[kandrews]

My family moved to Akron last fall from Utah. We're here for my husband's grad school and we have 2 young kiddos (3 & 1). We seriously miss our mountains & the ability to grab our camping gear & go for a nice over-nighter up a nearby canyon.
Now I'm totally out of my comfort zone trying to make plans for a couple camping trips this summer. If anyone can give me some tips or answer questions that would be awesome Finding a good place to make lasting family memories is priceless!
*Where to go? I'll take several suggestions I hope to do a lot of camping I hear Hocking Hills is really nice, but I would have no idea where to set up camp. Is it easy to find a good spot without paying for a campsite? Is it possible to find a nice primitive spot & park your car there too?
*Campfires ... is it allowed to build our own fire ring? Should we bring our own firewood or is there plenty to collect?
*Do we have to have a permit to ride our mountain bikes?
*Drinking water access - should we plan to bring in all our water?

Maybe I should be posting these questions in a different forum? I don't know, I don't usually do this kind of stuff!

Thanks!

 

[at1010]

I am not real big on camping, but I would do some searching on Wayne National Forest. That should help you to answer some of these questions.

 

[hen3ry]

Welcome to Ohio. We don't have any mountains and our hills are small and I don't think that the word "canyon" applies to anything in this state... but welcome anyway.

I'd love to offer you some advice but after surviving the military's version of "camping out", my current idea of roughing it involves not staying in a Hilton Hotel.

I can direct you to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources which lists the many parks in Ohio and what you can or can't do in each one. It's a good place to start.

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/

Again, welcome to Ohio.

 

[coonskinner]

The wnf is the closest to your Utah you can find in Ohio and have roadside camping ...check out the deercamp wn social page here at this site or deer camp wn under the white tailed deer forum here ...it is alao there for campers ...as for biking check regs. About on forest but theres miles of hiking trails and big hills...

 

[RGJZ06]

I would Google Shawnee State forest. It's about as far south in Ohio as you can get. It's right next to Portsmouth. It has just about everything you are looking for and maybe more. This spot is beautiful. Look at the states site ODNR, it contains lots of data and may answer most of your questions.

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RGJZ06

 

[coonskinner]

I would Google Shawnee State forest. It's about as far south in Ohio as you can get. It's right next to Portsmouth. It has just about everything you are looking for and maybe more. This spot is beautiful. Look at the states site ODNR, it contains lots of data and may answer most of your questions.

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RGJZ06

i would have mentioned shawnee but last i know it doesnt allow roadside camping...also strouds run is very nice but small,has many trails but does cost to camp at a primitive campsite with only toilets(no showers),last i know it had a couple water fountains...the cost to camp here is very reasonable and theres a nice lake that trails overlook...:biggrin:

 

[geezer II]

Forget the big State Parks - they are overcrowed wall ta wall people and you need reservations in advance - if you want ta try a weekend camp - try Harrison State Forest near Jewett, Ohio - if is free - primitive - water available - pit toilet - no atv's or bikes - you can hike and there is a 100 yard rifle range unsupervised you can use free - bring your own firewood - also a few small ponds around people feesh - not Utah - dang :mischeif:

oh yeah - it close to Tappan Lake also

 

[RGJZ06]

i would have mentioned shawnee but last i know it doesnt allow roadside camping...also strouds run is very nice but small,has many trails but does cost to camp at a primitive campsite with only toilets(no showers),last i know it had a couple water fountains...the cost to camp here is very reasonable and theres a nice lake that trails overlook...:biggrin:

Yep, no roadside camping in Shawnee but some nice primitive sites to choose from with details she was looking for. I hunted there this year and didn't see another hunter in the woods, (I was there for ten days). It was cold maybe that was it. Shawnees a great place to hunt and camp I would assume if you give it a try.

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RGJZ06

 

[Deehntr56]

:Welcome:

 

[PAKing]

AEP ReCreation Lands

Google "AEP ReCreation Lands" Lots of both primative and campground options here.

 

[Lance]

Welcome to the site. Our family tends to like that style of camping as well. Basically unless you take the drive south to the areas mentioned Ohio will have little to offer. Anything up here in the northern half of the state is pretty much civilized camping and way too crowded. Jefferson Lake is one of the few that we have found that is not quite as crowded. It has the potential to get that way but the times we've been there we've been able to camp in spots with nobody near us. Being in Akron another option you can explore is the Allegehny National forest over in PA. That will likely be much more what you're looking for. That's here we go for shorter trips and it's a little over 2 hrs from Akron.

 

[brokenwind]

PM sent

 

[jericho]

Welcome to the site. Our family tends to like that style of camping as well. Basically unless you take the drive south to the areas mentioned Ohio will have little to offer. Anything up here in the northern half of the state is pretty much civilized camping and way too crowded. Jefferson Lake is one of the few that we have found that is not quite as crowded. It has the potential to get that way but the times we've been there we've been able to camp in spots with nobody near us. Being in Akron another option you can explore is the Allegehny National forest over in PA. That will likely be much more what you're looking for. That's here we go for shorter trips and it's a little over 2 hrs from Akron.

Not knowing the north, I'd second Pa or even WV. Southern Ohio is neat, but not like Pa and WV.

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[Mossback]

If I lived in Akron and was looking for a place to camp I'd probably take I-80 east into PA. There are a good number of choices....
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/where/index.htm

Another thought would be to take I-77 south into WV. You don't have to go far across the state line to get into some nice country.

 

[kandrews]

THank you!

I'm not good at this forum thing so I had no idea people had replied to my thread (I thought I would get an email notifying me), but anyway ... thank you everyone so much for taking the time to share your info with me! I'm going to follow up on all the suggestions and if I have any more questions I'll be sure to ask. I'm surprised at the response, so thank you truly! I'll definitely let you guys know what we decide to do & how it went! Now I have a place to start and a list of places to check out ... thanks for making me feel welcome!