Dillon State Park — Attraction in Zanesville

Update/ 3.18.2018-- Prices have been raised and Passport America discount removed. This change is somewhat of deterrent for future visits /end update

Beautiful park, with kept up hiking, biking and bridle trails. Bathrooms are dated but clean and private. Great disc course and many playgrounds-one for each loop. My reason for 3 to 4 stars(normally I'd give this place 5 stars) is that we were visited by the park rangers because they said they couldn't find our self-registration envelope. The ranger said it wasn't in the kiosk, but I can tell you it's in there right now collecting dust probably under something or on something as my wife really knocked the envelope into the drop box slot. If we were allowed to access the kiosk we would likely find our self-registration envelope. The park rangers, I believe, didn't search the cluttered kiosk thoroughly as it is pilled to the ceiling with all kinds of bins and other stuff. The envelope likely slid on the floor under something or flew between some boxes or bins. The rangers assumed we didn't pay and were NOT convinced by our word. -...I'd love to search that kiosk...- In the meantime we have a check floating around that may or may not be seen again, and would cost 30 bucks to cancel. I just hope when they find it they give us a call. But other than that, this is a great park to stay at with plenty of park ranger patrols unlike East Fork State Park where I hardly saw a park ranger, just once a week. Also the young girl working at the park office wasn't overly friendly-but just doing her job. The other older park registration employees were very customer service friendly. We did not find any ticks while hiking the several trails or completing the 18 hole disc course. 4g Verizon 4 to 5bars signal at various sites that have line-of-site with the cell tower. Nearly 20meg/sec download speeds! Stores, restaurants, and big box retailers 5 to 10 mins away which was a huge convenience. We will stay here again.

edit check was found months later and cashed. Still trying to resolve the issue with very slow communication. Paid double for our site. Never have dealt with this kind of confusion at any other Ohio state park from Maumee Bay east to Pymatuning south to Hocking Hills and back west to East fork, and points in between. Maybe an anomaly. Minus the money issue the park is decent and kept up. edit never did here back about the check. O well, it all evens out. Still a great park. They really keep it clean and...

Really fun hiking, but...

That's how I would describe it, at least for hiking. Now, I'm willing to assume old age has set back my trail-reading abilities a tad, but come on. It was a MAZE of confusing interconnections and lack of meaningful signage. I have been hiking all over the country...there's just something I don't get about some trail systems here in Ohio. I was constantly trying to figure out where I needed to go next. But that still wasn't a major issue, and if you want some interesting trekking, then go for it. Just be sure to bring a boatload of breadcrumbs.

Seriously though, at almost every trail juncture, I had to pull out my phone, the map, etc and make a best-guess as to where I would head next. Sure, maybe you will spot a trail color...or five. Maybe you will figure out it's a horse-only trail. Maybe you will realize you just ventured out onto a really popular mountain bike portion. Or...maybe not!

My advice is this...if you are like me (heaven help you if so), then just use the direction pointer in Google Maps and keep heading in whatever direction you want to go. Also, be prepared to step off the trail when you hear bikes coming. To me, much of this park is simply superb mountain bike fun. I really enjoyed going when I did as I never saw another soul, but bet it would be fun to see some talented riders go through. Were I a younger man I would already be making my plans to upgrade my trusty rusty ride and go back in for some pedaling fun (and falls).

The trails themselves were beautiful, sometimes narrow, sometimes rocky, and sometimes had a lot of roots. There was apparently some pretty big flooding recently. It looked like it reached about 30+ feet up the slope at times. The beach trails had a ton of previously-floating debris, and with it a bunch of trash unfortunately, which I'm sure was lake-trash that washed up. Lots of deer, annnnd lots of early-bird-gets-the-trail-webs. But hey, nothing is perfect.

I went first light on a weekday in early spring. NOBODY around at that time. Covered 8 miles and never saw another person. Now, go at a busy time and I wouldn't be surprised if I notched this down to a 2. Unless I was on a bike. Then it would still be a...

Unlike many of Ohio State Parks situated next to a lake, Dillon State Park facilities are almost all located on the eastern side of the lake. Driving around Dillon Lake can be quite challenging due to the extreme topography which presents itself with roads having sharp winding turns and roller coaster like hills. You do NOT want to be driving in particular the roads on the western side of the lake at night as there are no lights nor are there any guardrails. Even during the sunlit day, these roads can be dangerous as local residents, much more familiar with the roads, are apt to speed. During our visit, we were almost struck from behind by a rather large Jeep driven by some young teenagers coming over the crest of one of the many hills. Bottom line, stay on the eastern side of the lake. There is nothing to see on the western side of the lake except railroad tracks. Also, and again due to the hilly topography, many of the park's cabins can be difficult if not dangerous to navigate if you are handicapped or elderly. We watched one elderly couple struggle mightily attempting to traverse the stairs down to one of these cabins. Make sure when you call to reserve a cabin, if you have any physical limitations, do select one of the handicap-specific cabins. None of the cabins, by the way, have a lake view which you can only access through the nearby trails. Finally, the beach area of the park has a large building which includes a well-maintained changing facility, a store to purchase supplies, and an impressive large deck overlooking the lake that is clearly the park's most...