West Branch State Park

We stayed at West Branch State Park in Ravenna, Ohio. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park, though many of the sites are unlevel.

Dates:

Check in: 2025-05-03
Check out: 2025-05-11
8 nights

Weather:

Some rain and some mostly cloudy
High temps 60-70°F, lows 44-52°F
Some wind, gusts to 21 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
Distant train horn noise
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#100, back-in, asphalt
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Very unlevel site; high in front and driver side; used hydraulic leveling (which couldn’t get entirely level; air leveling couldn’t cope either)
Asphalt driveway about 45 feet long by 10 feet wide
About 90 feet to neighbor on passenger side
No neighbor on driver side
Just grass between sites
Picnic table
Fire pit
Tall trees
Clean site
Elevation 990 feet, front facing NE

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
55 PSI very hard water, conveniently located
Unthreaded sewer connection, very conveniently located (2 2-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 12-160 Mbps down, 5-22 Mbps up, 30-90 ms ping
T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 42 ms ping
AT&T: 17 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80-120 ms ping
Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 60-150 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice campground, unlevel sites

This was a nice state park on the lake. Our site was very wide with lots of space between the neighbors, but a bit on the short side (just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, and we parked our truck crosswise at the front with about a foot to spare). The only real downside was how massively unlevel the site was front-to-back. We tried multiple positions and both air and hydraulic leveling, but could never get flat. Examining other sites in our loop, it didn’t appear that any of them were particularly level. Many rigs had their wheels off the ground, which is just unsafe. Our utilities were all in working order, but with very hard water, which required us to refresh the water softener twice in a week. We camped at West Branch State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

You can see how much the site slopes… and our coach wasn’t even level:

Our site

A track to the lake from our site:

Track to lake

Lake

Back to coach

We added the Ohio sticker to our map:

Added Ohio sticker

And added the Cuyahoga Valley National Park sticker:

Added Cuyahoga Valley National Park sticker

Dumpster and bathrooms:

Dumpster and bathrooms

Bathrooms

Other sites:

Other sites

We’d be happy to stay here again, but not in the same site.

Video

Video: Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 323 miles from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio, including several tunnels and narrow toll plazas, with clips from the truck perspective.

Travel from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio

We drove our coach 323 miles, about six hours of driving, from Lebanon, Pennsylvania to Ravenna, Ohio.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

An interactive map:

Preparing to toad up:

Preparing to toad up

Geese and goslings on the road:

Geese and goslings on the road

Entering the Pennsylvania Turnpike:

Entering Pennsylvania turnpike

The first of several rather narrow toll plazas:

Toll plaza

I-76 West, aka the turnpike:

I-76 West

Another toll plaza to exit the turnpike for fuel:

Another toll plaza

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Back onto the turnpike:

Another toll plaza

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

The first of several tunnels:

Tunnel

This U-Haul driver wasn’t very good at lane placement:

Tunnel

Out of the first tunnel and straight into the second one:

Tunnels

The third tunnel:

Tunnel

Service plaza:

Service plaza

Paladin on the dash at the service plaza:

Paladin on dash at service plaza

The fourth-and-last tunnel:

Tunnel

Another service plaza:

Service plaza

Bridge construction:

Bridge construction

Welcome to Ohio; a frame from the dash cam, as the photo was too obscured by rain (not that this is great):

Welcome to Ohio

Huge welcome center parking:

Service plaza

The last toll plaza:

Another toll plaza

Yay for E-ZPass:

Another toll plaza

A steep arching bridge over a rail line:

Steep arching bridge over rail line

West Branch State Park:

West Branch State Park

Check-in office:

Check-in office

Our very sloped site:

Our site

Mirror head replacement

Back in 2022 a truck clipped the driver-side mirror on our motorhome, smashing the mirror glass. I replaced the mirror glass, which made the mirror usable again, but unfortunately the motor that allows adjusting the position would only work three of the four directions, so I’d have to manually push the mirror if it drifted out of position (which seemed to happen regularly).

