lake hope state park

Been coming here since the 1970's. Always great memories on the many trails. Not too far from the hocking hills area, yet secluded and out of the way.

Lake Hope is our go-to getaway place. We've spent Thanksgiving here a couple of times. Woodburner cabin kitchens are equipped well enough to cook a turkey and fixings! It's a serene and beautiful setting and the cabins are kept clean and comfortable. Do not be surprised to find evidence of mice, since you are staying out in the woods in a cabin. Keep your food in the fridge, clean up after meals and don't leave anything sitting out for the critters!

I admit...I am biased. I have been coming to Lake Hope since I was a young girl. We love the hiking, the beach, the boat and canoe rentals, the various types of cabins, the history of the old iron furnaces and the nature center. Part of the Buckeye Trail even runs through the area, as does the Zaleski Backpack Trail. If you enjoy the outdoors, this park is well worth a visit. On this trip, we hiked the Peninsula Trail. We were amazed at how many beaver lodges were built along the lake. In addition, the forest is clearlya very happy ecosystem because moss and algae completely cover downed trees as well as rocks.

I live about 10 miles from Lake Hope and visit frequently in the warmer months. It has a great boat drop right off the highway which makes it super easy to unload/load on your own. As long as the lake isn't super crowded (which it hardly ever is) it's a great afternoon getaway.

Went there last year with a group of ladies for a weekend "Spirituality Retreat". The whole area itself was pretty, the cabin was one of the bigger ones and it was fully stocked with almost anything you would need exept food of course, and the lake/beach area was huge, and clean. The staff down at the lake was very helpful and friendly and the boat rentals were priced very reasonably. The beach area had full facilities and was very clean. On our area in the park where we had multiple cabins rented there was this historical decent sized graveyard. There were postings about old stories from the graveyard about it being haunted and me and a few of the ladies had fun walking down there around 2am or so. It was a warm quiet night, and there was fog and crunchy leaves all along the ground making for a quite creepy little adventure, a couple of the ladies were so wigged out they would not even enter. The lodge was nice and had great food as well. Pleanty of other attractions in the area, like the gunrange we went to, and even went to an awesome zip line course not far from the park when we packed up and head out. We had a great time. I would deffinitly go back to Lake Hope.

We've stayed in a cabin twice now and thoroughly enjoyed each visit. If you go don't expect fancy accommodations. But they are clean and more than adequate. The cabins have heat and A/C, outdoor grills, and a complete kitchen. The kitchen has basic equipment utensils and pots/pans. So don't expect to cook a fancy meal unless you bring some things of your own. But it does have coffee pot, toaster, microwave, fridge, oven/stove. The cost is very reasonable. The park itself has many amenities and is certainly less crowded than others, such as Old Man's Cave. The new Lodge, rebuilt after the older one burned, is very nicely done and has an excellent restaurant serving lunch and dinner plus a Sunday brunch

We stayed in Cabin 15, Iron Furnace, during Labor Day Weekend. Lake Hope has wonderful facilities and a great area for hikes, swimming, boating; you name it! It's amazing what great condition the cabins are for how old they are. The staff do a wonderful job with upkeep. The cabin has just the basics for a wonderful weekend. I would recommend this place to anyone. A word of caution - our cabin was pet friendly (although we didn't have a pet). We went home with countless flea bites and I would not recommend pet friendly cabins for people with little ones who crawl. The floor was a mess with pet fur.Also, don't get fooled by the trail listed on the map that runs from the 1-20/60-66 cabins to the beach. It doesn't exist...and we found out the hard way. In general, we found the trails to be a bit confusing and not well marked.

It would be very hard to recommend this campground. The sites are all very close to the road, the narrow road with NO shoulder is unsafe for walking or biking. To top it all off, there are no flush toilets in the entire campground and only two shower houses which most campers would need to drive to. It is very hard to find a level site, and they are very close together. We will not be returning.On a positive note, the Sunday brunch at the lodge was delicious!

A beautiful area with a variety of activities, such as backpacking, camping, boating, and biking. The nature center offers lectures, discussions, and nature hikes with a trained naturalist. Backpacking wasn't so great, as privacy wasn't observed, and several other backpackers brought LOUD music and barking dogs.

I have been going to Lake Hope for the past 8 years now. there is a reason why I always come back and never consider going anywhere else. I choose the same campsite every time, always walk the same trails, go fishing in the same spot and can always be assured that I am going to have the best experience ever. the Park offers great variety on hiking trails, though I tend to stay clear of the Backpacking trail because it does tend to get quickly populated but there are plenty of other places as well. I Take my dogs there all the time and I took my German Shepherd there for the first time last fall, and I have never seen her so happy. I recommend this place to all my friends and anyone who loves camping because you cant find a lot of primitive places to camp anymore. they seem to be just RV parks. I take the drive from Columbus any day to camp at lake hope.

We have been meeting our family here since 2007. You can't beat the value of the cabins for what you get...fully equipped, a/ced, 2 bedrooms, outdoor porch, fire pit. We book early so we can get cabins in a row which helps our visiting and dinner sharing. Some members argue that there isn't enough to do. But our purpose is to visit with our family and by not having many distractions, we can catch up with them over the year. Note-there are many activities provided by the park, they just aren't the touristy ones these particular family members want. There is swimming, canoeing, nature talks, horseback riding, historical sites of the furnaces. And now that the lodge is open with a terrific restaurant, we will continue to meet our family here.

I stayed three nights for kayaking and hiking. A clean and cozy log cabin. The place is so quiete with no cell phone coverage: you can really relax over there. The Lake hope is quiet and beautiful. Just two hours of drive from Columbus, but it feels like a remote, isolated rural area.

Depends on what you want but if you come for adventure and exploration of the history and mystery of Vinton and Athens county I highly recommend this state park. Our kids are 11 and 14. We went to Moonville, the Iron Furnace, the school house, hiking, canoeing. The lodge food is great! A large smoker is onsite and local ingredients are used for their very satisfying meals. We stayed in a dog friendly cabin. We all thought it was good. Nelsonville about 15-20 minutes away has an interesting square, shops and a coffee shop. They were hosting a big annual music festival May 29-Jun1

We spent a great weekend at the end of April at the cabins at Lake Hope State Park. We stayed in Cabin 52. It sits at the end of the access road and is perfectly private. The cabin is in good shape and everything (including the DVD player) worked great. The only thing to worry about is not passing by the cabin on the access road. We walked over to the Moonville Tunnel and visited the nature center. All in all a wonderful. relaxing weekend.

Had .a chance to have a mini-family reunion at Lake Hope State Park. We rented 4 cabins at the site, and hosted 8 adults and 7 children ages 2 to 5. We all had a marvelous time... hiking, fishing, spinning yarns around the campfire at night, etc. Whole trip was a real memory builder for all of us. We dined one night in the restaurant at the Lodge. Waitstaff were courteous, efficient, and made sure that everyone was satisfied. The food was superb in all respects. The cabins are very well maintained, and outfitted with all the necessities you really would need. Particularly nice were the huge stone hearth fireplaces in each unit. I will look forward to our next visit to Lake Hope State Park... and would enthusiastically recommend it to everyone. Ohio has done itself proud with their State and MetroPark systems.