Our goal this year is to try 5 new campgrounds and still visit a few of our favorites. In order to accomplish this with the kids busy schedule, we had to start early! We camped at Cedarbrook campgrounds April 17th and 18th for Earth Day. I follow them on Facebook and saw they were having a buy one night, get one night free special for Earth Day.
Location
Cedarbrook Campgrounds is located just west of downtown Lebanon. From our home in Centerville, it was only a 20 minute trip. I loved that it was within walking distance to downtown Lebanon too. If we had more time, we could have walked around downtown, done some shopping, visited the ice cream parlor, and ate lunch at Golden Lamb. The best part about this location is its proximity to Kings Island, only 10-15 minutes away!
Staff
I’m big on customer service so I knew this would be a great experience just from the call I made to make reservations. The front desk staff is very helpful and a pleasure to talk with. We had the same experience at check in and the several times the kids visited the camp store to buy ice cream and candy.
Grounds/Facilities
The grounds are maintained well at Cedarbrook. They have a really nice main office/campstore upon entering the campground. It had a good selection of items and decent prices (for a campground store of course). They also carried some great gift items, like camper ornaments and picture frames. There was a room with movies, games and some books as well. Around the back of the office was the shower house and rest rooms. They were a bit dated, but clean. Just behind the office was the playground. The playground equipment is a bit outdated and the slide is a bit dangerous in my opinion, but there was plenty of swings and it was a huge hangout spot for the older kids in the campground. Although the pool wasn’t open yet, it seemed to be a nice. All roads and campground parking spots are gravel which made it hard for the kids to ride their bikes. The campground had a large number of campsites with water/electric/sewer and cable. The northwestern corner of the campground offered some really nice family tent sites, most with electric. The weekend we were there, this section was almost deserted. The only downside I noticed was the most northern end backs up to an area of building. There may be lots of construction noise during the week.
Events
We typically enjoy campgrounds with a list of events going on each weekend. It keeps the kids entertained and gives them a chance to meet other kids without spending too much extra money. I’m not sure what a typical weekend schedule of events looks like, but for Earth Day weekend there was a potted plant activity for the kids and a cornhole tournament. We didn’t participate in these due to visiting Kings Island for their opening day.
Cabins
The Deluxe Cabin looks to be only a year or so old. I noticed two of them and they are located close to the office, playground and pool. As you enter, there is a table with two stools, a countertop with mini fridge and microwave. They also provide a few bins for washing dishes but there is no sink. This room also houses a nice flat screen tv with a futon couch. This room contains built in bunks. There is also a bathroom with a shower and a bedroom in the rear with a double bed. Hand soap and toilet paper was provided in the bathroom, but make sure to bring your own linens, towels, dishes, dish soap, silverware, etc. Outside of the cabin there was a picnic table and fire ring. It’s also one of the most affordable deals I’ve found on cabins. Highly suggest this as an option for those families without a lot of camping supplies or aren’t ready to tent camp.
Overall, we really enjoyed this campground. We’ll be back soon!