Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.
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The Buckeye TrailA 1,444-mile blue-blazed loop around Ohio, with all 26 sections.
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Mounds & Earthworks43 ancient sites, including the Great Serpent Mound and the Newark Earthworks.
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Road Trips33 drives, from the Lincoln Highway to the Morgan Heritage Trail.
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Lake Erie Beaches20 public beaches from Conneaut to Toledo and the islands, with a map.
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Oddities & Roadside Attractions19 giants, ghosts and folk-art stops, plus a Mothman just over the line.
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Caves & Caverns12 show caverns, recess caves and rock shelters, with a map.
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Waterfalls34 falls from the Cuyahoga Valley to the Hocking Hills, with trail notes and a map.
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117 parks in 7 regions

South Bass Island State Park

Put-in-Bay · Lake Erie
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
33acres
—trail miles
—established

Visiting information you can trust

Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
ODNR park finder (search this park)
Location confidence
Verified property location
South Bass Island State Park, 1523 Catawba Ave
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
ReserveOhio — camping and cabin bookings
Hunting or permits
Not a hunting destination — the park is only 33 acres and the island is heavily residential. Check current ODNR regulations if you're considering any hunting in the Lake Erie islands region.

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

The story of this land

Before the late 1700s these islands belonged to the Ottawa and Wyandot. After the Revolution the land was granted away to former colonies and land companies who had no particular claim on it, and the resulting friction — along with British ships harassing American vessels and encouraging Native resistance — made Lake Erie a genuine war zone. In September 1813, Oliver Hazard Perry sailed out of the bay here, won the Battle of Lake Erie, and sent back the sentence every Ohio schoolchild learns: 'We have met the enemy and they are ours.' The 352-foot column you can see from almost anywhere on the island marks it.

The island stayed mostly empty until 1854, when Jose de Rivera bought five of the Bass Islands and put two thousand sheep on them. That didn't last. He switched to fruit, and it turned out the lake does something remarkable to this place — it moderates the air enough to give South Bass the longest frost-free growing season in Ohio, despite sitting farther north than almost anywhere else in the state. By 1880 grapes and wine were the island's only agricultural product and the Bass Islands were known as the Wine Islands. Several of those wineries are still pouring.

And then there's what you're actually camping on. In 1892 the Hotel Victory opened on this bluff: 625 guest rooms, banquet halls built for elaborate balls, a fountain, and a hundred-foot covered swimming pool — by some measures the largest hotel in the world. It burned to the ground in 1919 and never came back. A few foundation remnants are still scattered through the park, and the tent sites now sit on ground where people once danced in formal dress thirty feet above Lake Erie. The view they came for hasn't changed. On a clear night you can still watch the sun go down over the water and see the lights of Ontario come up across the lake.

Things to do in the park

  • Watch the sunset from the bluff campsites, 30–40 feet above the water
  • Launch a boat from the park marina for walleye and perch
  • Swim off the small stone beach
  • Find the scattered stone remnants of the 1892 Hotel Victory
  • Glacial grooves and rock formations visible around the park

Trails

Maps, reviews and recent trail reports for South Bass Island State Park.

Find trails on AllTrails →

Things to do nearby

  • Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial — ride the elevator 317 feet up for a view of the battle site
  • Perry's Cave, an underground limestone cavern beneath the island
  • Downtown Put-in-Bay: Delaware Avenue's bars, shops, and famously loud nightlife
  • Island wineries dating back to the 1880s Wine Islands era
  • Butterfly house, putt-putt, and family attractions scattered across the island

Hiking trails

Limited trails within the park's 33 acres — mostly short shoreline and picnic-area paths. Longer hiking is available at nearby island nature preserves, and most visitors get around by bike or rented golf cart.

Wildlife you might see

  • Monarch butterflies staging here on their migration to Mexico
  • Large spring and fall songbird migrations
  • Lake Erie watersnakes
  • Gulls, herons, and waterfowl along the rocky shoreline

Fishing

  • Surrounding Lake Erie waters: walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass — the park's own marina is a popular launch point

Hunting

Not a hunting destination — the park is only 33 acres and the island is heavily residential. Check current ODNR regulations if you're considering any hunting in the Lake Erie islands region.

Getting on the water

The park has its own marina on the west side of South Bass Island, which is the sheltered side for prevailing winds. Campsites sit on 30–40 foot limestone bluffs above the water — spectacular views, but no direct boat access from the sites themselves.

Launches & facilities

Park marina and boat launch
On site, popular for walleye, perch and smallmouth runs.
Small stone beach
Swimming and carry-in access for kayaks.
Put-in-Bay harbor
Full-service docks in town, about a mile and a half east.

Camper-reported waterfront sites

Site Cliff-edge tent sites
The ones to request — 30 to 40 feet above Lake Erie with open sunset views west toward Ontario. No water access from the site itself; the bluff is the point.

