I recently found out about the Jesse Owens State Park while scouring the internet for camping spots in Ohio. One article listed about a dozen free places to camp, and this state park was one of them.

Free camping?? Heck yeah!

Update: I just visited in October 2024, and they’re running lines for water. I also heard electricity may be wired in, and that the park will then charge $7 per night to stay.

My wonderful campsite at Sand Hollow! It was spacious, had trees on either side for privacy, and was right on the lake.

The History of Jesse Owens State Park

Like many other Appalachian areas, southeastern Ohio had a huge mining industry. From roughly 1800 to 1947, the mining companies largely did as they pleased with no regulations as to mining standards. Beginning in 1947, however, regulations started to come into play mandating that reclamation of mined lands be performed.

In 1959, this Division of Reclamation was transferred from the Ohio Department of Agriculture to the Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). In 1972, the strip mines of Ohio were mandated to approximate the pre-mining contour of the land, complete with topsoil and vegetation cover. At the time, it was the most comprehensive strip mine law in the country.

Improvements and reclamation progress continued, and in 1998 AEP’s ReCreation land in southeast Ohio was recognized by ODNR as being the largest single outdoor recreation facility in the state. The region offers camping, hiking, boating, hunting, fishing, biking, and horseback trails, all free of charge.

In 2018, a portion of this ReCreation land became Ohio’s 75^th state park. Ohio Governor Kasich named the park in honor of Olympian Jesse Owens who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

On a side note, Mr. Owens has a pretty fascinating life story! He’s not only set records, but he’s a black American who raced in Berlin while Hitler was in power. Yeah. Intense. If you have a minute, go check out Mr. Owens’s story.

Setting up the JetBoil to make coffee in the morning.

Camping at Jesse Owens State Park

The park offers four campgrounds, all free to the public. Each one seems to have its own vibe, so it may be worth driving through each one before you settle on a campsite. This will also give you an idea how many open sites are left.

Every campsite has a picnic table and fire pit. Most of the sites are either shaded or at least partially shaded. Depending on where you go, you could find a site tucked back into the trees and away from passersby, or a couple sites closer together, perfect for when all the friends want to go camping and tell campfire stories.

At the time of my stay, I didn’t have a chance to drive through the Sawmill Road Campground, so I can’t report as to the vibe or layout of that one.

Maple Grove Campground appears quite a bit smaller than the others, but there were several campsites available. The campground is right beside the road with a few sites right beside the road, as well as a couple tucked in by the trees at the cul-de-sac and several sites in between. I was able to get 4G serivce with Verizon at this site, if that is important to you.

Sand Hollow Campground

This was the campground where I had decided to stay, largely because I wanted the lake adjacent to my campsite. This certainly makes for a picturesque campsite, but it also means there are TONS of mosquitoes in warmer months! This campground is also located further from the road, though traffic noise is still audible because it’s just so quiet in that rural area.

I couldn’t get any Verizon service within the campground, but I could get service once I hit the road.

This campground is also pretty long, though, so there are a number of campsites further from the lake. There also weren’t as many people at the sites further from the entrance, so this may be preferable if you’re going for solitude. And don’t worry, you’ll know when you reach the end of the campground as there will be obvious signs designating the border and indicating private property.

There is a small shelter house, parking, and a boat launch near the entrance. If you plan to fish from your campsite, the first handful of sites have water access. If you take a kayak or SUP, I recommend going to the boat launch. I had planned on using my lake access at the site to launch my SUP. However, there’s some silt and lake muck at the end, as well as some tree stumps nearby that would have made launching difficult.

Hook Lake Campground

Hook Lake is quite different from Sand Hollow. For one thing, the road in the campground makes a loop that returns to the entrance, as opposed to the straight road at Sand Hollow. Hook Lake also seems more family-friendly, with a much larger shelter, more room to stand around the lake, and a playground near the lake and shelter.

Similar to Sand Hollow, though, the campsites are all varied in size, privacy, and pad size. It’s definitely worth doing a lap to check out the available sites before picking one, unless you just happen to find that perfect campsite.

Morning fog on the lake right by my campsite.

