Annual Group Campout at Ohio’s Stonelick State Park

As summer winds down and we are back in the chaos of the school year, I like to reminisce about some of the great trips we took over the break.  One of our favorite summer traditions is the annual camping trip we take to Stonelick State Park.  Located about 45 minutes away from our house in Cincinnati, we head there each year for a camp out with a fun group of friends- usually 8 families in all.  While the park is nice with basic amenities, this is not really a trip about scenery.  It’s about having fun outside with our friends.  We bring outdoor games and a ton of food and drink and basically hang out together renting canoes, playing at the beach, hiking and relaxing. One of our group even hauled in a full grill this year.  It was awesome! We look forward to this trip every year. This year was especially fun as my niece and nephews were visiting us during our campout so they got to come with us.  We also had the added bonus of Dave and his friends throwing a concert at the amphitheater which was a blast.

Stonelick State Park:

If you go–

–The park puts on free movies on Saturday nights over the summer complete with popcorn at the Amphitheater.  We bring glow sticks for the kids to wear here.

–While this park suits our needs perfectly as a fun place to go group camping, it is not a peaceful campground.  The sites are pretty close together and don’t have many trees or shrubs separating them from each other. Since our group is so large, we can be a pretty loud bunch and we still can always hear other groups somewhat late into the night.

–Both canoes and kayaks are available to rent which the kids love taking turns on.

–While there is a camp store that sells firewood and ice, stock up before you come.  There aren’t many stores or restaurants nearby.

All in all, this is a fun park to visit for a short trip and we look forward to having a good time with great friends every year.

Have you gone camping with a large group?  I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Travels!