Highland County Health Department<br> Hillsboro, Ohio

The Highland County Health Department is responsible for inspecting and monitoring residential campgrounds, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, and temporary campground health and safety issues. Sanitarians look for physical hazards, building safety, proper water and sewage disposal, spacing requirements, playground safety, and other public health issues.

These various camp and park issues have many requirements and rules which are similar, but many rules are specific to individual camp types. Please contact the Highland County Health Department for more information on various rules and regulations regarding residential campgrounds, campgrounds, RV Parks, Combined Parks, and Temporary Parks.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How is a campground defined?

Combined Park-Camp—any tract of land upon which a combination of five or more self-contained recreational vehicles or portable camping units are placed and include any roadway, building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as part of the park facilities.

Recreational Camp—any tract of land upon which five or more portable camping units are places, and includes any roadway, building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the facilities of such camp.

Recreational Vehicle Park—any tract of land used for parking five or more self-contained recreational vehicles and includes any roadway, building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended

Resident camp—means a facility which is being primarily utilized for the purpose of camping, that requires overnight residence, indoor or outdoor activities, and exists on any tract of land together with any buildings or other structures pertinent to its use.

Temporary Park-Camp—any tract of land used for a period not to exceed a total of 21 days per calendar year for the purpose of parking five or more recreational vehicles, dependant recreational vehicles, or portable camping units, or any combination thereof, for one or more periods of time that do not exceed 7 consecutive days or parts thereof.

2. What do I need to do to become an official campground?

Review campground rules, submit campground plans and fees for review to the appropriate local and state agencies, OR contact the Highland County Health Department, Environmental Health Division.

3. Are camps required to provide restrooms?

Yes. You may encounter 3 types of restroom facilities:

A. Standard (running water facility)

B. Vaulted privies (outhouse, pit toilet type facility)

C. Portable toilet (completely self contained)

4. What am I allowed to burn at my campfire?

The Ohio EPA has strict regulations concerning open burning materials. Essentially, only untreated wood can be used to fuel campfires.