Locations for XC Team Retreats

• shooter_mcgavin

  For the past five summers our cross country team has gone to Camp Oty'Okwa in Hocking Hills for a three day team retreat. The setup was perfect for what we wanted:
  -we rented a couple of lodges with room and bunkbeds for 20-25 people in each (we usually take around 40 people)
  -each lodge had a kitchen and grill to cook our own food
  -there were hiking trails with amazing caves
  -the camp was on a low-traffic dirt road with plenty of hills for training
  -we had access to a swimming pool for two hours in the afternoon
  -the staff worked with us and scheduled times to use the volleyball court and the quad for volleyball/kickball/ultimate frisbee.
  
  The camp notified me this fall that they will be making their rules much stricter this summer on renters to eliminate all interaction between renters and their campers- no swimming pool, no hiking trails, no use of facilities. In short, I'm looking for a new facility within an hour or so of Columbus that will offer the amenities I listed above.
  Any suggestions???
• Gymshoe

  

  Shooter, I wonder if some of the State Parks would accomodate you? Deer Creek, Salt Fork, Mohican, etc. have cabins, trails, and other amenities suitable for a XC team. I love the idea of your team doing this sort of thing. What a great idea.
• uhstrackstar06

  Unioto always went to Hocking Hills and we loved it.
• shooter_mcgavin

  uhstrackstar- where did you stay? sleep in tents?
  I'm actually going to go check out Geneva Hills in Lancaster on Monday, looks like a good place for what we're looking for: http://www.genevahills.com/
• uhstrackstar06

  shooter- Yeah we stayed in tents both times. It was a lot of fun as we got the full experience. The raccoons and all haha
• said_aouita

  

  A tad over one hours distance, being down near Athens.
  
  Lake Hope. Looks like they have miles and miles worth of trails.
  
  http://www.lakehopestatepark.com/
• nworunner

  said_aouita wrote: A tad over one hours distance, being down near Athens.
  
  Lake Hope. Looks like they have miles and miles worth of trails.
  
  http://www.lakehopestatepark.com/

  Lake Hope was a great location for a CC retreat.The cabins are nice and updated as well as fairly inexpensive. There is a Walmart at the exit near Logan where you can load up on fresh foods before you get to the park. There is swimming, boating, basketball, fishing, and numerous trails. The trails are bit on the small side (single file) and they are a bit dangerous but I would have given the overall experience and A+.
• BluebyU

  I know it's a couple hours north of C-bus but Kellys Island up on Lake Erie is where our (Milan Edison) CC team has gone in the past.Usually 3 or four other schools there at the same time.Really cool that they get to interact with kids from rival schools and make some new freinds.