It’s not often you come across a campground that meets the “likes” of every one of our family members. We have three teenagers that have completely different ideas of what they like about a campground. So to please all of them plus us, the parents, doesn’t usually happen.
If you have not heard about Camp Cedar Cabin & RV Resort in Mason, Ohio, then you are missing out. We will go through why we loved this campground. This is kind of long because there is so much to cover here. Make sure to read to the end to find out what our cons are.
Location, Location, Location
The location of Camp Cedar was a big plus for all 5 of us. Located just minutes from Kings Island was a big selling point. We came to Ohio specifically to visit the amusement park. (Our oldest is a rollercoaster junky) Having Camp Cedar so close was the first reason we started considering it. As we started to dig deeper into the campground we knew this campground was perfect.
Camp Cedar is located 30 minutes from Cincinnati and 45 minutes from Dayton. Here are some other local places to visit.
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- Underground Railroad Freedom Center
- Coney Island Park
- Historic Findlay Market
- Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati Red Baseball field)
- Cincinnati Zoo
- National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
- Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
Discounted tickets for Kings Island and The Cincinnati Zoo are available through Camp Cedar.
Free Shuttle to Kings Island
The campground offers a free shuttle to and from Kings Island. The drive was only 3 minutes but the wonderful air conditioning felt heavenly for those 3 minutes. The temps were in the mid 90s when we went. We tried to soak in all the air conditioning that we could. If we chose to drive to Kings Island we would need to pay the $20 parking fee.
During our stay we found the shuttle bus was usually at the campground ready to take you to Kings Island. We never had to wait for the bus. We just hopped on and we were on our way.
The bus driver instructed us to take a picture of the shuttle bus phone number posted at the front of the bus. When we were ready to head back home we would call the number as we were walking out of the park. If he was not already there, he would head that way. By the time we made our walk to the bus pick up area he was rolling in. Again no waiting. Which is fabulous when it’s hot and you are hungry and tired.
We had two different bus drivers between morning and night. Both of the gentlemen were fabulous to talk with. Gave us pointers about Kings Island and learned some history.
Ways to stay
RV Sites
As most people know, we are princesses when it comes to camping. This place was right up our alley. There will be no “roughing it” here. RV sites are available in back-in and pull-through and come with full hookup capabilities. Your camper will sit on a level concrete or blacktop pad, with a separate pad to park your vehicle. All RV sites include a picnic table and grill, and most include a fire pit. There are some sites with gas fire pits.
We were in the 100s. Site 119 to be exact. This section is to the left when you first pull in. There is a bathroom, laundry room and playground in this section. The rest of the RV sites and cabins are on the other side of the lodge and pool.
We were right along I-71. This site could get noisy with the road traffic but it really didn’t bother us. When we were in the camper the fan and air conditioner drowned out the noise. On the plus side we had a beautiful view of the sunset each night as well as a view of the fireworks and drone show from Kings Island.
RV Rentals
If you want to enjoy camping but don’t want to tow yours or you don’t own your own camper, try out one of their new rental RVs. Each rental RV can sleep up to six guests and come in two different layouts. Your choices are king/queen or king/twin. Each camper is stationary and comes with a concrete patio, and Adirondack chairs. A picnic table, grill, and firepit are included as well.
Cabins
You have 5 different options when choosing a cabin. They are absolutely beautiful and you won’t feel like you are “roughing it” in the cabins either.
The Hickory accommodates up to eight people with a private queen bedroom, recessed bunk bed, a spacious sleeping loft and sofa sleeper. This farmhouse design features shiplap walls, sliding barn doors and beautiful flooring and lighting. There is a spacious living area with vaulted ceilings, comfortable seating and a 50″ flat screen TV, a full bathroom and shower, and ample storage. The eat-in kitchen features all the appliances to make your stay convenient and enjoyable.
The Aspen also accommodates up to eight guests. This cabin has a sleek and modern open floor plan that offers a bright and inviting living space with vaulted ceiling, a 50″ flat screen TV, comfortable furniture, and sofa sleeper. The living area leads to the master bedroom and a full bathroom. The sleeping loft is easily accessed by a short and child-friendly staircase or can be used for storage. An eat-in kitchen features all the appliances to make your stay convenient and enjoyable.
The Mulberry accommodates up to four guests. Inspired by the local nature, The Mulberry offers comfort fused with simplicity. This cottage has two queen size bedrooms, each with their own separate full bathrooms. It also comes equipped with a full kitchen featuring all the appliances from home
The Sycamore accommodates up to six guests. Combines a rustic farmhouse style with modern amenities. The roomy living room features comfortable and elegant furniture, sofa sleeper, 50″ flat screen TV with a child-friendly staircase that leads to a sleeping loft. The full kitchen features all the appliances from home and leads to a spacious queen bedroom suite and full bathroom and shower.
The Birch accommodates up to four guests. A spacious and beautiful living room features an entertainment wall with 50″ flat screen TV, and contemporary design touches including a sofa sleeper. The oversized kitchen features all the appliances from home, and a hallway leads to a spacious queen bedroom suite and full bathroom.
