Quite possibly the best camping resort and campground in Central, Ohio. But why 4 stars? Greed. Greed justified through falsehoods and misinformation. Basically you can't bring your own wood because they want you to buy small bundles for $6ea. They says it's because of EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) and the Longhorn Beetle. The government has lifted the EAB quarantine because everywhere is infected, and the funniest thing was that the wood they sold at the office showed signs of EAB infections (looks like wormwood under the bark). The beetle problem isn't anywhere close to this part of Ohio and only affects a very tiny area. And you can't tell me that all of the seasonal campers here with huge stacks of wood paid for it to the tune of $900/cord. You're already paying a premium price to camp here and for some additional activities so why nickel and dime us and act like you are protecting the environment? Before I went here I read reviews where people said they inspect your truck for wood and send you home if you have any, they didn't flat out ask but at check in someone did peak in the bed of my truck. Didn't stop other people from hiding it in their giant toolboxes or inside their toy hauler area, even saw one guy hide it in a cooler. So what are you accomplishing by being so greedy if people sneak it in anyway? I liken this wood fee to campgrounds that charge you extra to run your AC.
Besides the wood complaint, this place would be 5 stars. Everything else about it was excellent and way above average. For starters, they have kids activities starting at 9am and they go almost all day, most free. The ones for a fee were surprisingly for a small fee for things like t-shirts for tie dying, ice cream socials, etc. Even the crafts were free. I've never been to another campground that did more for kids. They did so many things we were worn out trying to take them to everything. My kids loved the rubber duck race and the glow parade the most.
The lake and water park are much smaller than Longs, but even on a crowded holiday weekend it isn't overran with people. I think with all the activities going on kids get tired and you just can't do it all...so the water park is lightly used. There was never a long wait for either slide, beach wasn't crowded, and the kids had a blast swimming out to some of the water toys. They have two pools down by the office which are very small and crowded but still enjoyable. Unlike Longs Retreat, this place is very very quiet, thanks in part to electric golf carts among the seasonal campers. Quiet hours are enforced. Speeding isn't enforced that much, but the roads are kinda in bad shape so people just can't speed anyway, for the most part most people drove slow.
The spots are flat out amazing. We had a full service site, water, electric, cable, sewer...no wifi but we had decent cell signals on Sprint and Verizon. We had a nice level gravel pad and then below our pad was another area with gravel, grass, fire ring, and some shade. The sites are big enough to where you don't feel like you're camping with your neighbor. We arrived to a clean site as well, no trash in the fire ring or broken glass on the ground.
Another pleasant surprise was that the paddle boats were free. You can fish from them on their catch and release lake, the swimming beach is marked off and on the other side of the lake so boats and people don't mix.
We opted for a late checkout, 7pm, and I can't remember exactly but it was about $30. Quite a bit but we were having so much fun I didn't care to spend the extra money.
All of the staff including the owner Nancy were very polite, very accommodating, and very professional. They made their presence known around the campground vs. letting people in and then never seeing a staff member ever again. The front store is very clean and you can get free wifi there while you shop or sit outside and watch people on the lake. The store prices are very reasonable as well and they sell ice cream and assorted chocolate candies and all of the typical camp store items (camping gear, shirts, toys, etc).
Two thumbs up for this great campground. While it does cost a premium price ($62/night/holiday weekend) it was well worth it and I've paid similar prices elsewhere like Lazy River that weren't nearly as good as Jellystone. We would definitely come back and would definitely recommend this to anyone whether you have kids or not. Nice campgrounds like this are few and far between. read more