A.W. Marion State Park Campground

Spent New Years at this campground with only a few other campers there. The site we had was nice because you only have one other site next to you. It’s an inside site on a loop with a lot of green space in the middle. Nice for us to walk the dogs.

The flush toilets are closed for the season so only the vault toilets were open and were actually pretty clean.

Lots of people using the path/hiking the trail. Quiet weekend to welcome in the new year.

We've been to this campground multiple times, but this was a new site to us. It's electric and sits on the back of the loop next to the old playground. It's a nice size site that has pretty good shade, but the tree that sits over your camper drips sap/gunk. The other large tree on the site also has great shade, but no grass, so when it rains be prepared for mud. The old playground sits right behind the site along with the two drop toilets. There is also a "street" light, but it didn't really bother us. There is a water source nearby as well. I liked that it was a big site, but would probably not choose is again mostly because of the drippy tree and potential for a mud pit. The park itself, is always great. There are flush toilets available, no shower house. There is a new playground up front, a little far away from the electric sites, but closer to the non-electrics. Take a short hike or a long one (even longer when they finish the dam project.) The park is also supposed to get a kayaking launch site at the bottom of the hill, fingers crossed!

I drove through here on a Sunday, and I just read online that the dam may be getting repaired, so that might explain the creepy, horror-film vibe I got from this place. It was completely deserted on an August Sunday, except for two RVs in the small campground.

The sites are shaded, which is nice, but pretty close together. The only bathroom within the campground area is one porta-john, so I bet that gets pretty disgusting. There was a latrine out on the road by the playground (a bit short walk from the campsites), but I didn't go in. The camp office was locked up.

The lake was deserted and it looks like some kind of sad chemical waste area. There is no beach, and what is probably a snack bar or boat rental place was all boarded up, and the floating docks were dragged up onto land. The edges of the lake were all dry and rocky looking, which is why it looks like some kind of place where there was mining or some other industrial activity. I don't know the history of the area, but it was underwhelming and not very pleasant. 

I won't stay here- I checked it out and now I know it isn't for me.

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A.W. Marion Campground- Campsite non-electric- 025

This was a weekday camping trip (Wednesday) and the campground was mostly empty.  I never did see the two camp hosts while I was at the park. I was not able to purchase any camp fire wood or ice as they were not there.  The town is close by so you can easily purchase what you need in town. I actually was lazy and had breakfast in town at Bob Evans due to the rain. 

Ohio campsites no longer do walk on sites.  It is easy to pull in and look at the sites to determine which one you would like and then make your purchase online.  I do this to ensure I get a camp spot near the host(s) and that I am close to the bathroom. It also allows me to see the conditions of the campsite before I pay for it.  You won't be able to take a shower at this campground. Hopefully, ODNR will add a shower house in the future as this would make the campsites even better. 

The playground seems new as I don't recall seeing it in the past but my memory could be faulty.  The group campsites seemed to be better cared for this time with some improvements.  There is a simple basketball court for kids to play at as well. 

This park is pretty basic and near the lake.  You do have to go around to the other side to access the marina.

AW Marion is a small campground with electric and non-electric sites. This particular site sits is electric and sits on the inside circle. For us this works great as we a lot of greenspace right behind us to walk the dogs and are able to be far enough away from neighbors to not bother them. Your fire ring is right next to the end of the pad. I found out that if my windows are open (which they were) and my fire is smokey (which it was a little) it can set off your fire alarm is the wind blows just right (which it did)! This site works well for our camper and still has lots of space for tents or an ez-up. It's a short walk to the pit toilets and just a little long to the flush toilets (no showers). 

Lots of trails to hike, mountain bike and look for wildflowers and birds. 

Some recent change this year to note. It does have a great lake to kayak; however, they are fixing the dam so you can't put it at the end of the road at the campground unless you plan to walk really far to get to the water. Best bet is to drive to the marina to put in there. The marina store is closed and no boats at this time. The just updated the playground and it's next to the flush toilets up front as you pull in (not sure what they will do with the old.) The just repaved the entire park, road and pads including the non-electrics which just used to be gravel. Slowly but surely they are trying to make things even better.

