Camp Sandusky, and campground alternatives

My friends and I are looking for a campground to stay overnight at. Doing some online research, Camp Sandusky sounds like a reasonable and inexpensive place to stay. Has anyone else here on the boards stayed there?

Secondly, are there any other campgrounds we should consider? Our plan is to leave early in the morning, mid-week in mid-August, stay most of the day at the Point, then in the early evening retire to the campground. Relatively nearby and easy to find is optimum. We're all between 19-20 years old, so I know some places may not let us stay.

*** Edited 7/25/2005 11:09:19 PM UTC by MiLLeNNiuMRiDeR***

Baysides (or Bayshore) will work, but there is that damn middle of the night train.

MrScott
*** Edited 7/26/2005 8:03:43 AM UTC by MrScott***

^You mean the trains coming by every 15-20minutes. (no joke)

Bayside is very nice with very reasonably clean restrooms/showers.

15-20? Really, they're that far apart? I was thinking more like 5-10.

I like Bayshore, however. Is it bad that they're getting to know my girlfriend and her mother on a first name basis?
*** Edited 7/25/2005 11:29:44 PM UTC by bholcomb***

I stayed at Camp Sandusky in June. The sites are pretty nice, and it's pretty easy to get to the park from there. There's also a nice McDonald's right across the street for breakfast or a late night snack. The one thing that I did not like was the pathetic state of the bathrooms. There were no shower stalls at all. The area was just divided by raggedy curtains that left huge gaps adjoining, and the only benches to put towels and dry clothes on are out in the center of the room. I ended up wearing my bathing suit to shower in because it was so open. Other than that, we enjoyed our stay. If you end up staying there, make sure to call and make a reservation in advance, because they give you a pretty big discount for doing that.

Bayshore was also nice. I'd reccomend Camp Sandusky over that if you're a light sleeper though. I still remember being woken up our first morning there by my panicked friend who was sure we were going to be hit by a low-flying airplane that turned out to be a train. Oh, and it's right next to an auto dealership, so it doesn't get very dark at night at all. Ironically, that actually bothered me more than the trains.

Hope that helps. I know how much of a hassle it can be to find somewhere to camp if you're not 21.

There are several nice campsites in the Catawba Island/ Lake Erie Islands region. Check out Kelly's Island State Park. It's on the north side of the Island with a beautiful beach (and shipwrecks, glacial grooves, ruins of an old quarry, etc.). From the southeastern shore of the Island you can easily see Cedar Point. The only problem is that you have to catch pretty much the first and the last ferrys to Marblehead to get a good day at the Point.

What about campgrounds for trailers? Any nice ones that are reasonably priced? I've never before checked CP's prices, and they are absolutely outrageous!

I'm over 21, so the age restriction is not a problem, and I'd like to be as close as possible to CP (no more than a 20-30 min dirve), yet still be somewhat isolated from planes, trains and automobiles...

Any suggestions?

Check out East Harbor State Park. I think all State Park campsites have RV/trailer sites. East Harbor is on Catawba Island (the pennisula that forms part of the western "jaw" of Sandusky Bay), with another nice beach, and not particularly far from SR 2 (I've never camped there, but frequent their beach). There are a lot of cottages for rent along the lakeshore east of CP, around Huron and Vermillion. Not sure about campsites in that direction, but it's a shorter drive into Sandusky because you don't have to circumnavigate Sandusky Bay. My last trip to CP this August involved staying a day on Kelly's Island and tenting it, and then pulling up stakes, catching the first ferry to Marblehead and hitting CP during the day (although it was horribly hot and crowded, leaving me desiring to go back during Halloweekends), and then spending the night at the SR 53 Holiday Inn, on the outskirts of Fremont. To get from the Island to CP expect about 20 min on the ferry, and another 20 or 30 min drive into Sandusky/ CP causeway. It's probably not as practical from a CP-focused standpoint, but I like to think of CP as just one of many attractions of the North Shore.