Ohio's state park lodges to reopen but not all their amenities yet available

Ohio’s several state park lodges and its raft of rental cottages are sweeping out nearly three months of cobwebs for their reopening debuts.

The state park’s nine lodges will do so starting June 5th while the agency’s cottages will open beginning June 1st.

Caveats do exist, however. Not all amenities will be available, at least not initially.

The closures came about following the March 9^th coronavirus pandemic-related orders from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

In a May 28^th statement, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources says reservations are now being accepted for overnight stays, meetings and weddings at the lodge and conference centers located at Burr Oak, Deer Creek, Hueston, Maumee Bay, Mohican, Punderson, Salt Fork and Shawnee state parks.

These lodges are operated for the Ohio State Parks system by US Hotels, a private entity.

Visitors will be able to begin making reservations for deluxe cabins at Buck Creek, Cowan Lake, Dillon, Lake Hope, Mohican, and Pike Lake state parks when they reopen on June 1st.

Other openings include the cedar cabins at Geneva State Park on June 6th and the cabins at Pymatuning State Park on June 16th. To make reservations for Ohio State Park’s overnight facilities, please visit reserveohio.com or call 866-644-6727.

Meanwhile, the lodge and cottages at Geneva State Park will also reopen on June 5th. Guests may contact the lodge at www.thelodgeatgeneva.com or call 866-806-8066 to make lodge room or cottage reservations. This lodge is operated independently.

Also, the state’s deluxe cabins, golf courses, and marinas at these locations began welcoming guests earlier in May, the Natural Resources Department’s statement says.

However, people looking to reserve a lodge room or a cabin should note that not all amenities are available. Not at the moment, anyway.

Ohio Natural Resources’ chief of communications Sarah Wickham said in a prepared statement that “Our lodges plan to open the following facilities in compliance with ‘Responsible Restart’ guidelines.”

These impacted amenities, Wickham says, include:

• Pools: pools will operate with limited capacity and passes for guests not registered at the lodge or cabins will be limited.
• Fitness centers (for lodges that have them) will be open for guests.
• Gift shops will be open for limited hours.

For information about the guidelines for these amenities, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov.

And note, too, that lodge/cabin recreation courts and playgrounds remain closed at this time, Wickham says.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com