We had a wonderful experience getting lost through the mountain bike trail. Couldn't not find the 1mile trail so did the 5miles by mistake. At the end we had a great time. Beautiful scenery. Only the bathrooms (pit) by the playground were open.

We stayed in #28 the light from the street was right across the lot so we couldn't see a lot of stars or even the moon because the light was in the way. Also it was close to the entrance so any car coming in we will hear and see their headlights.

Normally a pretty desolate campground in the off season, there were quite a few more campers than we expected. The site we were in sits below everyone and gives you a little more privacy. With it sitting low, the water does drain and makes a little stream when there's a good storm. There used to be a big stump in the middle of the site and they've removed it. They have also removed a lot of brush in the back of the site giving you way more space for tents. You're surrounded by trees and the hiking trail is behind you. In the winter you can see everyone, but when the leaves are on the trees, you're pretty hidden. There is a trail that leads from your campsite to the trail. We moved some tree limbs at the entrance to keep hikers/bikers from accidently coming into the campsite. In the winter season the only toilets you have are the pit toilets (the flush toilets are closed). Normally they are pretty clean, but this weekend someone broke the windows, left toilet paper everywhere and it didn't look like it has been cleaned... pretty disappointing. It was reported to the state. The dam at the lake is getting fixed so this season the marina and boat dock are closed, but you can still kayak. However, they have dropped the water super low so if you want to put in at the campground you're going to have a very long walk to get to the water (see the photos).

We stayed on site 36 as it has a long pad and a nice angle that you wouldn't be close to your neighbors (not that we had any this weekend). In the summer it would provide a little shade and lots of green space to spread out. In the winter the flush toilets are closed, but the vault toilets are open, were pretty clean and had toilet paper stocked. This park has nice hiking trials, mountain bike trails, a lake, playground for the kids and both electric and non-electric sites. We had a nice fire ring which had a good cooking great if you wanted to use it. There are no camp hosts in the off season. We hiked part of a mountain bike trail and only saw one bike go through. There are a lot of hikers who use the trail a lot. The only disappointing thing was how full the trash was. They don't really dump them in the winter because the locals use them. Be prepared to walk your trash to the dumpsters up by the flush toilets as they aren't as full.

A.W. Marion is nice and quiet. It's fairly small, and some of the spots looked challenging to back into, including the one I chose. The people we encountered there were friendly. The bathrooms seemed clean (didn't use them but did look inside), and the camper hosts were nice. Honestly, we probably won't camp there again, but that's not to say it wasn't a nice campground. Recommended.

Site 9, non-electric on Halloween weekend was great. We were one of two campers on our circle. Site 9 has a pretty level pad and has the biggest area to camp in. We are across from the dump station and the flush toilets. Not horrible, but e bathroom does have a light so it could bother some people. Most sites in non-electric have some sort of shade but not all spaces are created equal. Some sites are small and the pads can be unlevel . The electric sites are the same where some have shade and some do not while some pads are level and some are not. There are vault toilets closest to those sites and no full hookups. They have a nice playground and plenty of trail to hike. The trees were past peak leaf season but still very pretty. The camp hosts make it a point to stop out and say hello which is one of the reasons we keep coming back. It’s a tiny park, a diamond in the rough.

AW Marion is near 23 and easy access to the highway to get to Columbus. 

Plenty of space and shade in not electrical campsite for a hot summer day. Plenty of flat  space. Clean well lit vault toliets. Walked around near camp and checked out group camping sites that had plenty of space and trees for hammocking and tent set up.