Campsite Registration

Self-registration is required for these campgrounds. Once you enter any of the campgrounds, you’ll find a map along with a couple of boxes attached. One has blank registration forms, the other is where you can drop off your completed slip. (Bring your own pen!) You can pick up a registration form as soon as you enter and take it with you as you search for your site, or you can claim your spot and then return for a slip. Be sure you fill it out, though, as each morning a gentleman drives by to be sure that claimed sites have a registration form.

The self-registration stand at Sand Hollow campground. The black mailbox in the middle has blank forms, while the silver mailbox on the right holds completed forms.

Good To Know

One very important thing to note is that these four campgrounds DO NOT have water or electricity! If you’re into boondocking and tent camping, then this is a great place to be. But plan ahead and bring plenty of water, not only for drinking and cooking but also for putting out your campfires. (Double check the ODNR website to ensure there is no burn ban in effect!)

All of these campsites are based on a first come, first serve basis, and you can stay for a maximum of two weeks. Pretty darn cool if you just need to get away from society for a bit! If you live relatively close, this can also be a good place to test out any camping gear or setups you have before going on a larger trip further from home.

Speaking of, cell phone reception and data may be minimal, or non-existent. This can be great for disconnecting from the world for a bit, but be sure to plan for no communication, just in case. If emergency communication and texting are important to you, I highly recommend a Garmin InReach! I have one for camping and backpacking, and I love it!

Each campground has a pit toilet (or a few, if it’s larger). Obviously pit toilets don’t smell or look appealing, but the few I used were still in pretty good shape as far as latrines go. They were at least stocked with toilet paper, which is always a plus. If you’re in an RV and have a toilet, this may not matter, but consider latrine locations when you pick out your campsite.

As with any campground, this park has some pros and cons. Here are a few listed out:

Pros

Free!

Relatively quiet

Fishing in stocked ponds

Often more space at sites than some of the other state parks

You can stay for two weeks

Because there’s no reservation, it can be a last-minute decision to go

Cons

No water or electricity

No showers

Bring in your own firewood (keep it local to avoid spreading pests)

Sites and pads vary per site, some better for tents, some large enough for RVs

Tons of bugs, especially near the water

First come first serve, so may be busy or may not have the best options of open sites

Big Muskie, located at nearby Miner’s Memorial Park, is a pretty impressive sight!

Nearby Attractions

I personally stayed put at my campsite the couple days I was there. The purpose of my stay was for reading and relaxing in my hammock. (Plenty of sites offer trees for hammocks, by the way, so bring one if you have it!) If, however, you’d like to get out and about, there are some nearby attractions that are worth a stop.

On the edge of the state park, near Maple Grove campground, is Miner’s Memorial Park. The park has boards with information about the mining history of the area. It’s also home to Big Muskie, the bucket from the world’s largest drag line ever built, and was one of the seven engineering wonders of the world when it was built in 1967. Even if mining and engineering feats aren’t your thing, Big Muskie is still worth a quick visit. This thing is HUGE!

Whether you have kids with you or just enjoy animals and the outdoors, I recommend a trip to The Wilds. It’s the largest conservation center in North America, and also happens to be located on reclaimed mining lands. The Wilds offers outdoor safaris in both closed and open window vehicles, as well as ziplining. Basically, imagine a zoo, but without all the fencing so animals can come right up to the safari vehicles.

Final Thoughts

I loved my stay at Jesse Owens State Park! I appreciated having a free place to go for a couple days of quiet “me” time to disconnect. I also had enough space and privacy at my site that I didn’t feel like other campers were on top of me.

I will say that, if you have young kids, they may not enjoy these campgrounds as much as other state park campgrounds. The bathrooms aren’t as nice and there’s not usually a playground. But if your kids just like camping, the outdoors, and maybe fishing, they very well may love it. As a childless adult, I appreciated that there weren’t many kids at these sites as it was quieter and felt closer to nature.

These campgrounds attracted all sorts of folks – one of the great things about nature and state parks. There were families, singles, younger, older, hunters, and tree huggers, all camping out and enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. And really, that’s what it’s all about, appreciating nature and our public lands.

Have you been to Jesse Owens State Park? Let me know in the comments what you thought of it or if you have any other recommendations for staying here!

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