If you follow me on Instagram you know that our family just came home from an almost week long camping trip at Clays Park Resort.
Clays Park is a campground and waterpark combo in North Lawrence, Ohio and it is such a blast!
We took advantage of their discounted price for 4 nights/5 days and went from Sunday to Thursday this past week.
This post may contain Amazon affiliate, and related, links which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link! You can find my full Disclaimer here.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take too many pictures as I was really trying to enjoy our time together and stay off my phone. Also, six kids in a water park including twins isn’t the easiest so my eyes needed to be on the kids at all times.
My husband and I have both been to Clays Park in the past as teenagers and loved it! Now that we were able to go with our kids, we have a few things we will look for a plan better for next time we go. I thought I would share somethings we liked and didn’t like and what might help you if you are planning a trip with your family.
What we loved about Clays Park
Discounted Rates: When booking for our trip, Clays Park offered a discounted rate depending on how many nights you were staying. We were able to save about $100 on our trip by taking advantage of their discounted 4 nights/5 days stay. That was pretty helpful when trying to budget.
Walking Trails: When we camp, we love to take walks with the kids around the campground. Clays park is a 500 acre campground so it is much bigger than the KOA campgrounds we usually stay at. Along with the neve – ending roads/driveways there are multiple walking trails through the woods that provide plenty of shade on those super hot days.
Fishing Lakes: There is a large fishing lake that is open to campers and you can fish anytime of day. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring fishing poles to take advantage of this, but there were plenty of campers that did.
Waterpark Included: Included in the price of our spot was our passes to the waterpark. We have been to other campgrounds that had additional charges for every activity and we found that to be a disadvantage to their parks. However, Clays Park had everything other than food and drinks to be included in their price.
No Tent/RV, No Problem: Although Clays Park is a campground, you don’t need a tent or a camper/RV to stay there. They have plenty of options to stay in cabins, luxury cabins, and glamping. We stayed on Music Row that had about 5 cabins and they were booked every single day/night we were at the park. I would say they are a great alternative and well enjoyed.
Waterpark for ALL ages: With having kids ranging in age from 10 down to almost 2, we loved that they were all able to enjoy the waterpark. From a splash pad, to swimming, to inflatables of all sizes, to racing zip lines into the water, there is really something for everyone.
Open to the Public: If you are local to us, the waterpark is about an hour and a half drive down and is open to the public. So if you don’t want to stay at the campground, you can easily drive down just for the day and enjoy all the park as to offer and then head back home.
What we didn’t love about Clays Park
Lack of Shade: Unfortunately, our site offered no shade. Even with our awning and canopy set up, we were unable to sit outside during the day at our site. Many of the shaded sites were in the seasonal camping area. So if we were to go back we would choose a specific site with shade.
Golf Cart Rental: With the campground being 500 acres and the waterpark being at the front, it was a long way from our site to the park. We looked into a golf cart but not only were they sold out for the majority of our trip, they were also insanely expensive. We would have added over $200 to our trip by renting a golf cart. Maybe that is average, but that was insane to us.
Playgrounds: We really enjoyed that one of the few playgrounds in the park was visible from our site so the kids could go play and we could still keep an eye on them. Unfortunately, the playgrounds were really lacking and honestly, really boring for the kids.
Tips For Booking At Clays Park
Take Advantage of Their Deals: Because this park is a waterpark and camping combo, the rates can get pretty pricey. Take a look at the deals offered and use them! Like I mentioned, you could save $100 or more with their discounted rates based on the number of nights you stay.
Google Maps: When booking your site, I highly recommend taking a look at the available sites for your stay and then doing a quick google search for the location. It’s super easy to get onto google maps while using their satellite view you can get a clear picture of what the site looks like. Unfortunately, the campground map doesn’t always give the best layout of what the sites are actually like. I started doing this after we booked our trip and really lucked out – hence our site had zero shade.
Bring Entertainment: Unless you plan to spend every waking minute at the waterpark, walking, or fishing, I suggest bringing some extra entertainment. There is a nice basketball court that was used the entire time we were there so a basketball would be great to shoot some hoops. Bikes, fishing poles, a kids pool to hang out in while the waterpark is closed, or even a little train ride like this that our kids have and we take every camping trip.
Bring your own shade: I highly recommend bringing a canopy for the waterpark. You can plan to go up to the park early and snag a good spot by the water and put your canopy up before the park opens. There are shaded spots around the lake but to be closer, you’ll want some shade to take a break from the sun and a canopy is a great resource!
Purchase the golf cart add-on: If you can fit it into your budget, I do recommend adding on the golf cart rental. You can do this when you book or trip or after you arrive. While we didn’t do the add-on, it would have been beneficial to have it to quickly run up to the dumpster, easily get around the campground, help entertain the kiddos with a quick ride, and get to the waterpark without sweltering in the heat.
We really enjoyed our trip to Clays Park and are already planning on a trip back in the Summers to come. Let me know if this was helpful for you or if you have ever been to Clays Park!
Until next time,
