Oak Ridge Morgan-Monroe State Forest, near Martinsville, Indiana, is a fantastic spot for those who love the great outdoors. With a mix of tent sites, RV accommodations, and even yurts, it caters to a variety of camping styles, making it a solid choice for anyone looking to escape into nature.

The campground is known for its beautiful surroundings and well-maintained trails, perfect for hiking enthusiasts. Visitors have raved about the peaceful atmosphere, with one camper noting, “If you like hiking, this is the place!” You’ll find plenty of trails, including some that stretch over ten miles, offering a great way to explore the forest.

Amenities include picnic tables and fire rings at each site, allowing for cozy campfire evenings. While there are no electric hookups, many campers appreciate the chance to disconnect and enjoy the natural beauty. As one reviewer mentioned, “This is a great place to camp and hike,” highlighting the balance of comfort and wilderness.

For those looking to venture beyond the campground, the nearby lakes provide opportunities for fishing and kayaking. Plus, the area is rich with wildlife, making it a great spot for nature lovers. Whether you're here for a weekend or a longer stay, Oak Ridge Morgan-Monroe State Forest offers a refreshing retreat into the heart of Indiana's natural beauty.

Oak Ridge Morgan-Monroe State Forest

Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Martinsville, IN has a lot to offer. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in. Experience some of the most stunning views that Indiana camping has to offer. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Martinsville camping trip.

Martinsville

The Best Camping Near Martinsville, Indiana

I’ve camped here several times and have always enjoyed it.   When tent camping and want something quiet and a place with great trails, this is a good place to go.  Even though it’s hot outside today, there’s lots of shade and a breeze.   At this campground, there are two areas of pit toilets, and a big outdoor sink.   Fire wood and maps can be obtained just up the road at the new Morgan Monroe headquarters.   A self pay station is set up there.   You select your site, set up, then go pay.  Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and plenty of room for tenting with most sites big enough for a trailer.   There’s a playground at the entrance of Mason Ridge campground and a fire tower.

Quiet, just right!

My favorite forest with traditional camping, backwoods camping, and a wonderful secret pioneer cabin for rent. This is the best camping within an hour on Indianapolis and if your looking for free and solitary sites try the backwoods camping area for the low gap trail theres a parking lot there. 

Secluded 

We stayed at site 13 at Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Mason Ridge Campground in June 2020. Site 13 has a little trail that goes down to a large flooded sinkhole behind the campsite. There were lots of tree frogs singing because of the proximity to water. Mason Ridge Campground has vault toilets and drinking water available. There are outdoor sinks at the drinking water stations. There is a dumpster in the campground for trash. Mason Ridge Campground is first come, first served, self-register and pay at the park office. Bring exact change. Firewood is available to purchase, but only when the park office is open, and hours are limited. It is also allowed for campers to gather downed wood throughout the forest for campfires. Chainsaws are not allowed, so bring a handsaw and spitting axe if you want to do this. Campsites are mostly good for tents, but several of the sites would be fine for small to medium sized travel trailers and RVs. Sites are primitive, with gravel parking pads. Campfire ring, grill grate, and picnic table are at all sites. There is a dump station. There are no electric sites. Oak Ridge Campground is a second campground loop in MMSF. It only has a handful of sites but feels very secluded. Most of these sites are suited for tents only, or little teardrop campers. Oak Ridge is only open as an“overflow” campground, so only bet on it being open during summer. There is also a group campground for scout troupes and other groups. When we camped here, there was a rowdy group of car campers that came to have a bonfire and drink all night two sites down from us. They would loud and obnoxious. I do not know if this type of thing is common occurrence at this property, or if we“lucked out” that night. The rest of the folks camping there were quiet. There were no hordes of flashlight children running amuck through the campground like you get at the state parks. There is a playground and fire tower right next to the Mason Ridge campground, but both were closed due to coronavirus. There are many trails in MMSF. Good hiking. 

  

Pros: sinks, feeling of seclusion, quiet(other than the one group), usually availability unless you arrive really late, long hiking trails

  

Cons: limited office hours for firewood purchase, obnoxious car campers

  

In summary, this campground is for those who like to“rough it” a little bit.

Off the Beaten Path

This is probably the best state forest in the state of Indiana. The property is well maintained. There is a new visitors center built a few years ago. There are some picnic areas and a couple of shields and 2 cabins for rent.
There are a lot of trails to hike 2 of them are over 10 miles (lower gap and three lakes). The Tecumseh trail (40 miles) starts in Morgan Monroe State Forest passes through Yellowwood State Forest and ends in the Hoosier national Forest. There are some shorter trails also. The trails are very nice and well maintained. There is a paved bicycle trail approximately 5 miles long one way  Three small lakes are on the property for fishing and kayaking. 
There are three campgrounds on the property. The main campground has around 20 sites. The overflow campgrounds as about 10 more sites. There is a youth campgrounds to. Each campground has pit toilets and wash station with water available to take to camp site. There is also camping on the some of the trails.
The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is, we are RV campers and there are only about 5 sites we could get in to. Our camper is about 25’ and it was tight get in and out of the campground. If you have a small camper (15’ or smaller) there would more sites. There is a dump station, but I barely got in to dump. So not real RV friendly. 


If you like hiking this is the place!

Great forest for camping. Even with beautiful weather and the opening of squirrel season, it was relatively light with other campers. Water and bathrooms available. When you arrive set up at your site. Then you will need to go WITH EXACT CHANGE to the sign in at the main building. It’s easy, there is a little box on the side of the firewood shed. Make sure you take your tag to mark your site, it is in the box attached to the payment envelope. Plenty of great trails nearby. Nothing crazy or particularly noteworthy, but a nice little park. Recommend the tree trail.

Great quiet state forest.

My wife and were at site 15 from 09/02/21- 09/06/21 camping in a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108 TB. This park is not for large rigs, but we had no trouble fitting into our small camper. This is a great place to camp and hike, although there is no electric hookup we had a generator that we used sparklingly. The only drawbacks were that the vault toilets are in pretty bad condition and the dump station hose did not have a connection to allow me to flush the blackwater holding tank.

Hesitate to share our hidden gem

We stayed pretty much on our site. Generally, we aim to do a bit of exploring, but we used their camping as a rendezvous. I was slightly disappointed by the site selections being mostly on a slant, but we did find one on the overfill site that suited our needs and we ended up loving it. I do plan on returning specifically to update a better review on the available views.

Beautiful as it should be.

This campground is decent if you get one of the few good spots. Many sites are small and can only accommodate a tent. Has water and vault toilets. This campground typically remains available as an overflow camping area but is still a good spot. 

Photos of Oak Ridge Morgan-Monroe State Forest

Real photos from real campers