Pymatuning State Park

Pymatuning State Park is a 17512-acre property in Andover, Ohio, managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Of that total, 3512 acres are land and 14000 acres are water, most of it Pymatuning Lake, which the park shares with Pennsylvania. The agency describes Pymatuning Lake as one of the finest walleye and muskellunge lakes in the country, with excellent camping, swimming and boating.

This is a lake-first destination. The park draws anglers, campers, and boaters, with 20-HP limit boating on the reservoir and boat ramps including the Padanaram Boat Ramp at the northern end of the park. Walleye fishing is a particular draw, along with catches of crappie, black bass, bluegill, yellow perch, white bass and channel catfish, and occasional trophy muskellunge. Visitors planning a trip around water sports, camping, or fishing will find the most to do here; those looking for extensive hiking networks should look elsewhere.

Plan your visit

Camping & lodging

13 mapped camping locations

Site types & reservations: see the official site.

Know before you go

Address: 6100 Pymatuning Lake Road, Andover, OH, 44003
Phone: (440) 261-4551
Official site: ohiodnr.gov
Managed by: Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Hours: 6am to 11pm daily. Visitors are permitted to actively engage in legitimate recreational activities outside these hours. If you have questions, call the park office.

On the ground

The park's terrain traces back more than 14,000 years to glacial activity, which left a rolling landscape dotted with kettle lakes and eventually a great swamp forest of bogs, wetlands, and towering white pines. The name Pymatuning comes from a Native American term translated as "the crooked-mouthed man's dwelling." Settlement of the area by white immigrants from the east was slow to occur, and the earliest Europeans to reside here were trappers in search of valuable beaver pelts, followed by lumbermen who prized the white pines used for ship masts. In 1933, the dam which impounded Pymatuning Reservoir was constructed to regulate the flow of the Shenango and Beaver rivers. A Historical Marker in the park points to this past.

Three beaches serve swimmers, including the Main Beach, a 500-foot swimming beach south of the causeway with a changing house, showers, restrooms, a reservable shelter house, and two volleyball courts, and Cabin Beach just south of the cabin area. The Beaver Dam Trail is open to cross-country skiing in winter, when ice boating and ice fishing are also possible in this snow-belt region. The park counts 9 trail features among its 89 mapped points of interest, alongside 13 camping features and 66 day-use features. Camping options include full-hookup, electric, and non-electric sites, plus Preferred and Preferred One Bedroom cabins, with reservations required. Three non-electric picnic shelterhouses, including the Main Beach Shelter, can be reserved or used on a first-come, first-served basis.

Practical notes

Park hours run from 6am to 11pm daily, with allowances for visitors actively engaged in legitimate recreational activities outside that window. The park office can be reached at (440) 261-4551. The park is located at 6100 Pymatuning Lake Road, Andover, OH, 44003.