AC on this sticky day, and so was I; needing a quick rest after a long drive. I told him a half mile was nothing and I would run down later. That’s when he said I had to drive. I wasn’t allowed to walk my pups on a leash out of the park. That meant I would have to unhook to run after I chilled, then leave my son in the hot RV while I took my long run… He told me to go first… but I was thirsty and exhausted. He said that’s what most people do, and they usually don’t go on long runs. I also couldn’t run them in the early morning before I left without waking my son to drag him to some park or side street to run and then come back to fix breakfast? I don’t need to pay $60 to spend multiple times having to unhook and go to park elsewhere. I would be fine boondocking but we wanted to splurge. The reason we came to this campground was because of its beautiful backdrop… and AC, not to mention wanting to get a real shower after a couple of good long runs that were much needed. Just a big warning for dog owners: You cannot walk or run your dog out of the park… no going anywhere off your site. I can’t imagine this being good for anyone with an active dog. Border Collies, Cattle dogs and other working dogs thrive when allowed to work… and running is their work. The man at the desk was nice… but hesitated about the refund… luckily another woman came in and said to just reverse the CC charge. Also there is a $10 deposit for a key card if you want to leave and come back after 8pm. They open at 10am the next morning and will return your money if you give them the card… but if you leave earlier than 10am you forfeit the $10.00. This may be different if it’s put on a CC, but I gave the deposit in cash as I found out this info after paying for the site. Also check in is at 4pm. I was there at 3pm and was told early check in would cost me $2.00. Honestly, I was so tired and hot that I was accepting of those policies. I just wanted to rest and run my pups. The reason I left was because of the no dogs to the exit of the park and back. This seemed excessive control and not dog friendly at all. At least I asked about where to run my pups before I actually got to my site. I know I did not stay there, but this policy was something that seemed so unusual in my experience that I wanted to share it with other active dog owners. Otherwise the campground reception was nice and the folks checking me in were helpful in solving my problem. I do not know if they were the owners but I did get that impression. It seemed to be a wonderful campground, but just not for folks who take their pups out a lot during the day.

Looking for a campground near Cleveland wasn't very easy, but we found Maple Lake. It's not very close, but it's not a bad drive into the city.

The campground is pretty easy to find and the road to the entrance is easy, even with a big rig. There is a gate and you have to contact the office via the call box so they can open the gate. Check-in at the office was easy and fast, directions to our site were straight forward. Our site felt a little small at first glance, partly because the pad was just wide enough for an RV, but we had a lot of room behind the RV that made it feel more spacious. The area we were in had few trees and lots of nice grass, but we had a tree at the front of our site.

We had a little problem with our satellite and the tree, when the wind blew it would lose HD and switch to SD and sometimes lose the signal all together. Our neighbor suggested flagging down the maintenance guy in the truck, who just happened to be driving by. He came back right away with a saw and cut back quite a few branches, and that helped, but he returned later with a bucket to cut back even more branches. We were impressed with the rapid response.

Our site was back in, as were most, but there were a few pull thru's, it's very big rig accessible. We had a firepit and picnic table at our site, the firewood at the office/store was reasonably priced. The pool looked inviting, but we didn't go in. We had a good AT&T signal on our phones, but we didn't try Verizon.

I haven't been to a park where pets weren't allowed, and they are at this one, but only at your own site. You are not supposed to walk your dog around the campground. I guess people weren't picking up after their pets, so they banned them anywhere other than your own site.

The park was fairly quiet, with a little road noise at night. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would stay here again.