Alum Creek State Park

This is one of my favorite campgrounds. It’s close to home but doesn’t feel like it when here. Lots of fun events for kids and good hiking trails. Sites are decent sized and offer better than average privacy with thoughtful layout of grey water dumps and fresh water spigots.

Gorgeous park! Well kept. The dam is beautiful. Got caught in the rain but able to get a pretty decent hike across the top of the dam.

Went here a few days ago with my boyfriend. Planned on going to the beach, but we totally forgot our swimsuits. There were tons of people at every section of the park we checked out. We walked above the dam. Everyone seemed friendly, although it seemed like some of the groups of people were being very sloppy and careless about the site, like not picking up their trash, etc. All in all, I’d say it’s definitely worth the drive for me, and I definitely will return!

Phenomenal place to take a lunch during work. I go running on lunch during the warm months

Best campground in ohio! The sites are large and secluded. I love the wooded sites, unlike some of the KOA and Good Sam parks that are so close to each other that your awning almost touches your neighbor without any bushes or trees. My dog loves the trails. The roads and site pads are paved. To top it all off, they are very affordable. My only negative comment would be that there is no water hook up at the sites. I love full hook up and would happily pay extra for it. They have 3 full hook up sites and they are NEVER available :(the shower houses are mostly clean. The camp store is usually well stocked. The people there are very nice. Large fire rings and decent picnic tables.

Nice Christmas lights this year. $ 10.00 to drive through is a little high but worth it for the kids.

Has a 2 very good Mountain Bike Trails and a very large beach. I will say Ohio has one of the best parks systems in America.

We like Alum Creek as a walking destination and when I was a kid, blissfully unaware of real life, I liked to go to this beach. Now that we’ve been semi-​regular walkers there I can’t hold my tongue about this «clean» sand people keep commenting on.
Do you see all the birds there? I’m talking gaggles of gulls, geese and smaller birds… all crapping in the same sand. «I don’t see bird poop!» you may be tempted to say. Wanna know why? Several times we’ve watched the tractor that comes through that turns over the sand and pulverizes the poo into the sand. Yep… you’re rolling around on and building big ol’ sand poo castles! I refuse to walk there without shoes on and especially don’t pick up the sand. (It’s kind of a joke to even call it sand) I’m not trying to ruin people’s experience and I know they can’t exactly skim the beach with a giant pool skimmer to remove it but this is what happens there on the beach portion of the park.
As far as the other areas of the park, we love the below the dam rec area and the dog park is pretty nice as well if you’ve got a pooch.

I have three year old twin boys and i’m always looking for fun FREE things to do with them! I decided to take the boys here once while my mom was visiting from Florida. We had a blast! The boys loved playing in the sand and building sand castles! I loved cooling off! The only thing I have to complain about is that sometimes the beach can have trash on it. But I blame that on the beach goers! If you’re going to use something that is FREE, help take care of it! Don’t leave your trash on the beach! There are trash cans everywhere! I’ve never used the bathroom so I cant speak to what it’s like. We always park super close and bring plenty of snacks, drinks and sunscreen! Sunscreen is a must because there is NO shade! We’ve been there four times now and will continue to go until the end of summer!

Not safe! Kind of sketchy! My car was broken into here!
Ok, I really hate to have to write a negative review of this place but I feel as though I should warn others. My family and I have come to the «beaches» at Alum Creek at least once a year and always managed to have a decent time, as we are definitely «go with the flow» type of people. After this past visit, however, I will not be visiting this park (at least the beach portion!) for a while.
Besides the break-​in, while we were at the beach, there was a boat anchored close by BLASTING totally inappropriate music for a family setting (David Banner-​Play, The Whisper Song, etc!) I am not a prude but I was totally shocked that someone would think it acceptable to play this kind of music with so many children around. For a place with so many kids around, I would not describe the atmosphere as kid friendly. I saw blatant alcohol drinking and overheard (not on purpose-​people were just loud and obnoxious) some discusting talk that quite frankly I wish I could unhear.
As the storm clouds rolled in, we decided to call it a day. That’s when I saw the broken glass and saw that my rear drivers side window had been smashed! And the worst part-​there was nothing in my car of value! After living on campus and in Olde Town East for the past 15 years, I am not stupid enough to leave valuables in plain sight. My car does happen to be nicer which I think is why I was targeted. The ice cream man sought me out to let me know that the break-​ins were rampant this summer. The silver lining on this crap storm of a place was the Delaware County Sheriff who was there quickly and the 2 park attendants who helped me sweep out my car enough so that I could put my kids in and drive home. Park as close to the beach as you can if you come here and wear an old suit as it will probably get ruined. Avoid!

**This review is about the beach**
After hearing story upon story about state park beach nightmares of algae blooms, garbage, and dead floating fish… I was very skeptical that a nice swimming hole existed in our glorious state of parks and lakes.
Boy am I so glad I listened to a friend and stopped by the beach at Alum creek during our two week heat wave.
The beach is not bad at all. It looks like the rangers must sift, or rake the sand every few days to keep it from getting clumpy, and grimey with garbage from all the litter bugs. (Shame on you!)
While the water is not crystal clear, it’s not as scary as some of the horror stories I’ve heard from Deer Creek, and that can be expected from all stagnant water bodies. (lakes, reservoirs, ponds)
Let me just put it this way, this is a nice, FREE solution to all of your swimming requirements if you are not so lucky to own your own pool, or own a pool pass, but at least with this beach, it is quite sprawled out, so you won’t have to worry about being packed in like sardines.
Beware though, the bathrooms are scary, but it beats using an outhouse!

