Lieber State Recreation Area

Stayed at Poplar Grove. Great sites. Lots of activities for families. The beach was fun. Very social campground, but respectful and quiet after dark. Really enjoyed our summer evening there.

My family and I went for Labor Day weekend, and had a great time. Not only are the camp sites nice, there are tons of activities for the kids. We hiked a nature trail, went to the beach, visited the nature center, and went to see the falls.

Pros: Very nice large-size pool with slide, attached playground, green space, and sand-filled soccer pitch all included on the pool grounds. These amenities are great as the pool takes a 15 minute clear-out break about once per hour. There is a concession stand with limited selection, but the benefit is that it takes credit card (and cash). 

The camp store is not the best we've visited. Very limited supply, but they did keep a stock of bacon in their refrigerator and that made my wife happy. 

Cons: Typical Indiana State campground. We visited for a weekend and landed in a terrible spot. The grade was severe and despite using all the travel trailer tricks to level my site, I could not get level. We dealt with it, but I noticed 4 or 5 quality spots that sat vacant through the weekend, however, were allegedly reserved. I had terrible anxiety for the entire weekend that we would roll backward into a ravine. 

We were on an electric side of the park, and the pull-through site across from us was occupied by a tent with a minivan. No judgment here, but they were watching highly taboo movies on a wide screen projector with loud speakers around midnight, well after quiet hours had expired. 

Verizon and AT&T cell phone service were nil, even with a booster and WiFi pack. Our site was littered with cellophane wrappers and cigarette butts. Clearly the previous campers did not adhere to the "leave no trace" doctrine. 

DNR was very, very present at the campground, but at many sightings it seemed like they were watching for rule infractions as opposed to upholding the integrity of the park. I know that seems conflicting, but if you visit this park you will understand. 

Bathrooms were mostly clean. Vault toilets were disgusting, but that's expected for concrete topped port-a-potties.