The campground was full this weekend in electric, but still plenty of spots in non-electric. We've camped at this site before and we like it because there is a lot of space for us to walk our dogs. There's a ton of grass and plenty of shade to sit under. The restrooms were clean for both the vault toilets and the flushables. The camp hosts continue to get 5 stars. It's nice when you are at a campground often enough they know your name and stop by to say hi and even suggest other places to visit. The only downfall was our neighbors across the way had friends visit who parked on our campsite instead of in the guest lot. We walked through the group campsites (2) and if you like to hang, one has better trees to do that than the other. We took a short hike behind the playground. The trail is marked well, but you have to make sure to follow the hiking trail and not the mountain bike trail. Lots of mushrooms to see!

This was our second weekend in a row at this campground. While we were here the weekend before, we decided that we wanted to camp on site #9. This site is probably the biggest in the primitive section. It is right next to the entrance road (and dumping station), which is a bummer, but the size of the site made it totally worth it, and we'll definitely stay on this site again. It was pretty quiet over this particular weekend, so that helped too. Site #9 has plenty of room for a few small tents and it's also close to the flush toilets. There are no showers in this campground of which I am aware, but the flush toilets and sinks are a nice change from pit toilets.

We chose A.W. Marion State Park on this particular weekend because it's relatively close to home (Columbus area). While I had come here to hike the 5 mile trail around Hargus Lake in the past, it was our first visit to the campground. 

We reserved site #4 in the non-electric section. Unfortunately #4 isn't the best site in the campground - it was very small and wide - one of our 3 small tents ended up right next to the car. But we made it work and really enjoyed our stay. It was right across from the porta johns, so that's something of which to be aware. It's right next to #3 (obviously), which is not available for reserving because it's the extra site that remains available if someone has an issue with their existing reservation. Regardless of these little issues, we had a great time. This primitive section of the campground is really nice overall, and far away from the noisy RVs. The hosts were super nice, as were the other people camping. The distance from Columbus makes it a quick and easy weekend trip.

Let me start by saying the camp hosts are really friendly and helpful. They do a great job keeping the park clean.

This is by far the smallest campground we have stayed at but it has the nicest hiking trails. They are all colored to match the maps. If you are on the blue trail on the map the trees are blazes the same. The lake is larger than expected. I wanted to kayak but ran out of time. Now we have to come back. They also have a ton of geocaches in the park today we looked for two and found 1.

Overall nice parks! Sites are large, most have new picnic tables and all of them have fire pits. They have good cell coverage with Verizon.

A new site for us at this campground, site 59 which is an inside site. We also had friends who booked 2 inside sites very nearby so we were able to all set up in the middle and share a large space for 10 people and 7 dogs. We were able to be socially distant, have space for cornhole and lots of room for the dogs. Our site pad was pretty level. My husband went over the pad just a little onto the grass, as the other side sloped. So when we stepped out of the camp, we wouldn't be stepping down on a slope. This is one of the quietest campgrounds we go to even though there is plenty for kids to do (playground). Had the weather been better, we would have brought our kayaks for the lake. You have three different types of restrooms. The ones closest to use are the drop toilets, a little further is a porta potty and the furthest was the flush toilets (no showers). It's our little slice of heaven so we like to try a new site each time if we are able. We take our dogs with us so we have to be a little more picky so we don't bother anyone.

Site 32 - A new site for us at this campground. We had shade in the morning but lots of sun in the afternoon. This site is on the outside and backs up to trees. There is lots grass and space - good for us to walk the dogs and not have them pee and poop where we were sitting. Bathrooms were cleaned regularly and they have flush, vault and portable toilets. There are no showers. This was our first time to kayak which you can launch right near the campground. It’s a little mucky at the bottom of the hill but if you take the path off to the right there is a small beach which is much easier to launch from. There is a small island that has two spots you can stop on and then swim. Lots of birds to see and plenty of other kayakers and fisherman. They are now selling wood and ice at the campground but the store is still closed. A gas station is right down the road in case you forget anything.

