The drive to West Branch was 339 miles, which is ore than our normal drive. We both thought it was interstate the entire way, so it was very doable. In the future, we plan reduce the drive. I76 through Pennsylvania was not fun, and it did not have a lot of rest areas. Most likely we will pick a different campground that reduces the drive time and time spent on I76. Everything below is about West Branch State Park and includes the driving information from the Lake Fairfax Campground.

About the Park

• The park originated as a Core of Engineer project with a dammed lake. This was taken over by the state, and a campground was added.
• The park has the typical Ohio state park amenities. Playground, trails, ice cream socials, naturalist programs, laundry, etc. The one additional bonus was the dish washing sinks at each bathhouse
• This park has both electric (no water) and full hookup sites. All sites have black top pads, and the pads were in moderate to poor condition.
• Most sites were shaded and would not have good Starlink access
• All site are not level front to back and side to side. Some are extremely unlevel front to back.
• Typical of Ohio State Parks, all sites were on the shorter side.

Campsites:

• Only a couple sites would work for Starlink
• Full hookup pull through sites 90 and 93 would have partial Starlink. They might be nearly unobstructed. Both sites would have partial shade.
• Site 24 is E50 only with unobstructed Starlink.
  • This is site VERY unlevel front to back and slightly unlevel side to side.
  • The front stabilizer needs to be set at 2 peg holes visible. The front passenger leg needs to be at least a yellow block higher or the leg will not touch when the trailer is lowered.
  • You cannot pull fully back due to the office slide hitting the electric post.
  • Two vehicles barely fit.
  • The office had afternoon sun.
• All sites listed above are near bathhouses that only have warm water.
• Cars can park side by side as long as 2 tires are on the blacktop driveway.
• Sites are on the expensive side. $39 for Electric only. $52 for Full hookups.

Internet:

• Hotspot works for TV. It was not great for gaming, but it was functional.
• Cricket does not work for gaming.
• Starlink at site 24 had no issues with gaming.

Bathhouses / Water / Dump station:

• The showers were large and same had enough hooks to hang shower supplies
• Water temperature was an issue with the bathhouse near E50 site 24. The water was too cold for Kate to take a shower in the bathhouse.
• Water temperature for the bathhouse with the beach access and by site 39 was acceptable.
• The bathhouse by site 97 did not have hot water but was warmer than site 24. This needs to be checked again due some shower nozzles working in reverse for temperature.
• The bathhouse by site 39 had 2 of the 5 shower stalls out of order.
• The beach shower house shower on off handle direction was reversed in some of the showers. Example: Sticker states turn all the way up for hot, but in actuality you only slightly turn on the water for hot.
• The shower restroom area could use a deep cleaning. 2nd hand gossip from someone who complained to the manager while we were there was that the Federal Government decreased the money supporting the parks. So, they no longer have the cleaning service for the restrooms. They hired an 18 year old to clean the restrooms. The lady who complained said that she would have sworn the camp host were cleaning prior years. Either way, the bathrooms were not as clean and could use a good scrub down. Especially the sinks.
• Findley State Park Ohio which was our stop immediately after West Branch. Findley State Park did not have bathroom cleaning issues or hot water issues. This makes me believe that West Branch has management issues right now.
• Washer cost was $2.50 and dryer $2.00. I only used the washers and dryers in the bathhouse near site 24. The dryer on the left did not dry the clothes.
• Potable water was located just past the dump station.
• 2 dump stations in the same spot. Goes downhill to get tot he dump station. The dump station as very busy on Sunday between 10:30 and 11:30 am.

Other information:

• Lots of ground hogs, birds, black squirrels, chipmunks, etc.
• Naturalist activities include kayaking. Kayaking requires signing up in advance in the office and allots only 5 participants per trip.
• Don’t leave used aluminum foil in the grill. The raccoons will open the grill at night and run off with the foil. One night when I was walking to the bathhouse, I saw a loaf of bread in the ditch. The next morning the bag was still there and the bread gone. I’m assuming a raccoon family had a great meal.
• The check-in office had a variety of items for sale including Ice Cream and quarters can be obtained for laundry
• Active Friends of the Park group that had ice cream social every Saturday – $3 for a sundae and $3 for hotdog and small cup of soda.