Log of our third trip of 2003  

Camp Office:  (419) 734-5857

Park Office:  (419) 734-2289

May 30 to June 2, 2003

 

Attended:  Dad and Gracie Allen

and for a night:

Mom, Fezziwig, and Fritz

 

Click any of the images for a higher resolution picture (about 1 meg each)

Our original trip to East Harbor left us with a bad impression.  It was crowded and due to the VERY small sites, it can be quite an urban experience.  Kids come in groups to stay here when visiting Cedar Point.  Boaters bring their boats, beer, and hillbilly music.  A visit early or late in the season is a better bet.  The park is less crowded and the many paths and walkways are fun to explore.  Don't forget to consider a visit to the Lake Erie Islands from this base.  The ferries are all a short drive away.  Watching a thunderstorm come in off the Lake is always an awe-inspiring experience.  East Harbor is about an hour and fifteen minutes from North Olmsted, Ohio.  In short:  Avoid this park if it is crowded, a great place to visit off-season..

A wonderful trip!  Friday was warm.  We walked and walked and walked.  East Harbor has a variety of places to walk.  You can walk on pavement.  There are a variety of marked and unmarked trails in the meadows and swamps.  There are trails that run down the shore of Lake Erie, both on the damaged beach and inside the strip of land that forms East Harbor.  A good walking park!  There are also MANY local wildlife areas that provide alternate sources for walking.  Saturday brought over one inch of rain overnight.  For all the rain, the park wasn't at all flooded.  There were some marshy areas, but hey ... this is a marsh!  Mary, Fezziwig, and S5¢fritz joined us Saturday night and most of the day Sunday.  We had more good, long walks.  Sunday was an odd day.  You'd FREEZE in the shade but BOIL in the sun.  It was one of those spring days that require both shorts and long pants.

Inside the campground is a large example of glacial grooves evidencing the glaciers scouring and grooving rock as it moved.  It is worth a look-see. 

The campground is tightly packed.  The sites are small.  The paved portion is quite narrow.  Getting a motorhome into a site can be quite a challenge, especially if there are others around you.  The trash cans are at the entrance to each section.  This means there are not trash cans in the section and people just dump their trash into whatever fire ring is near them.  This is not the ideal Ohio State Park.  It appears to have been an early test.  Improvements were evident.  The dump station is buried in the non-pet area and is a one-hole job unless you are proficient at backing into the other side.  The roads are narrow.  Be careful.

For up-to-date park maps and information, check the Ohio State Park website