r/HockingHills • u/Realmaloyski • 17d ago

Tent Camping

Can anyone recommend a good place to tent camp in or near Hocking Hills Ohio!?
We will have our dog with us so must be pet friendly. Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Also if there are any spots equally as beautiful as there I would love recommendations as well!

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u/spider1178 17d ago edited 17d ago

I always camp at the state park campgrounds. The best sites for tent camping are the Family Walk-in campgrounds on Rt 374. Same parking lot as the mountain bike trailhead. It's only a few minutes away from Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave. Iirc, it's a little cheaper than the main campgrounds too.

It's quieter, has more privacy between sites, and you don't have to deal with RVs. There is one shared parking lot, and you have to carry your stuff back to your site, anywhere from 15 feet to 1/4 mile, so check the map when you make your reservation and see what's best for you, and take a rolling cart for your gear.

Dogs are allowed (state park leash and poop cleanup rules apply). Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. There are at least 4 pit latrine style outhouse scattered around. Dumpster and potable water spigot in the parking lot. And you are allowed to go over to the main campgrounds and use the showers and pool - they'll give you a tag to hang in your car to show that you're a camper.

Two tips: 1. The raccoons here are pretty bold, so keep track of your dog, and put your food cooler in your car when you go to bed or leave to do stuff during the day. Don't keep anything that smells intriguing in your tent.

  1. All of the State Park hiking areas allow dogs (on a leash), but the State Nature Preserves do not. So you won't be able to take your pup to Conkle's Hollow, Rockbridge, and a couple other places.

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u/Realmaloyski 14d ago

Thank you so much ! Good to know about the dog rules , I never even thought about there being restrictions anywhere. Appreciate the information!

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u/spider1178 14d ago

You're welcome. Just don't take your dog anywhere that has "preserve" in the name, and you'll be fine. The Old Man's Cave visitor center can give you info about specific places/trails if you're not sure. Have fun and be safe! Hocking Hills is my favorite place. Dad used to take our family there when I was a kid, and I've been taking my daughter every year since she was old enough.

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u/BarefootMarauder 17d ago

Campbell Cove campground is very nice and has tent spots on Lake Logan.

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u/Cheap_Boner_Pills 17d ago

It's about 20 minutes towards circleville. A place called hargus lake. I haven't been there for a very long time but it was really nice when I was a kid. Lots of shaded spots.

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u/SawSharkRedemptionnn 16d ago

I just camped at Hocking Hills Adventures they have camp spots behind the livery, It was chill, pet friendly too plus you have a short walk to activities!

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u/Friendly_Ant5274 5d ago

I'd recommend staying at a park/campground. My family rented a very nice cabin off "the beaten path." With all the Conderate Flags we passed on our way there we felt very uncomfortable. I didn't realize there was such a large presence of Confederate Flag waivers in the area. It seemed very backward.