For a low per person fee of $7, you can have day access to a small sandy beach area, a camping convenience store, public bathrooms, and a concession stand/restaurant at Austin Lake. This property has been renovated over the years to offer the public several types of cabin rentals, water sports, and enjoyment of the beautiful outdoor space surrounding the lake. read more

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We stayed at the Great Blue Heron cabin ,we booked for 4 nights but only stayed 2 nights. This cabin is supposed to be handicap accessible but it is not. My Veteran husband is an above the knee amputee and we also have a non-verbal adult child and I am the sole caregiver to both. I booked on the premise that the cabin was fully handicapped accessible given the description , ramp, lowered counters, accessible shower with bench and grab bars. I also rented a golf cart for the stay to accommodate my husbands disability. First when we arrived , we didn't take the golf cart to our cabin the wheelchair was extremely hard to push through the gravel (parking spot) to even get onto the sidewalk , his wheelchair was sinking into and pushing the rocks, once we made it onto the porch ,my husband opened the door but could not get inside because their wasn't enough space between the counter and the futon so he was suck in the doorway so I had to push the futon up to where the arm was pushed up against the loft latter ,thankfully my son didn't want to sleep in the loft. The lowered countertops wasn't accessible because he could not get his wheelchair under the counters to use the sink or eat at the counter table area and my husband has a custom wheelchair that it's sole purpose is to make it even more accessible like lower armrest and back ,slim design for his 130 lb frame at 5ft 6" tall , I mention his size so anyone reading this know it wasn't his size that made things difficult. A standard wheelchair or someone taller or a bit larger would be impossible to maneuver in this space. The bathroom has a bench with grab bars but has a 3"and a 6" shower threshold, I am assuming 6" but I didn't measure so a conservative 3". 3" to 6" inches on a shower threshold is impossible for most people with physical disabilities but might be ok if the shower was larger where someone could use a walker to get inside. So he was 2 nights un-showered because it was useless for him. The cabin area is mostly gravel. The picnic tables, fire pit ,grill and driveway is completely graveled making the use of his wheelchair, and walker useless to a point. My husband tried to make it anyway even though he struggled tremendously with both assisted device ,the walker was the most risky because a fall for an amputee means more surgeries and loss of life in some situation. My husband is an above knee amputee because of fall. He mostly used the wheelchair outside and just fought with it to minimize the risk of injury. He was forced into his walker indoors because he couldn't use any of the accommodations that Austin lake advertised as handicap accessible. We did get the golf cart and he rarely used it because it was very hard for my husband to maneuver inside the cabin and cabin area and he prioritized spending time with his family and any activities would have worn him out since he had to expend so much energy just at the cabin. Just a further note , we did absolutely no activities that were offered ,we stayed at the cabin and only went out to get my son ice cream or wood daily because my husband could only be left alone for a short time because of the not so accommodating accommodations. Like I said we checked out 2 days early ,I didn't ask for a refund but told the front desk that it was because of it not being accessible which I also said it wasn't her fault. My expectation was to have a conversation about handicap accessibility with someone. Here is the kicker!!! The front desk had to call someone I think she said Marcy ,Marsha or someone similar to that name because the computer wanted to issue a full refund ,I figured that's great I was going to get that conversation I wanted and a refund on my 2 days. The front desk called and walked away so I couldn't hear what was being said and she gets off the phone and says your checked out. I still didn't think much about her walking away out of earshot at the time and just figured someone would call, e-mail or something but instead I got an e-mail saying I checked out. I didn't inform my husband about the front desk situation mosty because my husband is a honorable man and it's never been about money for him , it's always about the people/disabled effected by accommodations that wasn't received and he was dismissed as if he didn't matter. If a simple conversation happened even without a refund on our 2 days ,I would have never wrote this. I will be posting this review on several sites so the handicap community is aware. Thank you read more

What a great campground. Everyone is so nice and grounds are well kept. It's a little scary getting there but we'll worth it.