After staying one night in non-electric we were able to transfer to an electric site thanks to our great camp hosts. They let us know that one had opened and recommended us to call in the next morning. We were able to get an electric site that was on the inside, a site we would have never chosen otherwise as we have dogs and try to find a space with no one behind us. The site was actually really nice. There was grass and some partial shade. We had room for our ez-up tent, our pop-up bathroom and still room to set up our chairs and walk the dogs without bothering our neighbors. Our friends had the site next to us and they were able to use the trees to hang their hammocks. There was a nice fire ring and the pad was easy to level our a-frame camper. We had another set of neighbors who were in a class A motorhome (it was huge!). Everyone we talked to were very friendly. We were closer to the vault toilets (they were kept clean) and the playground. It was Fourth of July weekend and the campground was really quiet. If you have kayaks, you can drive them down the hill next to the campground to get into the lake. If you like to hike or mountain bike there are trails to use as well.

This was a last minute decision to camp which led us to getting a non-electric site. The pad was level and the site was mostly shaded. There was hardly any grass and a ton of dead leaves. My husband brought the leaf blower so we were able to clean up the site a little more. If it had rain, it could have gotten a little muddy. There was plenty of room for our ez-up tent for our kitchen set up and plenty of room for 1-2 tents. We have an a-frame popup camper so we had more space to walk around. The fire ring was nice and it had a grate you could use to cook on it (not all of them do). We were along the main road, but it's not a very busy park so we weren't worried about noisy traffic. Across the road were the flush toilets which does have a light that comes on at night. The restrooms were kept clean (no showeres). Next to the bathrooms is the dump station and it can get stinky if they happen to come by to do maintenance (which they did). If you have kids, this site is really far from the playground but there is a basketball court and volleyball net near by and an open field for play. There are also three porta-potties in the non-electric if you don't mind them. It's not a bad site especially since it offers shade. There is a very helpful camp host at the entrance of non-electric as well. (3 stars for a non-grassy site and the close to the dump station)

Site 9, non-electric This is our first time at this site. We’ve been eyeing it in the non-electric area for a while now. It’s the biggest site at this campground, but next to the road. The traffics wasn’t bad at all, but if you have little ones you might not want to be right there. We have dogs and this gave them plenty of room to be on leads and lots of space to let them “dog”. We brought our generator and could set it far away to mask the noise. Lots of trees and if you’re tenting you can find the right spot for shade all the time. We have a small aframe camper so we were on the pad and at times the sun does hit straight on. We could choose from ports-potties or the flushes. Both were kept clean and we didn’t have a lot of company in our area. Lots of birds to watch and if you like to hike the trail is a few steps away.

Site 56 - We have stayed at this site before with electric. You don’t have close neighbors and the trail is right off your site. Good for you but invited others coming off the trail if they don’t know where they are going. We put up a piece of flagging tape to block off hikers and bikers. It’s a smaller campground with both electric and non- electric sites. Currently there are no walk-ins permitted so the walk-in sites have been made reservable. There is a playground with two vault toilets in the electric - which were very clean. They also have portables in the other end which is non-electric. There are also two flushable toilets by the group campsites. The camp hosts (Diane, John and Steve) were great and very friendly. No showers, sinks or full hookups so come prepared. The marina is on the other side of the lake, just a short drive if you want to kayak. If you like to hike or mountain bike the trail is 5 miles around the lake and very pretty.

Site 45 This is our 3rd visit this year but at a different site. The camper pad was very level and the site was huge. It had a great view of the lake. I’m not so sure you’d be able to see it once the leaves are back this spring. The campfire ring was beat up and missing the grill. We were camping with fiends so we were able to use theirs. Normally the vault toilets are really clean but it looked like they hadn’t been touched since we were there in January and February - the reason for only 3 stars. I don’t mind the vault toilets but not when the first one you visit has no toilet paper and the seat was disgusting. The other toilet was fine, but ran out of toilet paper. Always pack extra! We will go back - just need to get in touch with them regarding the toilets.

A cold but sunny weekend in February at site #32. No other campers there for the weekend, but a lot of foot traffic. We stayed at site #31 in January and my husband thought this site was more level than #31. This site is big and spacious and backs up to trees. Only electric and vault toilets are available in the winter. You might scrunch your nose about the vault toilet, but they were kept very clean. The trash bin still had trash that was there from January. I didn't look at the others, but I'm guessing they don't dump them often to keep locals from dumping into them. You register on your own in the winter and it's walk-ins only at this time. Great little campground to visit if you don't need a lot of amenities.

