Best Tent Camping near Charlestown, IN

Tent Camping Reviews near Charlestown, IN

517 Reviews of 7 Charlestown Campgrounds

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  Ella L.

  Guide

  Mar. 23, 2023

  Horine Reservation Camping at Jefferson County Memorial Forest

  Know the flight path schedule for UPS and you'll have a GREAT TIME!

  Tent sites have so many trees surrounding them. If you're looking for more privacy anything off of the loop will do just fine. We stayed at FS1 and could only catch glimpses of other campers, although you do hear and see folks on trails frequently. The ground is SUPER SOFT due to all the pine needles that have fallen over the years. We moved our tent around a bit to get it anchored firmly for expected wind at night... some spots were to soft, but it made for good sleeping!

  Firewood was ordered in advance when I booked the site, delivered to our spot while we were setting up.

  We took our dog and he had a great time(on leash of course!).

  Restrooms are porta-style but hand sanitizer was everywhere and everything was VERY CLEAN.

  Since the camp sites are behind a locked gate there is no through traffic aside from other campers. Very nice!

  Going back this upcoming weekend as well! Camped this past weekend at Group Site 3. You could fit 6 tents here and still have space. Couldn't hear any other campers aside from some jerks at Group Site 1 that decided to start howling and barking around 11pm as well as playing a radio very loudly past 9:30pm. Couldn't hear the radio unless I walked up to the porta-potties though.

  Even with all of the planes overhead from folks leaving town after Derby the tree cover dampened the noise wonderfully. Love love love camping at JCMF.

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• 

  Sofia A.

  Ranger

  Oct. 24, 2020

  Marengo Cave Campgrounds

  Near Caves

  I stayed on late October and I was the only one there, except for a family on the cabins. The spots are just near and walking distance from the caves and other attractions. They have two potable water spots (so no water on each spot), picnic tables, fire rings, grills and every spot faces the little river. restrooms and showers too. You can bring small pets inside the cave if you carry them all time. I have a small zuchon and carry her in a doggy backpack 🎒 she loved it!

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  Heather K.

  Ranger

  Jul. 22, 2019

  Horine Reservation Camping at Jefferson County Memorial Forest

  Close to town with a country feel

  To find the campground, follow your GPS to Horine Reservation at 12304 Holsclaw Hill Rd. If you follow GPS to Jefferson Memorial Forest, you will end up at the zipline & welcome center. Once on Holsclaw Hill Rd, follow the road & signs to the campground until you reach a gate. A 4 digit code is given to you when you make a reservation. The gate gives a nice sense of privacy & security for the campsite. The camp sites are easy to find and well marked with big signs. I was at Group Site 1This site is huge! Just a guess, but I would say around 1.5 acres. About 2/3 of this site is open, grassy field. The other 1/3 is shaded. The shaded area has 3 large picnic tables, water, fire ring & a private latrine. I purchased firewood in advance & it was delivered to our site before we even arrived. The dumpster is conveniently located near this site. The private latrine is a small, open-air structure near the shaded area of the site. There are 2 composting toilets & the toilet paper was fully stocked. The building is partially open the elements, so it was a little dirty (to be expected) but we used our hose and sprayed the floor clean. The toilets are "squatting" toilets. Which mean they are close to the floor (see pic). There are plenty of wooded areas to explore & hiking trails nearby & several great areas for hammocks. The site looks well maintained & had recently been mowed prior to our arrival. There are enough trees & space to give plenty of privacy between sites. This site is perfect for a large group or family wanting to tent camp together. The picnic tables are the large, sturdy kind. The fire ring was huge with an attached grill. There was another fire ring and 2 more picnic tables in the open grassy area, closer to the road.  Designated parking is near the road, which is a bit of distance for carrying a lot of gear. However, since the ground was completely dry, we dropped our gear at the shady area and then parked our car at the road. Overall, this is a great space with unexpected beauty!

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• 

  Melissa W.

  Legend

  Jun. 22, 2020

  Clifty Falls State Park Campground

  Standard SP Campground

  All sites have a picnic table and fire ring. However, many of the picnic tables are very short which is fine as long as you have a small group or family. The fire rings are very nice and have a good grill grate. Bathrooms/showers were typical: moderately clean with luke cold water. Tent sites were decent (we were pleased with site 117). Some offer a little more privacy than others with brush growth and trees. RV sites offered less privacy but I was pleased with the separation between the tent and RV sections of the campground. The wood they sold was great and they also have ice for sale. The trails were crazy packed the second weekend in June so we didn't do much hiking (however, we've hiked the entire park trail system in the past and really enjoy it). The park is relatively flat so biking is a fun activity. They charge you to enter the park an additional 7-9$ even if you already reserved camping. A huge bonus is Madison, Indiana nearby (4.5 miles away) which has a couple of wineries (and restaurants) and you can also walk along the Ohio River. Overall, I would tent camp here again.

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• 

  Stephen & Theresa B.

  Legend

  Jun. 30, 2020

  Shale Bluff Campground — Hardy Lake State Recreation Area

  Just a really nice place to camp and enjoy the lake.

  This is a great State Park offering hiking, swimming, boating, skiing, camping, interpretive naturalist program and the only DNR property in the state of Indiana with a raptor rehabilitation program. The reservoir is 741 acres with boating and fishing plus a huge beach area that is open for swimming. There are four boat launches, fishing piers, fish cleaning stations, archery range, basketball courts, shelter houses, playgrounds, raptor display and more. Hiking trails consist of 5 moderate to easy walks all under 2 miles through Indiana hardwoods, lake shoreline and even a 1700’s cemetery. Camping is in one of two areas; Wooster primitive that has a dozen sites close to the lake and Shale electric consisting of 142 gravel pad sites with 30 amp and 8 premium paved 50 amp sites. Sites are a mix of tree covered and open with most be relatively level providing a picnic table and fire pit. Potable water spigots dispersed throughout the campground and several bathhouse facilities and dump station for your convenience. The campground also has an amphitheater overlooking the lake that offers entertainment and naturalist programs. Convenient location just 15 minutes from the I-65 corridor 38.7766° N, 85.7056° W

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• 

  Rachelle W.