We were going to get it replaced when doing the annual service, but the pandemic supply chain issues made the part unavailable at the time.

It wasn’t a super urgent issue, so we put it on the back burner, but it continued to annoy us. Eventually after much research I determined that one could buy a replacement head for the mirror, which (in theory) could be easily plug-and-play replaced. The part is manufactured by Valvac, and the part number is 719853, “Euromax-XL Replacement Head w/Camera, Lighted, Left Side, Chrome”.

I purchased this part:

Mirror box

The new mirror head:

New mirror head

It looked like an easy job, but we were about to be in Red Bay, so I got a mobile tech to look at replacing it for me. Good thing I didn’t try it myself, as it was too hard for that tech; he couldn’t fish the wires out of the mirror arm.

So later while at Thousand Trails Orlando I got a local RV tech, Charles Sutton of CS Mobile RV Repair LLC, to have a go at it. He also had lots of difficulty with it, but eventually managed it (and was very generous in not charging extra for it, too; I’d highly recommend him for any RV services!).

Here’s the old head removed:

Old head removed

He had to remove a bunch of excess insulation in the generator compartment to access the wires to get enough slack to reach the plugs:

Removed insulation to access bolts

Finally able to reach the plugs:

Wires

The replaced mirror head:

Replaced mirror head

So nice to have that working again. And if we ever need to replace it again, it should be a much easier job next time.

Amish farmers market

On our tour of covered bridges, we also stopped off at the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

Farmers market

Our purchases; our first shoofly pie, very much like a date pie (and quite tasty), iced cinnamon raisin bread, fudge, and interesting honey flavors:

Our purchases

Amish country covered bridges

We drove through some of Pennsylvania Dutch Amish country in Lancaster County, to see some of the many covered bridges.

An interactive map of our route:

Several covered bridges:

Covered bridge

Amish horse and buggy:

Amish horse and buggy

Covered bridge

Amish horse and buggy sign

Amish working in a field:

Amish working in field

Amish horse and buggy

Hershey Gardens

We explored Hershey Gardens in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

An interactive map:

Hershey Gardens

Map:

Map

Butterfly atrium:

Butterfly atrium

Rose gardens dormant at the moment:

Gardens

Other flower beds:

Gardens

Soda Jerk Diner & Dairy Bar

We went to Soda Jerk Diner & Dairy Bar in Hummelstown/Hershey, Pennsylvania for dinner. A classic 50’s themed diner.

Soda Jerk Diner

Ice cream soda and egg cream beverages:

Beverages

Breakfast for dinner:

Breakfast for dinner

Pretty tasty stuff.

Independence National Historical Park

We visited the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An interactive map of our walking route:

View of Independence Hall:

View of Independence Hall

But first, Campo’s cheesesteaks for lunch:

Campo's cheesesteaks for lunch

Old post office:

Old post office

Passage to Franklin Court:

Passage to Franklin Court

Ghost structures representing Benjamin Franklin’s house in Franklin Court:

Ghost structures representing Benjamin Franklin's house in Franklin Court

Benjamin Franklin sign:

Benjamin Franklin sign

Bicentennial Bell in Benjamin Rush garden:

Bicentennial Bell in Benjamin Rush garden

Second Bank of the United States:

Second Bank of the United States

President’s House Site:

President's House Site

Liberty Bell Center:

Liberty Bell Center

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Jenn getting her passport stamps; this roll of paper is an excellent idea we haven’t seen elsewhere:

Visitor center

Cranking for smashed pennies:

Visitor center

Snack at the cafe in the visitor center:

Visitor center

Independence Hall:

Independence Hall

Flag reflected in a circular window:

Independence Hall

Court room:

Independence Hall

Our tour guide:

Independence Hall

Assembly Room, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were both signed:

Independence Hall

We did the expanded guided tour (40 minutes vs 20) that got to go upstairs:

Independence Hall

Historical.

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

We visited Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in Pennsylvania, which showcases an early American landscape of industrial operations from 1771-1883.

Visitor center:

Visitor center