Holiday weekends are always a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, it is hard to not take advantage of an extra day of hiking and camping. On the other hand, everyone else with a camper or tent has the same idea. We were even rather late this year in booking. At the end of July we were in Colorado with spotty internet, but I found an open campsite on the app and quickly booked it without knowing much about the region. It seemed the camping gods were on our side because we found not just a relatively quiet and beautiful campground, but I think we may have had the best spot in the campground!

Iron Ridge is one of two campgrounds in the Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area – part of the Ironton section of the Wayne National Forest. Twenty-one RV sites line Iron Ridge Road. Eleven additional sites are suitable only for tents, requiring a short walk from a mini-parking lot. The RV sites aside from those in the loop all seemed to have water and electric. We were expecting the electricity (we wouldn’t risk a weekend at the beginning of September without it) but filled our fresh tank at the bathhouse before realizing we would have water too. Some of the tent sites also had electric, but there wasn’t really a pattern. It should also be noted that site 31 is listed as a 25 foot RV site, but it is really not much more than a wide spot in the road.

We had site 22 and were pleased with how deep and level it was. We were able to leave room for our new Clam behind the trailer, park the truck in front of the trailer, and still have plenty of room. The fire ring and table were behind the parking pad and slightly downhill. Lush woods surrounded the site with two tent sites situated about 50 yards away. Overall, this is one of the more private sites we have ever been in.

A bathhouse was located at either end of the camp road. Each featured a large single room for men’s and women’s toilets and an additional shower room. We felt bad for the tenters surrounding us as they had quite a hike to the bathrooms.

A second campground, Oak Hill, is located just a couple miles away. After a quick drive-through we decided the sites at Iron Ridge were much more secluded and shaded and we much preferred where we were.

There was no camp store onsite, but a small store at the Wayne National Forest off route 93 met our ice, firewood and other camp needs. Wood about $5 per bundle and burned well enough for hardwood.