Be at the center of it all. Stay at Hocking Hills Start Park Campground and have immediate access to most of Hocking Hills’ hiking trails. Located directly in the park next to the infamous Old Man’s Cave, this campground makes an excellent home base for all your adventures in Logan, Ohio.
Hocking Hills State Park has become well-known for its massive gorges and interesting recess caves. Made up of more than 10,000 acres, millions of visitors come to the park each year to enjoy everything from rock climbing to horseback riding to, of course, hiking. It is Ohio’s most visited State Park for a good reason.
The campground offers 172 sites for visitors to choose from. Most of the sites have a slant to them, making it a challenge if you’re using a tent. We struggled with finding a mostly flat section on our site (#165) for a small tent and a screen room.
If you are a hammock camper like me, you’re in luck. There are plenty of sites with trees primed for hammock hanging.
Sites consisted of full hook-up, electric, non-electric, and cabins.
Additional park amenities include fishing on the property, laundry, pool, shower house, volleyball court, camp store, playground, and access to the hiking trails. The campground also offers a movie night with theater seating.
What We Liked
Despite staying over a holiday, the campground was extremely quiet at night. As soon as 10 p.m. hit, kids were settled into th eir sites and adults whispered around campfires. For the most part.
The location was great. It was a short drive to each of the main natural attractions in the area or you could take a trail directly from the campground and hike to many of the attractions.
The sites were large with plenty of space for my hammock, my mom’s small tent, and a 10×10 screen room.
What We Didn’t Like
The bathrooms had some problems. In the one closest to us, only two of the three faucets worked, and one of the two hand driers. The staff did an excellent job at keeping the bathrooms clean.
The showers were another problem, in my opinion. The shower stalls provided no area to change. Those taking a shower had to leave their clothes in a general shower area and had to get dressed and undressed in there. It reminded me of a middle school gym locker room rather than a campground shower house.
The pool was closed. A lot. Despite temperatures being in the 90F, nearly every time we passed the pool throughout the day, it was closed.
The camp store promotes itself as a visitor center/welcome center. Don’t expect to use this as a resource upon arrival. It does not have a lot of informaton and is a camp store. There is a great welcome center in Logan on the way to the campground that was very helpful.
More Information
For more information or to make reservations, visit Ohio Department of Natural Resources.