Cleveland/ Sudusky Jellystone Park

I can't stress enough what an awesome experience this was for my family. We booked five cabins for a large family camping weekend. When I booked them online, we had cabins right next to each other. I (stupidly) didn't pay the fee to lock in the sites - and wouldn't you know it, when we arrived, our sites were different, leaving one group far away from the rest. The assistant manager (Callie?) went above and beyond to move things around and put us all together again - something she did NOT have to do, as it was my oversight to not lock in our cabins.

As far as the campground, itself, everything was fantastic! We had "kids" aged 3-25 and every one of them enjoyed all that they had to offer. The obstacle course in the lake was the highlight of the trip! There were multiple activities to partake in - including a slip-n-slide filled with foam! We also used the pool, jumping area, kayaks, and basketball hoops. Lastly, the fishing was great - we caught a few catfish, bass, and bluegills. Ranger Mark even came around and spent a while giving my 10-year-old tips and tricks, as he was struggling to catch anything.

When it comes to the cabins, they can't be beat! We've stayed at multiple campgrounds in Ohio and these were BY FAR the nicest and CLEANEST that we have ever stayed in! Splurge and rent the bedding, you won't regret it.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to check out the new pool, as they are still waiting on the final inspection, but it looks AWESOME and we can't wait to use it when we come back next year!

This was our 3rd year camping there. We debated after our 2022 trip with our friends to come back due the price increase. We decided to come again because it is a central spot for us and we heard & saw there was a new big pool which was a huge selling point for us as we have kids of all ages.

Well…. It was a disappointing experience as soon as we arrived.

1. We reserved our same spot as the last two years & paid the extra site hold fee they require. When we arrived we were told they cancelled our friends spot next to us and moved them to a different spot behind us due to construction. We were never informed of this decision. Well, there was another camper there at the spot we had booked and they cancelled on us. We learned they cancelled our friends spot and then booked another family after they cancelled us. They did give us a free night” refund”. But we were pretty disappointed right off the bat with all the confusion and displacement. We shook it off as best we could that first night to enjoy our time together…but sadly another disappointment came the next day.

2. We learned the new resort pool was closed and would not be open at all the week we were there. That was a huge disappointment when both families traveled 5 plus hours to this campground and the new pool was now not open….even though it was promoted in social media as open in past posts. The old pool was open but it was dirty and murky. I had to skim it one day as it was obvious it was not cared for at all that day. (hair, leaves and debris floating in it). We only swam in it twice that week and the 2nd time a dead mouse was found by one of our kids in the pool filter area. Gross. We were done with the pool.

3. The Wibits are great. Our kids loved them and they saved the trip for sure. I do suggest bringing your own life jacket for your kids, we found on the weekend it was quite busy and they didn’t have enough life jackets…especially different sizes that you may need for a family.

4. It’s gotten really expensive. Over $100 a night for a family of four to camp there in a camper.

5. There is a lot of construction going on!! And the road into the campground was really rough due to the construction.

6. We were told the bathrooms were not great by some in our group. I personally didn’t use them, but that was mentioned several times during the week.

7. Just a heads up. It is not close to anything. We did day trips into Cleveland, and looked for things to do off site with our kids, but you do have to drive a distance to get anywhere….even the closest town is a bit of a drive.

8. The laundry machines never worked consistently. We tried to do laundry for two days and had issues with both washers and dryers and our first attempt we asked for help, it never came...so we waited for a dryer to open up that was still working.

9. The gem mining water spout was not working. They had a hose at the top so it was not as fun for the kids like they remember in the past. Yet the price to gem mine was the same.

10. If the campground sees this review, one tip I would suggest with the yogi character riding by campsites is to stop and wave and the kids. We had a very excited three year old who would see the golf cart go by several times that week with one of the characters and they would never stop, just drove right by, didn’t even slow down! It happened a couple times & we remember in the past them stopping for a picture or at least slowing down and waving to our kids. Not sure what that was all about that week. :/

We made the best of it however…

Just to many things not showing us the value of what we paid to be there. So many things just didn’t work well there and when you pay over $100/night for a campground you have a higher expectation.

I am sure it will be nice when the construction is done in a couple years but the price tag is steep to camp there now (increased quite a bit since three years prior) and after our recent experiences we will not be back and are currently looking for a new spot to camp with our friends next year.

Our family had a great couple days here. It was only a 40 minute drive from our house. The Ranger Smith cabin was clean and conveniently located on the lake. We enjoyed being able to walk right outside our cabin to fish. Yes, there is construction going on, but it didn’t put a damper on our visit at all. We are looking forward to going back to see it once everything is complete. My kid had a blast on the Wibit inflatables and using the kayaks. He stayed out there for basically the whole afternoon and made many friends. He also enjoyed the rock climbing wall, basketball court, and bounce pad. I like that they have activities lined up throughout the day. The staff was all very friendly and helpful. My only complaint would be that they are too good at picking up sticks on the property, because we had a hard time finding sticks when it was time to get the fire going! Lol. The firewood bundles aren’t too expensive, so we just used our hatchet to chop up a couple pieces to use as “sticks” for building the fire. I was worried it would be a loud campground since it is more kid friendly, but I was surprised at how nice and quiet it is. Maybe it’s because we came in the middle of the week, but I am really looking forward to coming back next year. It was a perfect little getaway for us. Thanks Dave and crew!

Giving 3 stars because we did enjoy some parts of the campground. We camped here the first time Labor day weekend. Ranger Mark is Awesome. "HEY HEY". THE Bathrooms are nasty and definitely not kept up the way they should be. To only have 3 showers/ bathrooms in the main camping area for 43 acres is awful. No ventilation in the bathrooms and floors slippery when wet they need mats down at the shower. People were using paper towels on the floors to sop up standing water. Big NEW pool opened late and the excuse given was the teenager overslept, and teenagers don't like to work. Rock wall not open or in use as advertised at all the whole weekend. My kids had fun which was the most important thing but I felt management was a little rude at times felt like he didn't want to deal with us/ people which is unfortunate. We camped A lot but are still undecided if we will return or not. Bring plenty of changes of close as well because there's only one working washer and one working dryer. The camp store has very little stock of food I think maybe there was one package of hot dogs in the fridge area when I was there. They have more merchandise than they do anything. There is not a store very close to the campground so it was very disappointing to know that we would have to leave the campground if we needed any food supplies as they did not have any there. The closest grocery store was about 40 minutes away. They also need better signage. We did not see a sign letting us know we were coming up on the campground until we were literally on top of it.