Escape into nature and disconnect from your daily life with cabin camping near Columbus. Find the best information on cabin camping near Columbus, including sites, reviews, and tips for getting the most out of your camping experience. You're sure to find the perfect cabin rental for your Indiana camping adventure.
$25 - $40 / night
308 Campsites with full service or water and electric options.
No RV? No problem.
CERA offers 3 RV rentals as well as 6 cabins!
With 308 campsites, CERA offers plenty of RV spots. 234 sites are deluxe sites with sewer hookups. See our campground map on which sites will suit your stay!
There are three shower houses available and a centrally located dump station.
Dump station usage is free when camping at CERA or $15 with no overnight stay. CAMPING RULES CERA PASS HOLDERS AND GOOD SAM CAMPING CLUB MEMBERS WILL NEED TO CALL AND MAKE A RESERVATION TO RECEIVE DISCOUNT
$59 - $999 / night
Hardin Ridge is a 1,200-acre recreational complex located on the shores of Monroe Reservoir in Hooiser National Forest. The complex includes six shady campground loops, two picnic areas with shelters, and two rental cabins. The area offers something for everyone, with activities like camping, picnicking, boat launching, swimming, nature walks, and interpretive programs offered in a forested environment.
A 300-foot swimming beach on Lake Monroe offers a place for children to play and swimmers to sunbathe and enjoy the water. The beach offers a combination of sand and sun, with a shady grass-covered hillside above. There are no lifeguards on duty. No glass containers or pets are allowed in the beach area. The Hardin Ridge Trail is a 2-mile hiking and bicycle trail that runs from the day use area to the various campground loops. This trail roughly follows the main campground road and provides a safe surface for families to hike or bike, as well as a scenic overlook. Fishing is allowed anywhere along the lakeshore within the recreational complex, but several quiet inlets provide secluded fishing holes along the lake's banks. Popular catches include blue gill, striped bass, large mouth bass and crappie. On the Ted T. Turtle interpretive trail, visitors can travel 1.2 miles through a scenic hardwood forest, along a small creek and down to Lake Monroe and back. On the trail, visitors have the opportunity to learn about the history, geology, and wildlife common to southern Indiana. For visitors interested in boating, the lake has a 3-lane launch ramp that is open year-round. A 75 vehicle/trailer parking area is also available as well as a fully accessible loading dock provided at the boat ramp.
Monroe Reservoir spans 10,750-acres and is the largest lake in Indiana. There is an overlook on Hardin Ridge Road that is spectacular in any season and gives visitors a high vantage point of the lake, colorful marinas across the water and a vast expanse of forest. The entire area is forested with hardwoods and is well-shaded to give visitors the feel of being in the deep woods. In spring, the dogwoods and redbuds bring bright color to the forest and in fall, the foliage offers colors in vibrant hues of yellow, orange and red.
Special Places on the Hoosier National Forest Brooks Cabin Buffalo Trace Carnes Mill Site Clover Lick Barrens Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower Initial Point Lick Creek African American Settlement The Jacob Rickenbaugh Homestead Wesley Chapel Gulf
$50 - $55 / night
eXplore Brown County at Valley Branch Retreat is located in historic, scenic, southern Brown County, Indiana. Year-round adventure featuring: zip line canopy tours, paintball, off-road vehicle tours, arrow tag, mountain biking, hiking trails, camping, and cabins. Including the longest, fastest, and highest twin zip line in Indiana.
Stay in one of our rustic camping cabins, all with heat and AC. Our campground features primitive and full-hook-up sites. Rowboats and canoes are available to rent on our 4-acre fishing lake. Our Gallery Banquet Hall is available to celebrate your wedding, special occasion, corporate retreat, reunion, or social function.
We host many events here at eXplore Brown County, large groups are always welcome. Plan your next adventure with us today.
Free Wi-Fi is available at the Gallery on the porch.
Come eXplore with us today!
$15 - $40 / night
$20 - $45 / night
Scout
Stayed two nights, tent camping. It was a great time meeting new people and exploring the surrounding area.
Traveler
We were so fortunate to have found The Retreat at Hickory Hills and stay there for a month! There’s two pools, a pickle ball court, a basketball half court, farm animals, golf cart trails, kayak/canoe/row boats, exploring creeks, fishing, a dog park, several playgrounds, Gaga ball, tether ball, volleyball, frisbee golf and several weekend activities for everyone. Saturday mornings were our favorite where we could get biscuits and gravy, coffee and the kids had craft time. It’s definitely worth bringing mountain bikes or renting their golf carts to explore their golf cart trails! We went out on these several times and it never got old! Staff and campers were welcoming and friendly. We still haven’t stopped talking about how CLEAN they keep everything. The sites were large and they’re still expanding and adding more sites. There’s a seasonal campers area and an overnight or monthly area. We stayed in the overnight/monthly area. It was peaceful and relaxing throughout the week and lively during the weekend. It was a wonderful balance!! We’ll definitely be back.
Scout
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Legend
We did a drive through to check out the campground. It was $8 for day use, self pay.
This is a beautiful campground. There's 4 loops with 30 & 50 amp. 2 loops with no electric.
Well spaced all tucked into the trees on a ridge. Also some carry in sites.
If we tented camped still I'd be in heaven!
You can reserve sites, or some are first come first served.