Amenities
You will check into your RV site or cabin at the Hornbeam Lodge. In this beautiful building you will also find Coyote Creek Camp Store and Ironwood Grill & Tap restaurant
At Coyote Creek Camp Store you will find a little of everything. Did you forget something important like grill utensils, batteries, electrical cords, sunscreen, etc. You can also find some fun keepsakes like hats and t-shirts. Need a coffee to start your day? Grab drink at The Dry Bean inside the camp store. There you can find some other yummy treats like yogurt parfait, cookies (they were huge), gelato, Dippin Dots, coffee, and more.
If you want to take a break from cooking your meals, treat yourself at Ironwood Grill & Tap. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner in the casual sit-down restaurant, dine on the seasonal patio or order ahead for carry-out in the privacy of your RV or cabin. You can pick from some amazing wings, pizzas (including a gluten free option), sandwiches, soups and salads. Be sure to check out the full-service bar offering an extensive craft and local beer selection, wine and signature cocktails.
Splish, Splash
A 5,000 square foot family pool feels great after spending a day at Kings Island. Younger kids will enjoy the mini slide in the shallow area, play some water basketball, or swim over to the waterfall to see the backside of water. (Disney people will understand.) There were life guards on duty.
Just outside the pool gates you will find Belize Street. They took shipping containers and transformed them into bright colored, food truck like snack bars. Grab an adult beverage at Beach Box Bar or some ice cream at Urban Cow. One of the nights we were there they had shaved ice on the back side of Beach Box Bar.
We have seen in other YouTube videos they have one snack bar for tacos and another for burgers. When we were there, those offerings were not available.
Need a little peace and quiet away from the splashing? Enjoy the exclusive adults (21+) only pool area.
Steps away from the adult pool is the outside patio area to Ironwood Grill & Tap. Grab a beverage and relax. One of the evenings we were there they had live music. We loved listening to him. This is a great area to relax and be able to have adult time.
Both pool areas had plenty of lounge chairs and private cabanas to rent.
Activities
There are plenty of activities at the resort besides swimming. Although that’s where you will usually find us. You can test your skills on the shuffleboard or bocce ball courts near the pool. The basketball/ pickleball court usually had people playing throughout the day. The kids can play on one of the two playgrounds. There is also a golf simulator. We did not check that out but we would see people walking over to the lodge with their golf clubs throughout the day. We are going to guess this is a fan favorite.
Also near the pool is a well equipped fitness room. We feel like we got plenty of exercise when walking all over Kings Island. The gym was not something we used.
We bring our dogs camping and they need some exercise since they stayed in the camper while we were at the park. We walked them over to the Nine Bark dog park to run around. The dog park has two separate gated areas. They weren’t marked if a certain dog size went in one side versus the other. We would just pick whichever side was empty.
You will also find themed weekends with activities and crafts for the kids to join in.
Our weekend was Landlocked Luau. We went down to Hornbeam Lodge for Aloha craft time. Our daughter’s favorite part was making pretty tiles. She used permanent markers to draw different designs on it. Then the activity director put rubbing alcohol on the tile which smeared the colors together. Followed by setting it on fire. All the kids went crazy as they watched the fire slowly die out and reveal their final product. As a parent we were really excited by it too.
Cons
We said we would give you some cons at the end of this blog. There is no perfect campground but this one comes really close. Honestly, to give you cons we had to be nitpicky.
One con was there is no shade. Now we know this is a new park and the trees are still small. You can’t make trees magically grow fast. We have stayed at other new campgrounds and having no shade is the same problem for them as well. Normally it wouldn’t have been a huge deal but it was in the mid 90s the whole time and shade would have been nice. This isn’t a deal breaker for us and again this is super nitpicky and they can’t do anything about not having big trees yet.
The second con is their “walking path”. We love taking our dogs for walks on trails. When it’s hot out, we don’t want our little dogs’ paws roasting on the hot road. The walking path started out ok. It goes behind a little retention pond. There were a ton of geese and geese poop. We just walked as fast as we could so the dogs didn’t eat the poop. We didn’t take many photos of the walking trail since we were focused on the dogs and walking.
The trail was hit or miss on being taken care of. We would get to sections that were great for walking and clear of any obstacles. But there were areas that looked like no one had walked there ever, we had some steep hills, and ruts where off road vehicles left their marks. When we got to the end of the trail we weren’t even sure it ended. It kind of had an area that went to the left behind the cabins but according to the map we walked between two cabins to get back on the road. It felt weird walking through someone’s site.
We didn’t see anyone else use the walking trails and we are guessing people are too busy with everything else to use the walking trail. If there was one thing we could say needed improvement it would be that.
Would we come back?
Would we come back to this campground? Absolutely! This is a clean and well maintained campground (minus the walking path). The staff was all very nice and had several fun events for the kids. The biggest perk was the connivence of the free shuttle back and forth to Kings Island. Our kids loved Kings Island and we still have several rides we didn’t get to ride. We plan to come back again and will book a site at Camp Cedar.