Jellystone Park Columbus North — Hotel in Gilead Township

First of all, we loved the number of activities there were for children. When I was a child myself, my parents took my brother and I to Yogi Parks every summer and we always had so many fun memories! This year, we planned a spur-the-moment trip to spend some time together as a family; with me being 7 months pregnant, this would be our last little adventure we would take on before the baby arrives.

We have a dog that is ADA Certified and Registered to me as a Service Dog. I called the camp ground about 2.5 weeks prior to our arrival and asked if Service Dogs were allowed, and they gave me a straight, yes. Almost every place accepts service dogs including pet free hotels and many other lodging/renting facilities (because it’s the law to do so. Anyone who discriminates, (like this campground has done to myself and my family) is in direct violation of the US Fair Housing Act. The campground, by law, must accommodate for the disability of the individual and for the dog being a service dog. By law, service dogs are NOT considered “pets.”

We arrived Friday Sept 6. We got to our Cabin. We spent most of our time out of the cabin and were only in there at night time. Our service dog is house trained and crate trained; and knows better not go on furniture. He was in his crate all night and had no issues....

The only issue we DID have was that after we left and there was a charge of $150 for the amounts of so-called pet hair all over the cabin 😂😂 news flash; my dog does not shed, it was one of the many reason we chose him as our service dog. And when we asked to provide proof of this mess of hair they declined, it and went on to charge the penalty. Which according to the attorney I just spoke with in the phone; they said in order for a business, landlord, or lodging facility to charge a tenant for damages or late fees; PROOF must be provided or it is just considered here-say.

To clarify; the dog was never on any furniture. And whoever “cleans” these cabins needs to be fired. I took time out of my day to scrub the counter and stove and the bathroom sink; not that any of THAT was noticed by staff but it all looked 10 times nicer than it did upon our arrival. Also my 6 year old son found a half eaten dried up hot dog and pieces of orange peels behind the trash can that we picked up from the previous tenants and I also scrubbed the dried pasta sauce that was caked on the side of the cabinet and wall. I was raised to pick up after myself and we did just that!

Also the neighboring cabin to us was apparently one of the office staff’s family member. If there was ANY issue with our dog they could of came over and spoke with us; and at that time we would of provided all of the documentation that the dog was NOT a pet and that is was ADA Registered and Trained as a service dog to myself. No body came and talked to us about anything. My husband even stood there with my dog on the leash and spoke with the Staff member about what they were smoking in the cooker and nothing was said about the dog. Ever!!!

There was NO hair EVERYWHERE like they claimed.

They need a new cleaning staff to at least learn to do basic cleaning of the cabins and the public bathrooms around the campground.

They need to not violate any LAWS and DISCRIMINATE against anyone with a disability that needs a service dog.

My son loved this park and we we planning on coming back for many years to come but because of all of this we were flagged not to come back, and it’s truly sad because it is their loss. And I will do everything to spread the negative word about this campground because, we have never been treated like this anywhere, any other campground that has...

(2024) For those who want to know if they should book it, YES:

Amazing experience with an amazing staff. We stayed during the Pirates & Princess themed weekend (Thursday check-in with a Sunday check-out) and there was something to do every day, every hour for kids and families.

Every person there from the guests to the employees were kind, helpful, and having a great time. Any question or hiccup we had, there was someone willing to help us, and anything we forgot they problem solved along side until a solution was found (even if it was outside the box thinking)

For the research nerds here's some tidbits: We booked a cabin. The Yogi Bear Deluxe, for our family of 4 with two kiddos under 10. The cabin was the perfect size for us, and could accommodate a handful more kiddos, and teenagers in the bunk beds. There is a pull out futon in the main area, but not ideal as a bed for an additional guest. There was a nice sized fridge, stove and microwave. All newer, in great working order, and pots, pans & cookie sheets were provided - along with a handful of commonly used kitchen items. The outside has a small covered porch with a 4 person patio set under the porch. The wrap around deck is super big, and has enough space to accommodate a 6 foot fold out table if more seating was needed.

