Great place to go hiking. The Sycamore Trail is fun to hike. You can also go fossil hunting. Go see the new Covered Bridge. And the many little step waterfalls all through the park. Or just take a lazy drive around the main Loop.
Pro Shop closed but course is open. 10 bucks for all day using self registration. One of best deals around. Course is in good shape. Lots of roll due to the frozen fairways. On #11, able to bounce pitch off of frozen lake on to green. Finished round in 2 h 45 min.
Part of the park is a nature preserve where dogs are not allowed. I also recommend checking water quality before allowing your pets in the water. It's a beautiful park with many things to do.
The state park and the Lodge have been one of the pleasures and Mainstays of my life since I was a child. There is no place I would rather go to relax and get away from everything.
My wife and I are leaving this morning to spend a few days at one of the cabins that are available from the lodge
Below is a photo of The View from the picture window of our Cottage; next is a picture of the couples Cottage where we stayed, the smallest of the available cabins.
Now we have finished our delightful visit and even though we came in November and the temperature reached 25 and windy our little cabin was as tight as a drum and no drafts. The amenities of the lodge are available to us without cost, swimming, free board games and DVD movies for us to watch.
Call the front desk for the best rates and specials. We received the seniors midweek discount since we are both over 55, so it was only $75 per night plus tax. I know that was a limited-time offer but I'm sure they will always have specials of one kind or another.
It's just ok. We used to camp here a lot buy stopped because we found much better places to camp. People who have never been elsewhere love it. It's very outdated and for some reason there are ALWAYS very unruly kids everywhere on weekends. We thought it must be how it is camping but no, this is the only campground where we've had this problem. They do not enforce quiet time which was an issue also. We discovered last time that a few of the unruly kids were in fact the grandchildren of the hosts. My child could never use the playgrounds due to bullies.
Always have a good time here whether camping or spending the day. Plenty of things to do in the great outdoors. Just wish the archery trail was maintained a little better. Grass was too tall for the kids to walk through to get to the targets.
Very family friendly! They had a luau with very affordable concessions. The campsites could use more grass but overall nice. Playground was nice and the shower house was cleaned multiple times while we were there. We were bummed about how they do the boat rentals. They only have 2 big boats and it's first come first serve. We got there at 11 and the 2 big ones were gone and there isn't a time limit on them. So one guy had the boat for 8 hrs. The next for 3. You have to write your name on a list and wait there until the boat comes back. They won't call you it was a little ridiculous. The hose rentals was also closed to thay left the beach and the nature center. Nature center isn't big and most of the animals were gone but we caught a bird show which was nice. Get more boats, handle the rentals better and open the horse rentals back up then it'd be a 5 start place.
We have been going here for years. A favorite activity is renting a pontoon boat and hanging out at the lake. We called ahead to make sure the marina was open on Sundays and would have a boat available. We were told they had plenty and would be open. On Sunday, we went to the lake for our boating adventure and was told THEY ONLY HAD 1 PONTOON BOAT RUNNING & IT HAD BEEN RENTED FOR THE ENTIRE DAY!!!! We were very upset because that was the primary reason we choose to stay at this park. I called the lodge front desk to complain & spoke to Mia. She said the Marina is owned by the State of Ohio & there was nothing they could do. I told her we made our cabin reservations through them and I asked if they would give us some kind of refund. I explained that the pontoon boat rental was our reason for coming. She continued to say I had to call the Park Office. She gave me the phone number, but of course they were closed on Sundays!!!!!
THE PARK ADVERTISES ALL THESE ACTIVITIES BUT THEY DON'T TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY IF A PROBLEM HAPPENS. THERE IS NO ONE TO MAKE SURE CUSTOMERS ARE SATISFIED. WE PAID A LOT FOR THE CABIN & THE FRONT DESK REFUSED TO GIVE US ANY CONSIDERATION FOR A RUINED TRIP.
We will NOT be returning to Houston Woods. Besides the Marina issue, the park has not aged well. The trails are overgrown, the beach is a joke, and the Lodge is in dire need of a makeover inside and out. The lobby smells musty and has been neglected. The cell phone service is terrible and made it impossible to participate in GEOCACHING.
DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY -- Find another place to camp!
We visited the lodge on a rainy day just because we wanted to take a short road trip. The lodge has seen better days due to age but when you walk inside it has that wonderful welcoming and warm feeling. Very rustic with modern conveniences. The gift shop is small but has some sweet gifts for sale; some are from local artists.
There are several nooks in which you can relax and when the weather is nice there is a pool to enjoy.
We would like to return for a weekend stay.
Nice quiet campground that weekend (not many around). Lots of shade at the primitive campgrounds which was nice. The public beach left much to be desired.
This is a great outdoor space for anyone looking to get away from the city for a while. There are plenty of hiking trails that aren't very challenging and a large lake to kayak around. Such a perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Has been my favorite state Park since a child when going with grandparents. Worried about lake. Love the camp store employees, campground, cabins (check-out too early😕)
Lodge is gorgeous but will not be back for our Easter family get together due to treatment towards myself about my service dog that has been numerous times (new employee asks for papers in violation ofADA
Restaurant serves great food and pizza is amazing. All facilities are top notch. Sugar shack is a must in March! Just saddens me we went home because only 1 night available at cabin, she would not allow us at lodge so missed time with TN family that weekend. Mark's a great park director. Rangers are awesome too.
Had a great Easter dinner today at lodge.
I took the three grandchildren to stay one night using the family pack during their spring break in mid March. The weather was wintry so we spent the entire trip indoors. It was actually snowing while we were swimming indoors - fun experience. We were greeted enthusiastically by staff on arrival, was able to check in early and we were offered an upgrade of room to a lakeview room with no extra charge - right next to the pool! We entertained guests for dinner at the restaurant so we delayed our family pack pizza until lunch the next day after we checked out. The kids enjoyed playing the games with the tokens although they didn't win much. The food in the restaurant and the pizza were excellent. The room and the lodge were rustic so it had the "older feel" to it which to me was great. The over the top staff with their friendly and accommodating attitudes made up for any perceived negatives. We used to stay in the cabins with our kids many years ago in much warmer weather when we could hike, swim in the lake and outdoor pool. This visit in the lodge was just as much fun for us. We look forward to returning in the future.
By far this has to be one of the nicer state parks in Ohio. They do an amazing job of maintaining the park all year. The lodge could probably use a makeover in the next few years but is still a wonderful building. The food in the restaurant is good and the bar food is too notch. I recommend the pizza for sure.
Campgrounds are always clean and have an assortment of spots to choose from, a lot of hills though, so keep that in mind.
The beach and nature areas aren't quite in their prime anymore, however, they offer a nice day's adventure and are worth the visit in my opinion, more so the beach which is typically clean and peaceful.