Lake Hope State Park Campground — Hotel in Brown Township

We spent a total of 8 nights at this campground and will not be returning, which is a shame because there is some major potential. However, the campground needs some major capital projects if it wants to compete with other state park campgrounds. Hocking Hills State Park Campground is nearby and we have had much better experiences.

Pros: *Scenery *The lady at the camp store was very friendly. *Quiet *Our site was fairly level. *Beautiful lake with good fishing (electric motors only)

Cons: *(4) flush toilets divided among two locations for the entire campground. Lines of people waiting to use the restroom were not uncommon. *Bathroom cleanliness and maintenance. The bathrooms ran out of toilet paper multiple times. There was blood on the front of the toilet bowl in one bathroom the entire length of our stay. At one point there was feces on a toilet seat effectively shutting down one of the bathrooms until it could be cleaned. I did not observe any sort of scheduled cleaning or maintenance. *Camp host primarily drove around on his ATV. If issues arose, you just had to hope that you encountered the host by chance. *Roads were very tight. Take caution around turns to make sure your camper does not drop off the edge, or you need to swing wide into the other lane. Luckily camp roads were not overly busy. *Potable water fill and dump station(s) were directly adjacent to the camp store versus a designated area out of the path of traffic. The potable water fill seemed to create a bit of a traffic choke point as there is no pull over and you have to stand in the road as cars and campers are driving in to fill your tank. Luckily, not a lot of traffic in this campground. *Printed maps of trails provided in the campground do not match the maps online. Printed maps showed the Hope Furnace Trail as a hiking path. It is not. The path was so overgrown three of us walked away with poison ivy and water overflowed the trail in multiple locations with no apparent crossing. *No apparent check in process unlike similar state campgrounds which issue parking passes and require you to stop on your way into the campground. Just roll on through to your site. The camp office seemed confused when I wanted to check in and didn't know my campsite number and had no cell reception to look it up (apparently they must not have a registration for who is coming in/out). *The turn around at the end of the camp loop was very narrow. Myself and several other campers had to back our campers up the hill to leave as we were concerned that we would be unable to make the turn without hitting parked vehicles. *Probably the most minor item was our campsite (#66) seemed to be laid out backwards. Upon exiting the camper, your are very near the adjacent camper. Our fire ring and picnic table were located on the back side of our camper.

My wife reported seeing a black widow spider in the bathroom. I was doubtful until I read a similar review from...

The campsites are close together and, mostly, close to the road. Many are on extreme inclines, especially the tent sites. The fill station, located near the office, is on the right side of the road, the side opposite the water fill spots on campers, making it impossible to fill without a long potable water hose. In addition, trailers being filled block the road.

We visited over the Memorial Day weekend, but the office hours were limited, making it difficult to purchase their excellent-burning firewood. We also never saw the camp hosts in their site, even though their UTV was parked there. This left many campers frustrated.

The shower building nearest the entrance was recently updated and in great condition. The one near the back of the campground was very old and in needed of updating. Nether building has toilets. They are in a nearby building.

The campground is designed mostly in a straight line, meaning the closer you are to the front of the campground, the more traffic you see and, since sites are close to the road, hear.

There are ample vault toilets throughout the campground, but many have no outside doors, meaning critters and bugs have open access.

We were there for a week, from Thursday to Wednesday. Leaving midweek made the backup at the single dump station easy to manage.

One thing we found odd was the lack of any place to put recyclables. We ended up taking ours home to dispose of.

Outside of the campsites, the campground is heavily wooded and pretty to drive and hike in. There are many hiking and biking trails throughout the grounds, making it easy to...

The campground was okay & nothing more. I had a tent & my Jeep so it was manageable. Anything more might be a struggle as many spaces are very tight/ close to others. I had to request a spot change because parking for my original site was a parallel park on the main road that ran through the campground. Not safe for my kiddo. Many of the campsites were very slanted & unleveled so I drove around until I found a decent, unoccupied one that was also shaded & changed my reservation. Many of the campsites were very tight. Some were 4 cars right next to each other like a parking lot with no space in between. (If you can get a hold of a satellite map of what the sites actually look like, that might be helpful). Neighbors across the way were extremely loud at 12:30 am. Not “we’re having a good time” loud. I’m talking, screaming at the top of their lungs loud. Annoying but not the campgrounds fault I suppose. There was a pit toilet right near our site but no sinks to wash hands. A short drive away was the shower house. It had a laundry room on the other side but couldn’t use it because there was no change machine available for getting quarters. No wood or ice available after the shop closes which was an inconvenience. I know many other campsites offer Venmo or a cash box for those needing supplies after hours...