Campgrounds and RV parks near Brookside, OH

Barkcamp State Park anchors most outdoor activity in the area. The 1,005-acre park surrounds a 117-acre lake open to electric-motor boats, with a 700-foot swim beach, hiking trails through wooded sandstone hills, and an equestrian loop with a horse wash station and accessible mounting ramp. Rental kayaks, an on-site mini golf course, and seasonal naturalist programs give families multiple ways to fill a day on site. Across the river, Grand Vue Park adds ziplines, a heated pool, and a shuttle that connects to attractions in Moundsville, including the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex and the former West Virginia Penitentiary. The Palace of Gold at New Vrindaban is also within reach. Historical stops nearby include the Belmont County Museum in Barnesville, the Friends Meeting House in Mount Pleasant, and Dysart Woods, a preserved tract of old-growth forest managed by Ohio University.

The camping season in the Brookside area runs most heavily from late spring through October. Barkcamp State Park keeps its campground open year-round, but from November 1 through April 1 the park operates in off-peak mode: the B Loop is closed, and only the showerhouse and dump station remain in service, with water available at the office and shower house. Electric service remains available year-round. Grand Vue Park is also open year-round, though the operator notes that from December 1 through April 1 only one bathhouse is open and a reduced number of sites are available to rent. Summer weekends and fall foliage weekends fill the fastest at both parks, and holiday weekends around Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day should be booked well in advance. Shoulder-season travellers get quieter loops and cooler hiking weather. Barkcamp hosts a Cast-iron Cooking Festival in September and a Fall Festival in October with hay wagon rides, pumpkin carving, and vendors, both good targets for a weekend RV trip.

Terrain around Brookside is hilly and wooded, part of the Appalachian highlands that cover southeastern Ohio. Roads into the state park and the ridge-top Grand Vue Park are paved, though grades are steeper than parks farther west in Ohio. At Barkcamp, 150 campsites are electrified with a 10-foot cement pad, and 15 sites add water and sewer. All sites are back-in and some can accommodate rigs up to 80 feet. Facilities include hot showers, a dump station, two wheelchair-accessible sites, fire rings, and picnic tables. Pets are allowed on designated loops only, and Belmont Lake is limited to electric-motor boats. Grand Vue offers 40 full-hookup sites on gravel pads with 30- and 50-amp service, a gated entrance with code access, two bathhouses in peak season, and the on-site Vue Bar and Grill and general store within a short walk of the RV loop.