RV Rental Near Clendening Lake Marina & Campground in New Philadelphia, Ohio

Every summer I get the same call, usually on a Thursday afternoon, from someone who just realized that Clendening Lake is not like the crowded reservoirs most people picture when they hear “Ohio lake camping.” It’s quieter out there — genuinely remote-feeling for Harrison County — and once people discover it, they want to come back with more room than a tent gives them. That’s where I come in. As your local Fireside RV Rental operator here in the Tuscarawas Valley, I can deliver a rig directly to the Clendening Lake Marina & Campground, get it leveled and set up before you arrive, and have it picked back up when you’re ready to head home. You show up, you back in your camp chairs, and the lake is right in front of you.

If you’ve never been to Clendening, the drive out there from New Philadelphia is part of the experience — you roll south on State Route 800 and the landscape starts folding into hollows and ridgelines that most people don’t associate with Ohio at all. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District runs the campground alongside the marina, and they do it well. Full-hookup sites, a boat launch, shoreline fishing, and enough elbow room between sites that you can actually exhale. I’ve been delivering rigs to MWCD campgrounds across this region for years, and Clendening is consistently one of the most peaceful of the bunch.

How the Delivery and Setup Process Works at Clendening

Here’s the honest version of how this works, because I’d rather you have accurate expectations than be surprised on arrival day. Once you’ve booked your site directly with the MWCD at Clendening Lake Marina & Campground — that reservation is between you and them, I can’t do it for you — you give me your site number and your check-in window. I coordinate the delivery so the rig is already parked and leveled when you pull in. I connect to water and electric at the site’s hookup pedestal, run a walk-through of the trailer so you know where everything is, and leave you with a contact number if anything comes up during your stay.

One thing I’ll flag for first-timers booking at Clendening: some of the back loops and lakeside sites sit on narrower access lanes than you’d find at a bigger campground like Atwood or Tappan. That matters for matching you to the right rig. I’m not going to send a massive fifth wheel down a lane that doesn’t have the clearance for it — that’s bad for the trailer, bad for neighboring campers, and honestly just unnecessary stress. When you call me, tell me which loop or site you’ve reserved and I can tell you immediately which units from our fleet are the right fit. A travel trailer in the mid-range tends to work well across the variety of sites Clendening offers, but let’s confirm before we finalize anything.

When to Book — and What the Weather Does Out Here

Clendening Lake sits in a part of Harrison County where the hills create their own little weather pockets. Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day is peak season, and I am not exaggerating when I say that sites at Clendening fill up fast in late spring — sometimes before April is even over for the big summer holiday weekends. If you’re targeting Fourth of July weekend or Labor Day, reach out to me in March or early April. That’s not a sales pitch, it’s just the reality of coordinating a delivery rig alongside a sold-out campground. I’ve had to disappoint people who called two weeks before the holiday because there was nothing left to deliver to.

June is my favorite month to send first-timers out to Clendening. The lake is warm enough for fishing and kayaking, the tree canopy is full so the sites have shade, and the humidity hasn’t fully settled in yet. July and August get genuinely hot in the valley — afternoon temperatures in the upper 80s are common, and humidity can make it feel hotter. A well-air-conditioned RV is a serious quality-of-life upgrade over a tent those weeks. September is beautiful — probably the most underrated month out here. The crowds thin out after Labor Day, the nights cool down into the 50s, and the hardwoods along the Harrison County ridgelines start turning. I’d take a September weekend at Clendening over a July Fourth any day, personally.

What There Is to Do During Your Stay

Clendening Lake itself is the main event — about 1,800 acres of surface water with a reputation among locals for quality fishing. Largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, channel catfish — the MWCD manages the lake carefully and it shows. The marina rents boats if you don’t bring your own, and a lot of our renters pair an RV delivery with a rented pontoon for a few days. That combination — a comfortable home base at the campground and a boat to get out on the water — is honestly the ideal Clendening setup.

If you want to stretch your legs off the lake, you’re well-positioned for a day trip into the broader Tuscarawas Valley. Sugarcreek and Walnut Creek in Holmes County are an easy drive for Amish Country — fresh bakeries, cheese houses, and produce that makes any campsite dinner better. The Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek is worth a few hours if you have any interest in railroad history. Dennison Railroad Depot Museum is another one that surprises people. Schoenbrunn Village, the oldest Ohio settlement, is close to New Philadelphia and genuinely interesting if you have kids with you. None of these require you to break camp — that’s the beauty of the RV as your base. You go explore, you come back to a real bed and your own kitchen.

Getting to Clendening Lake from Around the Region

Most people coming from the north — Canton, Akron, or flying into Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) — take Interstate 77 south to the U.S. Route 250 corridor and then navigate southwest toward Freeport and into Harrison County. From New Philadelphia itself, it’s roughly a 45-minute drive. From Canton it’s closer to an hour. Cleveland Hopkins (CLE) puts you about 90 minutes away under normal conditions. Columbus (CMH) is about two hours. I mention the airports specifically because we do get folks who fly into the region and pick up a rental car, then want an RV waiting at their campsite rather than hauling anything themselves — that’s exactly the scenario our delivery model is built for.

State Route 800 is your main artery coming out of the Tuscarawas Valley toward the lake. It’s a good road but it’s a two-lane rural highway with no shortage of hills and curves — if you’re self-towing, respect the grades. If I’m delivering, that’s my concern, not yours, and I know that road well enough to plan the approach depending on which rig I’m bringing.

Nearby Campgrounds If Clendening Is Full

I’ve had seasons where Clendening fills up and a family still wants to be in that general part of the valley. Here are the campgrounds I redirect people to most often when that happens — I deliver to all of these as well:

• Tappan Lake Park Campground — Another MWCD property, this one in Cadiz. Larger than Clendening with more amenities, and it tends to have more availability mid-summer. Good fishing lake, full hookups available, and the marina is active.
• Atwood Lake Park Campground — Over in Carroll County, Atwood is a strong alternative if you want a bigger lake with a beach area. I deliver out there regularly. The sites are generally more spacious and accommodate larger rigs without the access-lane concerns of some Clendening loops.
• Leesville Lake Campground — A quieter MWCD lake in Carroll County, even more off the radar than Clendening. If solitude is the priority and you don’t need a full marina setup, Leesville is worth a look.
• Whispering Hills RV Park & Campground — Private campground closer to the Holmes County line. Full hookups, good amenities, and a solid base if you’re planning to spend significant time in Amish Country.
• Schoenbrunn Village Campground — Close to New Philadelphia, convenient if you want easy access to town and the Tuscarawas Valley attractions without driving deep into Harrison County each day.

Ready to Book Your Clendening Lake RV Rental?

The honest first step is to secure your campsite at Clendening Lake Marina & Campground through the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District — do that before you call me, because your site number and check-in date drive everything about the delivery. Once you have that, give me a call at 330-440-2429 or send a message to [email protected] and we’ll figure out the right rig for your site, your group size, and your dates. I’ll walk you through what to expect on delivery day and make sure there are no surprises.

If you want to see what’s in the fleet before you call, browse the fleet to get a feel for the options we run across the Tuscarawas Valley area. And if you’re still deciding between campgrounds or want a broader look at where we deliver, check out our full guide to campgrounds and RV parks in this part of Ohio. Clendening is a special lake — I think once you spend a few nights out there with a proper home base under you, you’ll understand why people keep calling me back every summer to set it up again.