Located 6 miles south of Bloomington and the IU campus, Monroe Lake is the largest in Indiana. Paynetown Campground is a recreation area that is part of Monroe Lake. Activities at Monroe include fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, picnicking, water recreation, bird/eagle viewing, and many others.

Paynetown Campground

I was very pleased with our camping expierence at this wonderful campground. 2 days wasnt nearly enough. My kids enjoyed nature, had stick wars, and my daughter learned a few things about fishing. Shower houses were clean. There was an activity center and each day they would have some sort of informational class. Plus, there were some nice playgrounds. The best part. Our campground lot was right down the hill from the lake. Great spot to just sneak away.

Just a few steps from the water.

Paynetown SRA is right on Lake Monroe about 10 minutes from Bloomington, IN. Campsites have a gravel parking pad, picnic table, fire-ring, and electrical hookups. Restrooms & showers were about average... not great/not bad. A private company rents kayaks, jet skis, boats, and paddleboards from the camp-store in the SRA. There are beaches, a nature center, & playgrounds, so it seems very family friendly. There's a cool little pizza place right down the road too. This is the perfect place to camp for a weekend of fun on Lake Monroe. It's also only about 20 minutes from Lake Lemon.

Paynetown State Recreation Area

Paynetown boasts the second largest beach on Lake Monroe, and the primitive sites include a very nice shower house. If you are tent camping there aren't many places to tie a tarp, so bring a free standing tarp if you like to have some space out of the occasional rain. There is an interpretive Nature Center and another shower house by the beach, and ample parking for day use. Boat rentals are available as well. Expect to see Canadian geese as the resident scavenger here instead of the usual raccoons found at Indiana parks. Other notable birds to keep an eye out for include swifts, killdeers, turkey buzzards, bald eagles, golden eagles, and great blue herons. Fishing for small and largemouth bass, crappie, channel catfish, and an assortment of bream is successful near the boat slips and along the shore.

Lake Monroe Living

It was quite small, but the hiking was amazing. We found so many geodes along the way. Lake Monroe is one of my favorite places to be, the sunsets are magical. Also there is a ton of things to do such as boating, canoeing, and swimming etc.

The sunset was amazing. 

Me and my wife came to Indiana to visit with family. We all met up at the campground there was 5 of us , the lot we got was small but still good size big enough to fit 2 tents and have plenty of room for our camp fire. I was most impressed with how clean the facilities was. There was someone cleaning the showers and bathrooms every few hours, everything was always fully stocked. There was also tons of stuff to do. We all went out on my brothers boat.  The next day my wife and I rented kayaks, we had a blast. We will definitely be back.

Best we have visited 

We’ve been going here for adult weekend for a few years! Such a blast! Nice big camping spots and the lake is great!

Adult weekend

Best fun family n beach

This was our first camp experience in our new travel trailer.  We had plenty of room at our site (site #18), and enjoyed the beauty of nature.  

Our stay was for 5 nights, and even though we had some rain, we were able to still enjoy the fire pit most of the time due to the trees overhead.  

Water access was plentiful, and easy and fast dump station.  There is a playground that kids seemed to really enjoy.  They also had a Trick or Treat night, and it was fun to see all of the creative costumes and kids (and adults) having fun.  We will definitely return to enjoy more time there.  Tony and Margo 

Great Camping Experience 

With COVID, it seems that everyone...and then more people are going camping. It's a bittersweet type of situation. Nevertheless, it's been very hard to find decent camping in Indiana that isn't packed in like sardines, while also trying to escape the city and get into nature - not around more people.

  

Luckily, a friend and I came here last October and this place was great. We got a non electric site and were in the middle of the sites. We had a great lake view and were very happy with our setup. It was a pull-through site, although not all are like that. We were able to set up in no time. 

  

We had lots of space, away from our neighbors. The campstore had wood and random items that you might need should you forget. We were just steps away from the lake and enjoyed walking down there every morning. There aren't the best hiking trails around, so you'll need to drive to the nearby Brown County or National Forest to hike on trails that are actually worth the time. 

  

I will add that the setup is a bit odd for non-electric. You basically had to pull up to the gatehouse, get your reservation info, then do a U-turn and go back out past the campstore in order to get to your campground. Very odd setup to say the least.

Lake Views - Good for Covid

Very nice campground. We stayed here for several nights in August and October 2020 in site 14, which was beautiful in the trees and level for our camper van. Good shade at many of the sites, but some are more open and less private. We stayed both times during the week, leaving on Fridays. Looks like it fills up on weekends and could get crowded. Beautiful fall colors in October. We will return.

Very nice campground

This year we stayed at spot 169 over looking the lake and it is everything you look for in a camp site..lots of room, a short walk to the water and a nice patch of woods behind the site! The site also is shaded most of the day making it very comfortable!!! Short walk to the bathrooms and showers which are hot water!! Caught some fish off the shore behind our site!!!

Stay here every year 

Absolutely LOVED our site! It was big and had amazing access to the forest for the kids to run and a little beach area too! Pay close attention to site descriptions because there are definite slopes to the sites! 

My new favorite! 

Stopped for a few weeks before settling down for the holidays. Love the rolling hills. All bathrooms were closed. Had winter water to fill tank. Level gravel pad with views of the sunrise and sunset over the lake.  One hiking trail, nice walk in the woods with a wee bit of a hill. Easy hike. Close to Bloomington for supplies. DNR drove by every morning. Felt very safe. Winter at its best

Beautiful southern Indiana

This campground offers just about everything. Great area for tent campers and RV campers. Marina on property, general store, beach. Clean bathrooms. Quiet for the most part! Had a great time!

Gorgeous views, great ammenities

This campground is by far cheaper than the other dnr sites and way better. Need I say more.

Best in Indiana 

My sister and I booked 2 nights and left after 1. Campsites are crammed together and packed too hard for stakes. Campground was very full, mostly RV/Camper. Kept waking up to headlights shining in the tent. There are some sites where you park and then walk in 100’ to camp. Facilities clean and staff helpful. Great for lively RV camping. Bad for tents &amp; quiet