Best Tent Camping near Cecil M. Harden Lake

Tent Camping Reviews near Cecil M. Harden Lake

400 Reviews of 6 Cecil M. Harden Lake Campgrounds

• E

  Eric S.

  Traveler

  Jul. 14, 2022

  Lieber State Recreation Area Campground

  Great pool; rough sites and campers

  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.

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• 

  Jennifer T.

  Guide

  Jul. 31, 2018

  Fowler County Park

  Wonderful Family Campgrounds

  Shaded campground sites at lake's edge on east side of park, 53 electrical hookups including 1 pull-thru, 14 primitive/tent sites. Fire ring and picnic table at each site. Water hydrants nearby. Modern shower houses with rest rooms. Handicapped accessible. Dump station. Pets are welcome but must be kept on leash. Must provide own firewood. Firewood must be purchased from within state. Fishing from campsite. In park, swimming beach (Memorial Day-weekend before school opens in fall), boat ramp, trails, playgrounds, horseshoe pits, pioneer village.

  Campground open May 1 - October 15. Park open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. No reservations. Must check-in between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Night guard on duty. Electrical sites - $20 a night, weekly rate - $120, 2 weeks rate - $200. Primitive sites - $12 a night, weekly rate - $60, 2 weeks rate - $100. Price includes Indiana Sales Tax.

  From I-70, go south on U.S. 41 for 7.2 miles. Turn left onto Oregon Church Road and go .8 mile east to park entrance on left. After entering park, turn right to go to campground.

  Personal Thoughts and Experience: We had a wonderful time. We absolutely loved the pioneer village. it is a must go especially when they are having pioneer days in the fall. There is a mountain bike park close to the campground that is a premier facility. Beginner to advance trails with a practice course. Amazing! My husband competes in the Dyno series and loves to train at the facility then camp at Fowler Park!

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• 

  Stephen & Theresa B.

  Legend

  Jul. 31, 2019

  Cecil M Harden Lake Raccoon State Recreation Area

  Plenty of fun!

  Raccoon State Recreation Area | Cecil M Harden Lake is located in the heart of historic covered bridge country just 50 miles West of Indianapolis. The campground is surrounded by the 2,060 acre Cecil M Harden reservoir offering boating (boat rental), fishing and a large swimming beach with concessions and amenities. The campground is extremely well maintained with many sites sheltered by tree canopy ranging from non-electric, 30 amp, to 50 amp. Fresh water is available at fill stations and a spacious dump station area make for easy disposal. Many of the sites are not level so chose wisely to suit your needs. Easy beach access from the campground via a paved walk/bike path, well stocked camp store at the entrance to the campground, well maintained bath house facilities, active interpretive Naturalist programs, and numerous hiking trail opportunities round out the amenities. This is a beautiful campground; and if you like to explore...take a drive through the area and enjoy the many historic towns, covered bridges and roller mills throughout the county.

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• T

  Timothy

  Traveler

  Aug. 6, 2021

  Shades State Park Campground

  Wooded Sandstone canyon with primitive camping.

  Located north of turkey run state park shades offers all the hiking and scenic terrain with less amenities and less crowds. Sugar creek cuts through the ancient sandstone floor creating canyon walls. The park is connected to a nature preserve that dose allow backpacking but has designated camping within the park separate from the car camping sites, so you can’t set up camp on the trail. The car camping sites, labeled as family camping, are primitive only with vault toilets. There is a shower located in the campsite with flushing toilets. Campsites are close but most have trees separating them for privacy. Avoid sites next to toilets or dumpsters their practically in your site. There’s no cellular signal in the park so heads up. Ice and wood are located for sale at the entrance. If you have little ones there are a few playgrounds located in the park including one in the campsite which is located a short hike in the woods. This park is quite, shaded, rugged at times and the canyon/creek can be breathtaking. Although I would go early or late in the season to avoid Indiana’s humid muggy summer heat.

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• 

  Randy M.

  Traveler

  May. 13, 2023

  Happy Campers Campground

  Off the beaten path by a lake

  See all 3

  Approx $35 / day

  Happy Campers Campground

  5.0 (1 reviews)

  Directions

  Share

  Add to trip

  Roam with care

  Remember to enjoy these campgrounds in a sustainable, respectful way. Clean up after yourself, be friendly with others, and don't overstay your welcome :)

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  Got it

  Details

  Call 812-239-6263 for reservation. Plan to arrive before dark.

  5 full hook-up sites, 1 primitive site, and one primitive cabin. On a lake stocked with fish. Port-a-potty and shower house available.

  Location

  Contact

  39.4931, -87.0188

  https://happycamperscampgroundinc.com

  Cell signal

  Verizon LTE

  AT&T LTE

  T-Mobile LTE

  Sprint LTE

  Weather

  Averages

  Forecast

  Jan

  2.57"

  34.6°

  16.8°

  Feb

  2.48"

  39.6°

  20°

  Mar

  3.39"

  50.5°

  28.6°

  Apr

  3.99"

  62.9°

  39.4°

  May

  5.41"

  72.4°

  49.3°

  Jun

  4.67"

  81.1°

  58.7°

  Jul

  5.19"

  84.2°

  61.7°

  Aug

  3.37"

  83.2°

  60.2°

  Sep

  3.73"

  77.3°

  52.3°

  Oct

  3.49"

  65°

  41.2°

  Nov

  3.98"

  52°

  31.8°

  Dec

  3.26"

  38.3°

  20.7°

  Seasonal scales

  Spring

  Summer

  Fall

  Winter

  Crowdedness

  Others between 10 and 50 feet away

  Fullness

  Almost full

  Noise

  Occasional man-made noise (trains, cars, etc...)

  Shade

  Mostly shaded, but still some spots with sunlight

  Cleanliness

  Pristine, no trash at all

  Safety

  Very safe

  Road difficulty

  No problems with any vehicle

  Features and amenities

  Water hookup

  Sewer hookup

  50A Electric

  Showers

  Picnic tables

  Toilets

  Pets allowed

  Wifi

  Fire pits

  randyorsusan

  Great place to stop overnight or for a few days. Can hear the highway; but it's not very loud or intrusive. Camp host/owner is very friendly. Plenty of room for kids or pets to roam and play. Very clean and safe.

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• 

  Mary S.

  Legend

  Sep. 8, 2018

  Mccormick's Creek State Park Campground

  Beautiful state park but sites are too close/visible to each other

  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

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• G

  Ginger T.

  Traveler

  Jun. 28, 2019

  Oak Ridge Camping Area — Morgan-Monroe State Forest

  Quiet, just right!

  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.

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• 

  Shelly S.

  Legend

  Oct. 26, 2017

  Lieber State Recreation Area Campground

  In the woods

  Lieber State Recreation Area, Cloverdale, IN is west down I70 from Indianapolis, 2 miles down RT243. Cagles Mill Lake borders the southwestern side of the area.

  We arrived to a very quiet campground with few campers. Our site was next to the showerhouse, in the trees and had an attached grass trail out the back. All of the campsites boasted two picnic tables and some were very spacious. The sites were electric only and there were water sites positioned strategically throughout the campground.

  The showerhouse was older but maintained. There were also pit toilets throughout the campground( not much to say about typical pit toilets....)

  There were primitive sites in the adjacent campground that did not have much tree cover but appeared to be good size sites to set up in.

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• 

  Daisy C.

  Traveler

  Jun. 8, 2020

  Oak Ridge Camping Area — Morgan-Monroe State Forest

  Off the Beaten Path

  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.

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