dakota2112 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 I'm interested in hearing from people who have camped at or near Cedar Point. We've never been there, but we're planning to go this summer. We have a pop-up camper, and we generally prefer state parks vs private campgrounds, but I'm open to suggestions. I've heard bad things about East Harbor State Park (small campsites) and the Cedar Point campground ("no campfires", and the campsites jam-packed in together... not my kind of camping... although the convenience of being onsite is attractive). Kelley's Island State Park sounds interesting, being on an island in Lake Erie, although I wonder if dealing with a ferry to/from every day is too much of a hassle? So... anyone have any experience with a camping/Cedar Point vacation? Thanks! (and for what it's worth, I did post this on a Cedar Point forum as well... but I thought it can't hurt to ask here too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dvo Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I've stayed at East Harbor State Park almost every summer of my life. I actually love the place. The rangers are very friendly and the campground is really nice, especially the facilities. I've also stayed at Bayshore, the KOA right by the park. Would not recommend this for anything other than sleeping. And even that's a challenge, with numerous trains running by all through the night... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faeriewench Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 We stayed at Cedar Point 's campgrounds with our massive campers and muscle cars many many times I think the only other campground we ever stayed at in the area was the Firelands but something happened and grandpa would rather keep the Airstream in its campsite at CP for multiple days while we did other things around Sandusky, visiting other islands etc without moving it a few miles down the road. Difference with us we carried much larger campers (the Franklin by itself is 40 ft long, actually illegal in some states for a straight pull), so we needed CP's bigger sites, getting them moved around was a lot more work involved, especially when a early 1970s mopar was the tow vehicle. So it made CP a bit more convenient. I dunno if CP cracked down harder but the "no campfires" thing didn't stop a lot of people lighting their grills. That was pretty common sight (we never did but yeah I'm not recommending that). I think you'd still get discounts to the park and don't really have to deal with the traffic on the causeway are positives to staying on site since you can walk to the park. That was pretty much my childhood till I was 13 years old, we often had our reservations for the season made as early as February each year. Hearing Magnum's lift chain each morning became something of the norm, it meant time for me to go walk my golden retriever all over the campground. There was another campground (I don't remember which area campground it was but it was Sandusky/Port Clinton areas) that claimed to have campsites big enough to hold the Franklin, come to find nothing there was big enough to hold it and weight of it smashed up a plumbing line that caused a wet mess where campsites flooded. That Franklin certainly made traveling interesting but entertaining. We tried going to Kelleys Island with it, it started to sink the Ferry before it even left the docks. I believe thats was one of the incidents that happened when my dad and grandpa decided to just leave the campers at CP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakota2112 Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 That thing got a Hemi? ;-) Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_humor Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The campsites at EHSP (East Harbor) are not significantly smaller than the other parks around...we've stayed there many times as well. It does get very crowded, but that particular campground would get my nod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faeriewench Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That thing got a Hemi? ;-) Yeah LOL my dad picked the Franklin up brand new at the Trailer show in Cincinnati using the Imperial. (Franklin went out of business a few years later) Guys there asked him "where's your truck?" and he pointed to the Imperial sitting idling away. "That thing? Are you nuts?", they had to leave and come back asking my dad to sign an agreement basically stating "we are not responsible for anything that happens once the camper is off the property". He learned on the way home Imperial isn't ready quiet yet so he took a full year break to get that Imperial fixed up. Franklin though, the preferred tow vehicle they recommended is basically a small semi, not even a regular truck and didn't recommend frequent travels either, these campers were mostly designed for one way trip. Take it to a campground and leave it, kind of like a winter or summer home. Of all the years we stayed at CP (and we were there allot 5 times a year, week long stays June and July, weekend trips in May, August and Sept) we only saw one other Franklin that showed up a couple times to the campground, whole thing was 40ft like ours and yet still was less camper cause the guy had it custom made to have his car in the back inside the trailer. But they both looked extremely identical down to the gold stripe going down the sides. That video was shot when my dad was moving the Franklin around between campsites, it was the Franklin's first time out. The uncut version of the video my family in the background doing their wise cracks about "Long Long Trailer" Not bragging... if this were a movie, including the rest of the muscle car tribe and their campers, it probably surpass National Lampoons Vacation A employee at CP even got to where he referred to us "Destination Disaster" something corny always happened! Once a construction worker felt the need to jump a bridge to get away from the oncoming Franklin. Take one glance at it swaying behind the Imperial and hope over to the other side to safety just before it got close enough. But yeah, I'd say look into CP campgrounds, maybe try to go for Lighthouse Point I think in some ways positives outweigh the negatives, but I see where you're coming from. Any campground can hold a popup which I have little experience with since our entire family traveled together therefore the bigger RVs. Kind of weird this thread got posted when I found a old Camper Village Escape brochure from CP where grandpa was writing on the back doing some math problems, basically deciding whether 2 dollars is worth moving the campers down the road just to do sight seeing and going to the other islands when they could just stay at CP. Back then they were still going to Firelands when they wanted to go to the other Lake Erie islands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_humor Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Nothing beats Lighthouse Point. Lake side view, walk into the park, individual cottage, grill.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74Gibson Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 ^ Agreed. I had a blast there last year and during the slow season, you can get a pretty fair deal. Having the grill was awesome! Ummm fresh ground steakburgers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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