Alum Creek was a fun park. I went in April on a nice sunny day. Not that many people were there. It pretty much stops here. The sand was dark, clearly filled with oil. When we got closer to the beach we noticed all the trash in the water, clothes, cans, bottles, a garbage bag. We had our dog with us, which was the point of coming to begin with. We try and go to a different park each week, and this one was at the top of our list. Our dog loved the creek at our last place, so we really wanted to find some water fr her to go swimming. When we pulled up we saw the sign «no dogs allowed»…my heart sank. This state has a lot of rules against our canine friends it makes me very upset. What did they do to deserve such treatment? I can understand if there are some people who dont like them, and I respect that. It seems like in the summer months, this place has some swimmers.
Being from Nj, I have a huge connection with beaches and my dog has ALWAYS been by my side. Leaving her the car was not an option. That said, we starting walking towards the beach to see if anyone was going to actually inform this. Then we saw a dog by the water, unleased, and very very happy. So we let Jersey go and she and the other dog had lots of fun. Thats when I noticed how dirty the water was… FILLED with trash. The girl tht was there with her dog told me the place used to be really pretty, but lately it had gotten really dirty. Clearly. filthy!
I’m determined to find a dog friendly park here, besides a dog park. It makes me so home sick to think how happy she was back in PA and NJ, and not being able to give her what she’s used to. No leash, tons of places to run and play, and no rules (other then clean up after them). It makes me so sad to think her level of happines is lower now that we live in Ohio. I hope I can find a park for her soon.

A beach? In Ohio?
When we saw the signs we had to stop.
Now if they had palm trees my life here would really be complete…
No such luck, moving on…
It’s beautiful, not too crowded, the view is breathtaking and I love the lazy boy swings.
Clean sand, no rocks, nice playground, really perfect, free and pretty what more could you want?

I love Alum Creek.
Having moved here from California, I am used to doing lots of outdoor activities year round. When I moved to Columbus, I couldn’t help but think I would have to give up my weekly mountain bike rides. That was until I discovered Alum Creek.
A lot of people complain about Alum Creek because they only experience the over-​crowded beach and busy parts of the lake covered in boaters under the influence. If you don’t want the Lake Havasu experience, get off the beaten path, man!
My husband and I take our mountain bikes and/​or kayaks up to Alum Creek about every other weekend. Both the intermediate and advanced bike trails are awesome, and we usually don’t encounter many other people while on the trail. The beginner trail is cool too because it has a mini stunt park, but we’ve only ridden that one once.
If you’re going to hit the water in a hand-​powered craft, you MUST get out of the main part of the lake. We drop in off the parking lot of one of the mtb trails and immediately head away from the center of the lake. There is a tunnel that only hand-​powered crafts can get through, and on the other side, it feels like you are exploring never-​before-​seen waters. It’s really great to have an opportunity like that only a few miles drive from our house.
So hate it if you want. But if you do, clearly you are just not cool enough to have forged your own trails.

I decided on a whim that I was going to go swimming, and this was the closest state park with a swimming area. Despite the weather and al the people being there, i still had no issues finding a nice close spot (possibly because it was later in the day). I was not crowded next to someone on the beach, and there was plenty of room to swim without getting into other people’s space.
There were a couple annoyances though. The signage directing you to the swimming beach is not great, they could add a couple more signs for assistance. The one that really bothered me though was that the shower house and restroom by the beach were nasty. Some stupid cow after changing her kid did not throw the diaper away, and the toilets were a real pain. And there is no convenient place to set your stuff down while you change into your suit. Maybe address those two issues, and it will be fine.

Finally I have found a beach I won’t mind walking around on in nothing but my bathing suit. No, seriously. If you have any insecurities about your body or any discomfort about being seen in so little clothes, this place is the cure. There are all kinds of individuals here — from super model skinny to momma of 9 — and they are all out having fun and not giving a rat’s patooty what they look like. That’s super refreshing.
It’s a little hard to navigate as a first timer and the signs aren’t all that great or visible, but once you get where you’re going, you’re happy you found it.

I’ve only been hiking here once, but I found the trail we chose to walk to be pretty bland. It ended up being only a mowed trail, which is definitely not my preferred type of path, plus there are no hills, at least on the trail we walked. While we had glimpses of the lake at times, I also just didn’t feel like it was as scenic as many of the other state parks in Ohio. Not bad, though, if you want an easy walk and don’t want to go too far from Columbus.

I’ve been here several times during warm weather and my favorite part is the beach.
My first experience was during a canoe and kayak expo. I grabbed an open top and had a nice little paddle. There was quite a large group of people there that day but the parking was ample. This is a great place to spend a warm and sunny day, just watch out for ticks. Due to the grassy areas and marshes they are often out in full force. I’ve never left without bringing one home.

I am a fan of this park as a campground as it is clean, nicely set up, and a good distance away from the city but won’t break the bank in gas costs driving to and from. I have been here about 8 times in the last year and never had a bad time! It is quite hard to get into during notable outdoor holidays (ie Memorial Day, 4^th of July, etc), but other than that, bookings are fairly easy to come by. I would suggest requesting a water spot as they are really nice but those are a bit more tricky to book.
I wasn’t impressed with the beach area as it was very dirty and quite dismal looking. It could provide a quick fix if you have a craving for sand and water but keep your expectations in check or otherwise risk disappointment.