These come from camper reports, not an official ODNR list — verify against site photos on ReserveOhio before booking.

Good to know

  • Bringing a vehicle over on the ferry costs considerably more than walking on and renting a golf cart.
  • Island gas runs well above mainland prices — fuel up at Catawba before you cross.
  • Campground season runs May through mid-October only.

A Pudding Bag, a Cave and a Common Grave

The name is a joke that stuck. The story is that when some early explorers charted the islands in July 1784, they marked the harbor Pudding Bay because its shape looked like a pudding bag, and the spelling wandered from there to Put-in-Bay. Another popular explanation is that sailors caught in rough weather simply put in to the bay for shelter.

The island holds other tales from September 1813. Oliver Hazard Perry is credited with finding Perry's Cave, a limestone cavern with an underground lake whose level rises and falls with Lake Erie. The story says his men, sick from bad water, drank from it. After the battle, six officers, three American and three British, were buried side by side in a common grave on the island under a lone willow. The rest of the dead went into the lake.

Behind the legend

The victory is real, and the surrounding stories are more slippery. The Battle of Lake Erie started at 11:45 a.m. on September 10, 1813, and ended shortly after 3:00. Perry took the entire British squadron of six vessels and wrote his famous note to General Harrison on the back of an old letter. His flag read 'Don't Give Up the Ship,' words that belonged to the dying Captain Lawrence of the ship he named it for. About 27 Americans and 41 British died.

The name comes from one of two competing explanations, and neither can be confirmed. Perry's Cave is a case where ODNR chooses careful wording: he is 'reputed' to have discovered it. The cave is real, about 52 feet below the surface, with a temperature near 50 degrees all year, and the drinking water story is a modern retelling. The Hotel Victory, once billed as the largest hotel in the world, burned in 1919, and its ruins are still visible in the state park.

If you go

Walk the shoreline at the state park and find the ruins of the Hotel Victory. Then tour Perry's Cave and go up the memorial column for the view over the whole battle site.

Historic sites near South Bass Island State Park

Forts, villages, furnaces and lighthouses within reach of this park. Tap one for its story and visiting details.

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial

Put-in-Bay · South Bass Island · Lake Erie
A tall stone column on a Lake Erie island that marks the naval battle that won Lake Erie and the peace that followed.
National Park Service site
About 1 miles from this park · 1813; memorial built 1912–1915

Beaches at South Bass Island State Park

Lake Erie beach details for this park. Check for water advisories before you swim.

South Bass Island State Park Beach

Put-in-Bay · Ottawa County
A small stone beach on South Bass Island's cliffs, a few miles from the village of Put-in-Bay, reached by ferry.
State parkA small stone beach
Lifeguards: None listed; swim at your own risk

Caves near South Bass Island State Park

Caves, rock shelters and cave attractions within reach of this park. Stay on marked trails and official tours.

Crystal Cave at Heineman's Winery

Put-in-Bay · Ottawa County
A cave lined with blue-white celestite crystals, billed as the world's largest geode, discovered while digging a well in 1897.
Geode cave
About 1 miles from this park

Perry's Cave

Put-in-Bay · Ottawa County
A limestone cave 52 feet under South Bass Island, traditionally tied to Commodore Perry.
Show cave (limestone)
About 1 miles from this park

Campsites

Electric site
51 sites, up to 50-amp service
$37–41/night
Full-service site
10 sites with electric, water & sewer
$37–56/night
Tent-only site
58 sites — the cliff-edge spots are the ones to get
$31–35/night

Cabins

Cabent
4 on site — a canvas-and-frame cabin/tent hybrid
$60–85/night

On site

  • Flush toilets and showers
  • Dump station
  • Boat launch and marina
  • Two picnic shelters
  • Taxi service to town; golf cart rentals island-wide
  • Campground season runs May through mid-October
Continue to ReserveOhio →
Field Notes Ohio isn't connected to ReserveOhio, so it can't hold a site or take payment. Tapping through opens it in a new tab — search "South Bass Island State Park" there to finish reserving.
Prefer the phone?419-285-2112

The island is reached by ferry from Port Clinton or Catawba Island — plan around the ferry schedule, and note that bringing a vehicle over costs considerably more than walking on and renting a golf cart. The park sits about a mile and a half from downtown Put-in-Bay, which is the whole point: the nightlife is close enough to reach and far enough away to sleep.

Restaurants nearby

Mossbacks Island Grill
Widely considered the island's best perch and walleye
Directions
The Boathouse Bar and Grill
Live music, right near the ferry dock
Directions
The Forge
Calmer, sit-down option with strong breakfast
Directions
The Boardwalk
Waterfront seafood with lobster bisque and sunset views
Directions

Gas stations nearby

Erie Islands Petroleum Pit Stop
The island's only gas station — also sells groceries, beer, and fishing supplies
Directions
Marathon (mainland, Catawba)
Fill up on the mainland before the ferry — island gas runs much higher
Directions

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.