Reserve and/or purchase these things, they are so worth it and literally make life easier and you can budget it out ahead of time. A) A Golf Cart (we used small magnetic hooks to hang lights up and not to cause damage to the carts to add a little pizzaz) B) A Super Fun Pass - it's covers a ton of stuff for the kids (and adults) to do and you can order them ahead of time which helps with budgeting as well C) Rent your linens. It comes with the basic sheets, pillows, duvet insert and towel sets. Bring your own beach towels, and extra pillows and such - but this cut down a lot on what else had to be packed physically and mentally. They only provide one dish towel, bring additional if needed - but we used paper towels. D) Rent a lakeside cabana if you can - we did it for one day, invited family out with day passes - and it worked beautifully that we had a few home bases for folks to travel to, shade for the babies, and a FRIDGE that we packed full and kept us going all day.

What I liked we did and things that future me wants to do: A) We wrapped multi colored Christmas lights around our front porch - it just added some joy to the night B) We forgot roasting sticks - so did a lot of others since the Ranger Station sold out our first night! This is your reminder to add them to your packing list. C) We tried everything. The crafts, the trampoline, the floating ducks, WiBit, the hillside slide, Glowride party, Train Rides and chocolate chip cookies with the bears - there is so much to do - and it's all included - jump into the magic and be a kid. D) Invite friends. This is such a great setup for groups - whether they want to be all together or have different camping options for those invited - it has a great platform to host.

Special shoutout to Kaycee and Jodie - they are the general managers and they just exemplify kindness and joy.

We loved our time there!!

UPDATED 2025

We once again had an amazing time during our stay at Jellystone! We noticed so many new upgrades and improvements from last year's visit, and the flow of activities was smooth...

Called and asked about pets and firepits, was told yes they allow pets and yes they have fire pits for fire

Turns out only SOME spots allow pets and they don't allow outside wood to be brought in.

So I had to scramble to find a dog sitter for two large breeds, and dump the firewood I JUST BOUGHT so I could BUY THEIRS

I already paid several hundred dollars to be here, the least they could have done is let me burn my own wood.

Never staying here again, literally any state park would be 10-15x cheaper, and it's way less crowded.

Edit1: day 3 power went out and on afternoon of day it's still not back. Edit 2: power was restored just in time to go to sleep on night 4. I understand WHY it took so long, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with it just that I'm not making it the problem of employees who don't have anything to do with it.

Also lol @ the mostly automated response.

And this is more of a frustration than anything, I was told by a young man at the pool shop to put my blue wristband for water activities on my life vest, then was yelled at by the Lifeguard for not having it on my wrist. Get your employees on the same page, or don't bother with regulations. I'm cool with either one, just don't switch halfway through the week.

End-of-stay-edit: don't bother adhering to their "no smoking or vaping" policy, since they don't even make their own employees adhere to it even when it full view of people. They also won't ask you to dump your wood if you don't ask about it or let them see it before you're settled in. Our neighbor had an entire trailer full and only one person in a jellystone employee outfit even bothered to stop while driving by, and just said "don't bring it next time" and finally, since they clearly just don't like poor people (the expensive cabins or rv sites you need to have an rv for are the onoy place they allow dogs apparently) just go ahead and bring your small dogs because they don't bother enforcing that either. So many dogs chilling in the tent areas.

Basically I followed the rules, had a bad stay, and legitimately will never stay here again unless someone else foots the bill. Had I broken all their rules I would have had a much better time, and apparently nobody would have bothered to say anything. Go to a state park. Save money. Save hassle. I want a partial refund for the day and a half I didn't have power, the broken railing I complained about day 1 that didn't get fixed by day 6, and the generally "minimum effort" that there is around some of the campsites, but likely will not recieved one. The people inside the "ranger station" were extremely helpful and pleasant.

After-stay edit: also don't bother ever getting "sensible weather guarantee", as I was told by someone in another part of the country (probably other continent) that it did not rain on Tuesday, August 6th of 2024. Checking any weather report will can easily disprove that, as well as my soaking wet camping gear. Not jellystone's fault, just tacking this on here since they were in business together...