This was our second weekend in a row coming to this campground, but this time we are in non-electric. We scoped out the site ahead of time and although not our first or second pick, the site turned out to be very nice. It's has a site right behind it, but has a nice size green space for an ez-up. The pad was a nice length and held our small camper and truck with room to spare. The closest bathroom was the handicap porta-potty, but a little further up you use the flush toilets. (no showers) The campground had at least 2 camp hosts and a small camp store. We walked down to the lake. If you like to fish, it's a short walk. This site is further away from the playground, but close to a trail head. We did have a small furry visitor - a very friendly orange cat.

We visited the campground before we picked a site. We chose site #56 which had electric. It's one of the best sites we found there for it's size, shade and privacy. We set up our camper and our ez-up tent which enclosed our fire ring. There was also a path directly from our site that led to one of the hiking trails. Yay for us and our easy access; however, it also welcomed people to cut through your site. So we put up some flagging tape along the edge of the trail to discourage people and mountain bikers from cutting through our site and using the actual trailhead. We have dogs and the was big enough to walk them around and let them stretch their legs. The campground is pretty small with both electric and non-electric sites. There are two drop toilets next to the playground which were kept clean. In the non-electric area they had porta-potties, but just a short walk away there are two flush toilets. The campground is next to a lake which has a 5 mile loop for both hiking and mountain biking. The lake has a small beach area where you can take your dogs. We liked it so much we booked it again for the following weekend in non-electric.

We stayed here for our first time out, just to see if everything in the camper worked so we weren't looking for much besides proximity to Walmart. The park is small but well kept. Traffic was minimal within the park. Some of the facilities needed upgrading but the hiking was great. Sites closer to the playground are more level than those further away.

We had a wonderful time at site 51. We went in 2017 for Father’s Day and they had family activities for it. They had a scavenger hunt which made us really experience the nature around us, going through the woods off trail, going to the lakeside, walking around looking for different things on a list. It helped there was a prize so it really put competition between us and two other families. Two of us tied so we were lucky enough to get the free boat ride and the other team that was part of the boy scouts got a free one night camping stay. The campground is smaller,peaceful and quite but yet no one got mad if kids played. We were right beside the playground so I was worried about rude and rowdy kids but nope. The kids were good and left the playground at a respectable time. Since we were the only family by the playground my kids quietly played there for a while all by themselves after dark while we were in eyesight relaxing at our camp site. There is also a roadway you can drive by the lake in the campground to fish. My husband and daughter liked it bc they could fish it at night time. You will need bug spray and lanterns bc it is darrrk! The only bad thing is there is no beach so on the hot days the kids get bored although we went to the fishing spot in the campground and let the kids play in the water. When we were there, there were no showers but the toilet was by our site so that was a plus (non flushing). There was also a water spicket close by the playground. So everything was close for us. The kids could play and explore safely within eye sight. We really enjoyed our stay and would go back in the cooler months due to there being no beach but there is plenty of trees for shade.

October weekends in Ohio State Park campgrounds are super popular so we weren’t able to make a reservation here. They do have a few walk up sites and we got there on a Thursday to make sure we got one. We luckily did and enjoyed our time at this campground. They do have flush toilets now, so that was nice. There is a trail that goes around the lake here that you can walk and there is also a mountain biking trail. We took advantage of both and really enjoyed them! The campground is relatively small, but it was nice! We were there as the leaves were changing and it was great! Our Sprint and Verizon hotspots both got great service here too. We were happy with this campground!

Small campground. Quiet! Near a pretty lake. Noshowers. Bathrooms need upgraded. Beautiful trail to hike around lake.

We stayed here during our 24hr challenge for the Cotopaxi Questival. The campground was a little hard to find but it was nice and quiet! Cute place!