Had fun on the different trails, at the pool and the shade of our campground!

This park is a southern Indiana beauty. Indiana's first state park dating to 1916. The heart of the park is McCormick's Creek Canyon with stunning views, hiking and some of the best wildflower displays in the state…and let's don't forget McCormick's Creek waterfall…yes its probably only 10' but this is a big deal for Indiana. The park offers numerous hikes varying in difficulty accessing features and attractions to include a 90' fire tower, scenic canyon and waterfall, small cave(Wolf Cave), interesting sinkholes and some stunning second growth hardwood forest. A center piece of the park is the Canyon Inn offering hotel accommodations, dining, seasonal swimming pool(guests only) and in the winter months a massive warming fireplace. The campground provides 189 electric only sites(30 amp) typically gravel pads and 32 primitive sites; most having nice tree canopy for summer shade. Larger coaches have limited choices. The park has an exceptional seasonal outdoor pool, seasonal camp store, very active nature center and naturalist program. Just minutes from the park is the town of Spencer with everything you need to re-supply or grab a dinner out…restaurants, grocery, Wal-Mart, fuel and more

Enjoyed the falls! Cleanest & nicest bathrooms & shower houses that we have ever seen!

Stay over Memorial weekend Campground: very hilly. Loop B sites are very uneven. If you have a trailer I suggest the A loop or definitely have enough equipment to make you level. Could use another bathroom, bigger bathroom, or a pit toilet. Bathrooms were clean. Plenty of spots for a hammock. Trails: fun and shorter. Trail 10 was the only one not well marked, but we figured it out, and it was worth it. All the others were well marked.

I really enjoy this campground. I've camped here about 3 times and every time was enjoyable. The one thing to note is that the section of sites to the left (when looking at a map) are all very hilly so it might seem flat, but they're all divided by a lot of hills (with the most right campsites being downhill). We didn't realize this the first time we came here to camp, and the host was very accommodating and let us change sites to one closer to the restroom and to the top. It had recently rained, so we didn't want to get flooded.

They're decently spaced between each site as well. One of my favorite campsites in Indiana.

We love spending time at McCormick’s Creek. The facilities are always very clean. We were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the bathrooms and showers in the campgrounds. We have never seen bathrooms that nice and clean at any state park. The playgrounds were clean and provided lots of fun for our son. The trails are so nice and very well-maintained. Our 5 year old had no problem hiking any of the trails we took. Wolf Cave and the Falls are definitely worth seeing! Wolf Cave is quite a thrill and the Falls are so serene and beautiful. Even the dump station is very nice and well maintained. We never have any problems at all during our stays at McCormick's Creek. The staff, facility and park are all so wonderful.

There is just one thing that keeps me from rating this a 5 star campground. It's the sites!  So….4 stars…but read on for my thoughts on the sites.

What's up with these sites?

• If you want to be be able to see what your neighbors are eating and hear their conversations, you'll love the electric sites (1 through 189).

• If you like to feel like you're alone in the woods, you won't like most of the electric sites. 

• There is a partial solution. Sites 190-202 have no electricity, but most are fairly private/secluded. Sites 203-222 are additional primitive sites on a loop but they are not at all private; you can see lots of neighboring sites. There's a lot of shade, but you could probably set up solar panels if you require electricity.

• If you want privacy in the electric section (1-189), I don't have a great recommendation other than you should stay on the outside of the loops. Then you'll only have people beside you rather than beside and across from you.

Good luck! Stay one night when there aren't many people and scope out sites for your next stay. If you're from the area, this could be a park worth returning to over and over if you are able to stay on a site you enjoy.

I've included a map of sites 1-189 and photos that show some sites I like and sites I don't like. In my opinion, a site is not one for me if I can see 3 other picnic tables while sitting at the table at my site. If you camp with other families, this would be good because you can make your own 'group' site.

Something you need to know: Indiana state parks have a $7 entry fee but you'll only pay it once (unlike some states that make you pay every day). It's supposed to be $9 for non-residents, but we were only charged $7. The hang tag for your vehicle will get you in the main entrance for the rest of your stay.

If you come without a reservation: The registration attendant assigned a site to us but maybe you can choose one. Since it was the day after Labor Day and the park was sparsely populated, there was no one near us. Privacy was not an issue for our stay, but we wouldn't have enjoyed our site on a busy weekend…although there were many sites we would have liked even less.

The basics: picnic tables, fire rings, dump station, potable water, flush toilets and sinks in the bathrooms, separate shower facility. There are vault toilets closer to sites 190-222. Sites 1-189 have electricity.

Activities: Nearby swimming pool and playground. There are almost 11 miles of hiking trails. The longest one is 2 miles, but you can combine some trails and wander in the woods for quite a while. You can also wade in McCormick's Creek; the water was low in early September. You can stay busy in this park for quite a while. And if you want to go to Bloomington, it's only about 25 minutes away

nicd spot. Doesn’t get too crowded. Near the lodge if anything is needed

This is a awesome camp ground. Very clean big private lots. Very friendly. Lots to do in the park. And surrounding area.

Nice trails small campsites