Charles C. Deam Wilderness

A staple of our state here in Indiana. Unfortunately due to some storm damage, trails were rerouted or straight up inaccessible.

Great places to find and set up camp. We even discovered a few extra hidden sites just by being forced off trails due to the damage.

Every dispersed camper should add the hikes to the lake to their checklist.

This place is the gift that keeps in giving being so close to the city. Beautiful sites on the lake, and dozens of other spots scattered throughout the forest as well.

I had the awesome experience to hammock camp on the Patton cave trail, along the creek that winds the length of that trail. It was a strenuous hike to pack in/out of, but was beautiful scenery. The cave is amazing, and if you’re interested in backwoods camping, there are an abundance of spaces to do so. I packed in at the trailhead by a horse camp, so there was a bathroom before and after the trip. But honestly, not worth it if you want a toilet. I walked the creek for hours just looking at all the rocks on the sandbars. I have never encountered so many geodes in my life. Truly magnificent to encounter. The only negative was that we came after a lot of rain. So everything is permanently wet and mosquitos/ticks abounded.

This area is so beautiful! We visited during mid-April, perfect for finding morels. The trails are well paved and marked, not too strenuous. So many beautiful trees and plants to see, plus lots of creeks to walk through. There are an abundance of areas to set up a hammock. We enjoyed the sycamore loop, which was around 6 miles. Everyone is super kind in the area, except for the gravel road to park (which is limited). Come Friday you’ll be fighting for a spot or face an $80 fine for parking on the roadway. More parking is a necessity with the amount of dispersed campers.

We love this area for roughing it. We usually choose a site far back into the wilderness area. The sites are primitive with no amenities. Tent camping only although there are both hike in and drive up sites in the wilderness area. Great place to get away from it all.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking to do some light backpacking for an overnight/weekend trip! Wonderful trails, dog friendly and nice places to camp off the trail. Can’t wait to go back!

Heads up! Refill your water when you come across it; the lake is harder to get to than you think. I would also bring bug spray and check for ticks!

Wonderful place. Excellent trail following a nice little stream along the one side. Being in a national forest dispersed camping is allowed if you follow leave no trace principals, but I stayed in a couple of the official sites. The official sites all had rock fire rings and bushcraft furniture.

The one negative was I did have to pack out previous campers trash along with my own. Being close to the college there was evidence that less than mature campers may frequent the area. That being said once on trail I didn’t see another soul past a couple hundred feet of the trail head and only heard a pair of hikers on the trail pass my camp site as I ate my breakfast the one morning.

A wonderful backpacking area!

loved it hammock camped right at the water front.

If you wanna have to hike to get to your destination. This is it. Real wilderness.