  Guide

  Aug. 5, 2018

  My Old Kentucky Home State Park Campground

  Primitive tent camping at My Old Kentucky Home

  The primitive tent camping is located in a grove of beautiful, mature trees. Fire rings & picnic tables are dotted throughout the trees. There is a highway right beside the campsite so you will best cars, but it is not a high traffic area.

• D

  Darren S.

  Scout

  May. 25, 2019

  My Old Kentucky Home State Park Campground

  Works in a pinch

  Has tent and RV camping. I tent camped this trip and stopped by for one night as I was passing through. Cost was about $16ish. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Tent sites are at the front of the property with the RVs to the back. Tent campsites are not defined - just an open area for all to share with picnic tables and grills scattered around. Kids playground next to it. Couldn't find the potable water for the tent area. The RVs had electric & water hookups. Showers and bathrooms available. Right next to a side road with a bit of traffic the night I stayed.

• 

  Ella L.

  Guide

  Mar. 23, 2023

  Taylorsville Lake State Park Campground

  Stellar Staff, great amenities, good for kids and big groups!

  The shower/bath house is on a European level of well-equipped. Reasonably clean(a little bit of boot muck on the floors but you should be wearing shower shoes anyway in a public facility) Self flushing toilets, air dryers for your hands.

  Well thought out for handicap accessibility as far as the toilet and shower stalls. Hand sinks could be a bit lower for folks using a chair but they do have a low hand dryer and no threshold in the doorway to get over.

  There are windows that look into the bathroom and although they are up high, pervs and curious kids will find a way. Campground should def. frost them but if you have the stall door shut to the space you're using you can hide your shame. A+ on the restroom space. Seriously impressed.

  Very well heated on a cold morning and although I didn't use the shower there were plenty of places in the shower stall to keep your things up off of anything wet. Single use stall and there were several. Door shuts and there is also a shower curtain to keep moisture off of your things.

  Outlets by the sinks for hair dryer if you bring one.

  Campground has hit or miss tent spots depending on how much space you need. We had a 3 person tent, 2 hammocks and a dog and we reserved spot 8 on the primitive loop and had more than enough room. There was a fire ring(one at every site) and two picnic tables. This spot, as most of them appeared to have enough room for at least 2 very large tents and a dining fly if that's your thing.

  With the brush cover during May site P10, although small, seemed to be the most private. We were at P8 and couldn't see anything at P10 though the brush.

  If you are looking for privacy, although you are still going to see headlights of cars on the loop road and hear pretty much everyone else on the Primitive loop P10 probably has the most privacy as far as brush shielding you. I would say that everything on the outer part of the Primitive loop towards the back is going to be the furthest away from other people but you are still going to hear everyone else. P6, P7, P8, P10 look the best to me as far as just being chill sites with a bit more space away from others.

   All of the sites on the interior of the loop back into each other and those seemed to be more of the "party sites" the night that we stayed. A lot of competing blue tooth speaker music at very loud volumes well after the quite time of 11pm. Loud music started again at 7:58AM. It was Bollywood music, which was different and honestly kind of fun... we were already awake though.

  Our site itself was fairly even although there were a lot of tree roots. No problem finding a grassy place to set up our tent however. We picked up all the trash, aside from a weird sock, left by previous campers so that aspect was a little sad... campers leaving cigarette butts and plastic water bottle caps laying around. Tree cover would be more than adequate at this site during a hot summer day. Water spigot is next to the dumpster by the shower house btw.

  Bundles of wood were fairly small compared to some other campsites and unfortunately wrapped in plastic but the wood was good quality, dry, and didn't burn overly smoky. There is a nylon strap handle that will be stapled through the plastic wrap into one piece of the wood so if you want to burn that piece you'll need to pry the staples out/cut the strap off.

  The woman working the registration check point, we didn't catch her name, was amazing, pleasant, helpful and gave great directions. She drove by a few times in a golf cart checking on things and didn't hassle anyone. If you ask at the check point for a map you will get a packet of papers with rules and a few different slightly blurry print outs, it's a lot of info and we found it helpful exploring a few of the points of interest in the park that you can drive to. Overall it was a fun experience and although it was louder than I expected when people did quiet down it was VERY quiet and we heard owls all night and what sounded like coyote howling in the distance.

  Super good place for families!

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• 

  Stephen & Theresa B.

  Legend

  May. 12, 2020

  Jackson Washington State Forest

  This is a little gem for tent camping or RVer not requiring shore power.

  Jackson-Washington State forest encompasses 16,500 plus acres in the rolling hills of south central Indiana and neighbors Starve Hollow State Recreation Area (see review). The property offers several stunning hiking trails and some are of the more challenging nature due to the elevation changes. The park also has an amazing scenic drive, Skyline Drive, which lives up to its name with spectacular panoramic vistas showcasing Indiana's gorgeous farms. The campground consists of 62 primitive class "C" self registration sites with a picnic table. Potable water is available seasonally and firewood can be purchased at the forest office. A number of the sites are waterfront offering a relaxing view...but definitely geared for the tent camper or RVer not requiring shore power. Just 2.5 miles from the town of Brownstown which has grocery shopping, restaurants and sundries. lat:38.8451 lon:-86.0519

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