Hocking Hills, Ohio: state campground, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Old Man's Cave, hiking, and more!

June 2019, 3 weeknights, state campground site 58

You can find more photos from this visit in my Facebook album.

Sunset from campsite 58

Advance reservations and arrival

I made our reservation online through the Reserve America system, and chose our campsite. I had initially tried to reserve campsite 65 (I think); however, the system was malfunctioning that day, and I went with what had initially been our second or third choice. After arrival, we decided I had chosen the best site!

We arrived via Highway 664 from 33. This road is curvy and steep in spots. After arriving at the park, you just pull up to the window, if you have a reservation. The person we spoke with did not provide any park information, other than to tell us where to hang our tag, and where to put it when we checked out. She said the camper on our site had not checked out yet, and if they were still there when we got back there, we would have to come back to the front. We were glad the site was empty when we arrived, because the camp road in is also steep and curvy, with barely enough room for one large RV, let along two.

Hocking Hills State Park campsite 58

Campsite 58

This is a fabulous full hook up campsite, and we would choose it again. It is one of the most private full hookup sites in this campground. The pad for campsite 56 is not as close as it looks in the online photos on the website. Also, the dumpster in the area between site 58 and 63 was not close to our campsite at all (I was somewhat unsure about this when looking at their online photo beforehand). The campsites at the end of the road around the loop are actually more clustered, and that area was busier. Before we arrived, I had thought those sites would be in a quieter area, and that the sites would be larger, and they are not. Hocking Hills State Park is a large campground; however, this section where we stayed is the only area with full hookup.

Kentucky: Middle Fork Campground at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Red River Gorge, and more

June 2019, Weekday-weekend, 3 nights

Below Princess Arch in Red River Gorge.

We loved this area when we visited in 2016. We stayed in Whittleton Campground then, and I previously provided a lot of information about that campground and some of the hiking trails. You can click this link for that blog post. I am providing new details in this post.

View from campsite B015 after most campers left on Sunday.
Click photo to enlarge it and see nearby labeled sites.

Middle Fork campsite B015

All of the RV campsites in this campground are the same as the ones in Whittleton with water and 20/30 amp power. Again, some of the hookups are quite a distance away, so extra hose and cord may be needed. 

Another view from campsite B015.
Our first evening before we purchased firewood!

Campsite B015 is in an excellent location on the stream, and would be a great site on quiet weeknights, or if you have kids who want to swim. We would never choose this site on a weekend again, because during our stay, the stream and back of our site became the local swimming hole. We enjoyed a peaceful Friday afternoon along the water when we first arrived, and again later in the day on Sunday after most people had left. It was very noisy on our site Friday evening, and when we returned from hiking Saturday afternoon. The road visible in the photo above only goes inside the park, so traffic from that road was not heavy or bothersome. 

Campsite B014

Slide, Kentucky: Natural Bridge State Resort Park: camping, hiking, and more

September 2016, Weekdays-weekend, 3-nights, Whittleton campsite A029

View of Lookout Point from Natural Bridge

Advance reservations, arrival and check-in

When I looked at the campgrounds online in Natural Bridge State Resort Park, I thought we would want to stay in Middle Fork Campground along the stream. By the time we were ready to make our reservation, all of those sites were either reserved or not suitable, so we reserved a site in Whittleton Campground.

Labeled map

We arrived via Highway 11 from the south. The Whittleton campground sign is a short, small sign at the entrance with no forewarning, and we missed it. We pulled into the next drive north of Whittleton, which was the entrance to the skylift and lodge. We turned around after driving over the entrance bridge because the sign clearly said "No RVs" to the left. We could have also turned around by the skylift, if we had turned right. Even though the map shows a road through the picnic area after turning left, you cannot get through on that road with an RV. There is also a drive into Whittleton campground on the south side of the stream, which is a dead end with no turn around. If you happen to miss the main drive arriving from the north with an RV, I do not suggest pulling into that drive. You can enlarge the labeled map I have inserted here by clicking on it.

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky / National Park Campground, Cave Tours, and more

September 2016, Weekend-weekday, 3-nights, Campsite 71

Domes & Dripstones Cave Tour; info at the end of this post

Reservations, arrival, check-in

We wanted to reserve a campsite at Mammoth Cave National Park before our arrival; however, the park stops accepting campground reservations for the season on September 15th, which was a few days before our stay. You can still make reservations for the tours, although not the campground.

When we arrived, the ranger told us to turn in Loop C, find a site that we fit on, and then come back and pay. The cost was $20 per night, and we could pay by check or credit card.

Campground map; click to enlarge

Campsite 71

We had walked through this campground a year earlier when we passed through the area. At that time, we had thought sites 71, 73, and 80 were all good sites. We did not notice the traffic direction until we drove into the campground; all of the perimeter sites in Loop C are on the wrong side of the road to pull in with an RV (unless you want to face the road instead of your fire pit!). We decided to turn around through site 72, and then we chose site 71. Fortunately, there was not much traffic when we left, because we did not try to turn around again at that time. We passed one non-camping vehicle on our way out, and he pulled off the road to let us by.

View from our camper on site 71