Rocky Fork State Park Campground

Also plenty of hammock trees

I used to spend a lot of time on this lake as a youth. So we decided to come back and stay at the campground. It’s a pretty typical busy state park campground. It’s pretty clean, has putt putt and a disc golf course. Lots of people relatively close to one another. We only ha e power at our site but that’s cool with us. We also have some shade which is turning out to be a good thing. Don’t expect solitude or privacy but you should t expect that anyway given the location. Oh. And he have good ice cream. Who doesn’t love ice cream?

This isn't a terrible park. The sites are big enough, but right beside one another. The pull through we had was along the side of the road, running parallel. So, our picnic table was 5 feet from the road. It was super busy on the weekend, lots of traffic outside our RV. We had an electric only site, but they provided stations to dump your dish washing water etc. to conserve your gray tank space. There were a good number of bath houses, so you never had to walk too far. Hillsboro is not too far away and they have several restaurants, Wal-Mart, Kroger etc. This isn't what I think of when I see the property is a State Park. This is more of the RV "Resort" styles. The sites on the lower level, near the water were on grass. They looked nice, but we read that they flood when it rains. We wouldn't do this again for an extended stay. For an overnight, probably.

We broke our own cardinal rule, don’t travel unfamiliar roads at night. We were blessed as the journey to the park was uneventful, but we missed some wonderful countryside. Upon arrival at Rocky Fork we realized even with a map it took 40 minutes to find our site. This was not so much due to the darkness as it was to the poor road and site markings. The camp grounds we stayed in was nearly full and had every conceivable form of camping from tents to full size motor coaches. There were a few that appeared to have been here for sometime and that doesn’t bother us other than their site wasn’t getting yard of the month.The surrounding campers were very friendly and eager to share more local attractions. For us south Louisiana Cajuns the mild weather was a blessing, coolest night was in the 50’s 😎. We are fast becoming eastern Ohio fans. We plan on two more Ohio park stops as we move northerly. Stay tuned to the adventures of the Lost Cajuns.

Check-in was fine. Site was fine. Lake was fine. Just nothing special about this place. It rained every day we were here, so maybe that had something to do with our experience. We stayed in site 85 which was in the upper campground. There we not a lot of other campers in our loop but if it was full there wouldn't have been much privacy. Site was a fairly level asphalt pad. There were site's down by the lake as well. That area seemed pretty full. Laundry room was small, 2 washers and 2 dryers in each bathhouse. We checked one of the other bathhouses and both washers were out of order. If you live in the area, this could be a fun place for a weekend. But that's about it. Price included $8 Reserve America fee.

Hillsboro, Ohio – Rocky Fork State Park
We stayed at this state park for a week when we were visiting the Ohio Renaissance Festival and the area earthworks/burial grounds. It’s a lovely campground that has 2 levels. The upper level has mixed sites for tents, groups and RV’s. It seems older and sites are smaller. There are bathhouses up in that area. We stayed in the lower level that has concrete sites, power, water and sewer (that we found out reading the fine print is ONLY for gray water, not black tank). Our site had a picnic table and fire ring. We were 4 rows from the water. This is a great park for kids and groups! While we didn’t have much for trees and shade the sites were large, there is lots of space for kids to bike and play, a putt-putt course, disc golf, and playgrounds. There is also a marina and boat launch.

The good: We stayed in the upper campground and overall liked the site itself. Plenty of shade and a nice corner site (#165 full hookup) backing up to trees that only needed a slight bit of leveling. Our site was very tight to maneuver into though. My husband is a truck driver so it was no problem for him to back in our 29 foot travel trailer but less confident folks or those with larger rigs may find some of the sites difficult in the upper level.
The camp store was nice and clean and we liked that there was mini golf within walking distance. Campers around us were quiet, friendly and considerate during our stay during weekdays. There was an old and really tall (like ‘70’s-‘80’s era) metal slide near our site that gave me flashbacks from my childhood that my girls ages 7 and 10 and lots of other kids there enjoyed!
Now for the bad: The goose poop. Everywhere in the lower section. Not bad in the upper section but it was horrible everywhere else. It made walking our dogs a nightmare because of course they were trying to eat it at all times. It was all over the mini golf course too which was gross if your ball happened to roll through it. The main beach was several miles drive away and unfortunately was too disgusting with goose poop in the grass and sand that we could not find a decent place to put our things down. So we left and decided to try the smaller south beach which was like a 10-15 min drive on the other side of the lake. It was still poopy but not quite as bad. We were hot and tired and decided to give it a chance. We were the only people there for while but the waters edge was slimy and poopy so water shoes were a must. One of my kids didn’t keep their mouth closed in the water and got bad diarrhea afterwards. Ugh.
All in all, really not much going on if you don’t have a boat or aren’t fishing. I think if the park got some goose deterring dogs in walking and recreation areas or kept up with cleaning (no excuse for the mini golf to have crap all over it) it would be more enjoyable. For our family it was fun at the campsite but not great elsewhere in the park.

I camped one weeknight on a non-electric site in late April. This is an older campground built for folks to take advantage of fishing and boating on Rocky Fork Lake. The layout is haphazard and directional signs guiding you to your campsite are almost non-existent. Ohio charges a $6.50 reservation fee, so my total bill was $29.50. If you have a bigger rig, be sure to check with the office to confirm site pad lengths and access. Lengths vary wildly and some pads are far from level. Positives include clean (but old) restrooms, a nice camp store, convenient dump stations and lots of great hiking nearby (Arc of Appalachia Preserves). The campground felt safe and drive-through traffic was minimal. The biggest negative for the site I chose (39) was road noise - it was bad. Also, there's not a whole lot of tree cover on most sites. Overall, it's not a camping experience that stands out to me. Paint Creek State Park nearby offers a more interesting and scenic camping experience, especially for smaller rigs, pop-ups and camper vans.