Granville State Forest

My partner and I have been making our rounds at staying at local state forests, and we have had relatively good luck until we got to this one.

I was waiting in the car while my partner went and checked us in, and when he came out he said, “That was weird.” First, the dude asked who was camping with my partner, and he said, “Just my wife and me,” and the guy peered to see our car and who was in it, and continued to ask, “No one else?” My partner was like, “No. Me and my wife are just spending one night here.” The guy was skeptical, but continued with over explaining the rules. My partner had expressed that he understood the rules, and repeated that him and I have done this before, but the guy wouldn’t let up. He kept Going over them, emphasizing the “no alcohol” policy, highlighting and circling it, even. My partner told the guy that we are both sober people the first time he had explained the rules, but he felt the need to mention it again. Maybe this is common practice, but it’s a real turn-off for hospitality.

We got to the site and were immensely underwhelmed. The campsite, as another reviewer mentioned, was on a road, apparently near a wellhead, so we had to park in the lot around the corner, which we could see through the trees, past another campsite. The camps were so tightly packed, looking up and seeing a neighbor in every direction, or walking through someone’s camp going to the bathroom, accidentally finding yourself through another camp getting back to your own; it felt like a city train, just surrounded by people, which is what we were trying to avoid.

We made the best of it anyway, and had a good night, and morning, and when we had finally packed up all our stuff, I wanted to take stupid selfies with my partner and, quite literally, just as we were about to take one more where I wanted to sweetly give my partner a peck on the cheek, this guy rolls up on an ATV. I was mid picture taking, phone in the air, arm around my partner, but staring at the guy getting out and walking towards us. I wasn’t going to snap pictures with this dude staring at us so I put the phone down and said we were about to leave. He parroted most of what we said, but didn’t say much without being spoken to. Told us someone was renting our site tonight, and we were like, “Okay? It’s not us.” And he checked his watch and mumbled something about time, and we were like, “What time is it?” And he said, “Oh. Don’t worry, check out isn’t until 11, you guys have plenty of time.” I made a point to check, it was 9:12. He stood there some more and mumbled other stuff, and was just like, “So, you’re leaving?” And we said yeah, and he walked back to the ATV and drove off. Didn’t harass our neighbors, the people up the road, no one on the other side of the woods by the mirrored street, just us…

I still got my selfie, but was peeved about the interaction, and my partner told me that was the check-in guy.

I don’t feel good about this stay, the set up, or the overwhelming uncomfortable vibes overall. Definitely won’t be camping here again.

It is my great priviledge and joy to live adjacent to this magical place. A fully thriving natural ecosystem, it's a beautiful example of a foothills biome. The Hubbard River runs through this terrain, it is beautiful and dynamic in all seasons. Some of the most beautiful wild hiking, as well as curated trails in southwest Hampden County.

Here live Moose, White Tail Deer, Black Bear, Fisher Cats, Bald Eagles, Barred Owls, Red Foxes, Eastern Coyotes (Coyotes/Grey Timber Wolf naturally occurring hybrid), myriad species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians. This forest is a nature lovers' refuge, a scientific thinkers' and mycology enthusiasts' paradise!

If you visit, please remember this forest is a unified being with a Mycorrhizal Network that has an a very old and established relationship with the forest. Like I said, Magical!

A great place to unwind and detox from hectic work and hustle and bustle.

We arrived late, checked in, very helpful at headquarters. . He even brought the wood we bought($7) to our car. I've read in reviews they do that to check if you have alcohol( prohibited) and they will ask you to leave if you do have any.

If you're camping to party, this is NOT for you.

22 campsites. Some on the side of the quiet road, but most on off road, we chose a site near the camp trail for hiking, it was fabulous, quiet.

The bathrooms/showers were a very quick walk. Showers were SO HOT! Bathroom's clean.

Potable water outside. Big huge restaurant quality sink to clean your dishes in.

Bear boxes at every site that when checking in,headquarters they will tell you to absolutely use them. Maybe a bit overkill on the warning, but I wasn't taking any risks and everything fit in there perfectly.

Also told not to leave anything with scent or food in your car because a bear can damage the car.

Hooting owls at night.

Hiking trails were an easy/ moderate... Lead to a small waterfall that poured into a pool. Signs everywhere for no jumping off the rocks or swimming. But I'm very sure people swim here.

I feel like this campground is geared more to adults that are trying to unwind,but there were families with kids and they were awesome. They all were playing outdoor games and enjoying the outside.

Quiet time is 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. and everyone abided it.

Fire pits in each site.

Some sites have a drop off behind them, not dangerous, but if you have little ones I would be cautious.

I look forward to visiting again next year