Extremely Good Customer Service I was apprehensive when booking this location due to its remote-ish location. It's off the beaten path a bit. In fact, the people living off the beaten path say "Damn, glad I don't live out there". We have traveled thru Ohio, PA, and Virginia many times, and always get intermediate stops in Ohio to break up the drive. Unfortunately, I waited too long in the season and couldn't find a space close to the Turnpike for my 43 foot Fiver. I booked one of their last spaces when the young man answering the phone eagerly searched their reservations. I was surprised by his friendly tone and perseverance. When we headed that way, we were taken quite a bit off the main route, about 30-45 minutes. The roads were country lanes with hills and turns, so If you're a flatlander, it may get your pebbles in a pinch. The hill near the campground was a bit steep, but my dually pulled like a champ. Wasn't going to break any records going up the hill on the way out, but it was an easy trek if your vehicle is properly rated for the weight your hauling. The final approach is not too wide, but keeping your speed low allowed you to maneuver the corners. Pay close attention as you drive. This is not the place to text and drive. I mean this literally, as there is NO PHONE SERVICE. Once you get about 20 mins from the location you're off the grid. The staff mentioned the Wifi is spotty, but we found it not useable, and we were 40 feet from the Pavillion, which has a transmitter. After all, isn't getting away from it all the main reason we camp. The sites are tightly packed but easy to back into. The grounds are meticulously maintained and although we were just overnighting, it appeared there was a lot to do. Here's the kicker, I called about 3 hours out to let the staff know we were arriving late in the evening, and well after the staff would leave. The manager informed me of the site number, gate code, and specific directions to the campground. GPS has you going a bit out of the way, and there was a better way. The manager is a charismatic individual that clearly enjoys life's every moment, quoting Homer's Odyssey, and specific instructions in every detail. I suggest having a notebook and pen handy, as his directions are spot on. The only thing he didn't add is the mileage between points. He needs to tighten that up. We arrived late in the evening, about 10:30-10:45 pm. The gate booth was empty, but a young man walked up and gave us the campground map and offered to escort us to the site. His dad came up and within one syllable I knew this was the Manager. He was as nice in person as on the phone. His son escorted us to the site and assisted me in backing in my 5th wheel. He offered to help hook it up, but that wasn't necessary. I knew he was well past his work hours, and already did more than enough. During our short visit, I found the campground to be strongly family oriented. Kids having fun, fires burning with multiple families gathered around it. I highly recommend this location. Not only for the incredibly kind staff but the condition of the grounds and the atmosphere. This is a stop for 3 days or more. The lake is beautiful. read more

A great place to take the family camping or get away for a week or two! Plenty of activities; fishing, hiking, canoes, swimming, tube slide and more. You can even go water skiing! Great family atmosphere as the owners DO NOT put up with any problem campers. They also do not hesitate to renovate! For a great fun filled family get away, check http://www.austinlakepark.com read more

I have never encountered a more greedy campground owner. Case in point (cons): --Lots are so tiny that in our small hybrid camper, our bed was about 2 feet from the gazebo at the site next to us, and the slide of the camper on the other side was overhanging onto our site. The smaller the sites, the more you can cram in and the more money you make. --No traditional one-way loop for traffic. This means that if your site is near the entrance (ours was) you get tons of traffic from both directions. Cars, bikes, golf carts, etc. non-stop. Putting in a one-way road loop would mean sacrificing some sites, and therefore revenue. --Bath house does not have free hot water for showers. You must pay $0.50 for five minutes of hot water. Seriously? Under the guise of "conservation," this campground makes money off of people needing to shower. While camping. --No sign at wrong-turn. GPS/Google maps/etc. send you the wrong way. The owner knows this and puts this information on the map you receive when you check in. However, that's not very helpful when you're on your way there and don't have that map yet. There is one wrong turn by a baseball field, which we took. We got stuck on a hill pulling our camper, and had to be towed over it. The people that helped us out said that it happens all the time. People are constantly making that wrong turn. I don't think it would be difficult to put a sign at the turn indicating that to get to Austin Lake you should continue straight, not turn as indicated by your GPS. But signs cost money. --Entrance fee. You pay $3.75 to enter the park, THEN pay to do each individual activity. Our family paid for a pavilion for our reunion, but each attendee also had to pay to enter the park. Double-dipping much? --Activities. The tube slide is advertised for 4 and up, but the children aren't allowed to drag the tube back up the hill. They aren't allowed flip it up the hill like a tire flip. They aren't allowed to put it on its side and roll it up the hill. They must pick it up and carry it up the hill. What four year old can do this? Heck, what 10 year old can do this? When we complained, the owner said, "Well you should just carry it up the hill for them. That's what I'd do for my boys." Really? For hours you would carry a tube up the hill, then walk back down to meet them at the bottom to carry it up again? Also, the tube slide is run by the concession workers. At one point, my kids were told they were no longer allowed to slide because the worker had to go back to the concession stand. Because hiring enough workers to man all of the activities you offer would cost more money. --Wifi. Pretty much non-existent. Instead of setting up one network with multiple access points, it's set up as multiple networks. So every time you move from one area to another, you have to switch which network you're connected to. And there is zero overlap, so if your campsite is on the fringe of a network (ours was), the signal isn't strong enough to stay connected, but you aren't close enough to the next network to connect to it, either. Because there is no cell service at all, you're reliant on this "wifi" for any sort of communication. Be prepared to walk to another area of the campground to have a strong enough signal to be able to connect. Creating a network with overlap means more access points and therefore more money spent. Pros: --The fire ring at the camp site was very nice. --The proximity of the creek to our campsite was fun. --Lots of things to do to keep kids busy if you're willing to pay extra. --Multiple playgrounds (free) that are mostly newer nice ones with a few older, but still serviceable ones, mixed in. Basically this owner will do anything and everything he can to get more money out of his guests. I understand that it's a business, not a non-profit organization, but it felt like every single thing was done solely for how much revenue it could generate. I would've rather paid a little more for the campsite and had free hot water, reliable wifi, a little bit more space, etc. read more