Shower/restroom with pit toilets scattered around.
3 trails. A beach, picnic areas& a boat launch.
This seems less popular than Paynetown, but a lot quieter!!
Guide
This was my first time at a campsite, so I don't have other sites to compare to. Overall, my experience was great. Clean area with lots of amenities. They stack free firewood at your campsite to burn. I'm military, so the gunfire, canon fire, and helicopters didn't bother me at all. Those things don't happen all the time though.
Traveler
nice camping here,but they have small area ,i see racoon,cath meow lol but they attack
Scout
This is one of the best camping experiences I’ve had. Wonderful atmosphere and staff. Will totally be coming back
Scout
This was a repeat visit. Just as perfect as the first time. Lake was beautiful and staff are always so helpful. They even have an on-site RV Tech that works for them who helped us fix our hot water heater. Very professional young man. We also enjoyed live music at the pavilion, and PIZZA from their new café, it was fabulous. They even have Boba tea.
TravelerThis place is deluxe. Sites are spacious. Good space between campsites. Restrooms are clean. Well maintained facility
Staff are very friendly and helpful
TravelerIn January we found a couple of available sites at Spring Mill when trying to plan where we'd go for the eclipse, so we took them and then started looking at what the park had to offer. We started to really look forward to the park as much as the eclipse. The park lived up to expectations. We were able to do a lot of hiking. Our dog was welcome in most areas of the park (pioneer village being the only significant exception). They were planning for a ton of folks to be there for the eclipse, but the numbers were lower than expected. We had the perfect spot for viewing it right across the lane from our campsite, so it didn't really matter how many people came into the park for it.
The only possible negative was that our site wasn't very level for our pop up. We had our leveler with us, so it didn't matter. My wife and I decided that the eclipse was simply the cherry on top of a very good sundae. We loved the park and will likely return again.
Scout
I have never had a bad stay. I absolutely love camping here. The scenery is beautiful and I love how small the campground is.
ScoutThis campground  offers, high-speed Wi-Fi that actually works!  the new owners upgraded last year and it’s fabulous !
ScoutThis campground became a KOA in late fall 2022. Since the new owners took over they have made wonderful improvements. Added a new saltwater pool, deluxe cabins, deluxe camping sites. All sites have 50/30 AMP. Most with lake views or select a site right nearest the lake. They added a New Cafe with pizza, coffees and Boba tea. Super clean park & restrooms
Scout
New owners are great! The whole staff was friendly and helpful. Minutes from state park and downtown. Big rig friendly sites, Tmobile worked perfectly, facilities clean and weekend activities made the stay enjoyable for our kids.
Guide
This was my first time visiting. It’s a very large campground with lots of amenities. I’ve noticed a lot of bad reviews on other platforms about potholes and mud, and although some of that is true, it seems to be mostly on the KOA side. The only major potholes I have encountered are upon entering and exiting near the ranger station. The lot is gravel and very large for my small rig which was cool. It was nice and level, so I didn’t have to do much. I have great service here with my T-Mobile 5g internet as well as my starlink. Because it’s off season, there isn’t a lot going on, but I’m ok with that. I also appreciated the dog park that was well maintained to give my pup some freedom to roam off leash. I would definitely recommend.
Update: The only negative things I encountered while staying at this campground were the loud golf carts with their music blasting until late at night on the weekends. It seems like the same person would just cruise up and down the roads all evening. The other thing that wasn’t really an issue for me (due to being off season) were the limited amount of washers/dryers for the size of the campground. I can’t imagine what it’s like during peak season.
Guide
We enjoyed the stay at site 77. The description of the site did say it had a slight slope so were aware. We tent camped which means our tent was on a slope. Next time we’ll pick a more level site. Bathrooms were clean, just your run of the mill park bathroom with some spider webs. We hiked a pretty easy trail and loved the walk. We saw several sites that we’d love to try when we return. So we’d definitely go back.
RangerWe came in at 10 pm in search for our site. It’s about a 1/2 mile from the main road. It’s a big place we noticed at daylight. Nice playground, appears they have some cabins to be rented, some sites were on the water, very clean and maintained. 40 miles from Greenwood, In. Sites are large and easy to maneuver our 42’ 5th wheel. Our site had full hookup, flat ground so easy setup. The only cos are- while the campground sign can be seen from the main road on the way in- it all disappears in the dark after you turn onto the road. It’s needs to be marked better. Had there been arrows or signs it would have made it SO much easier. Day or night. We felt our way to the office since there were a few roads going in opposite directions. The girl said she’d leave our paperwork at the office. No paperwork or maps. This little road is quite narrow, has some pretty tight turns with trees on both sides and in the night it’s hard to tell where the rear end of your camper is on the turns where there are trees close to the road, if it’s a long one like ours. So needing to back up would literally be a nightmare. We drove down this little road quite a while unsure if we were heading in the right direction for the office. An office sign finally appeared like a beacon in the night about 3/4 mile off the main road- but at that point if we would have been incorrect it would have been a long way to back up our 42’ in the dark on these little roads. A lot of campgrounds make this mistake. They don’t plan on people coming in at night into a strange campground. There were several roads leading in different directions and it was hard to tell which one was the “main” road had there been directionals showing which road went to which sites would have been helpful. Site numbers were hard to see unless you walked up to each site with a flashlight. Not sure why campgrounds make their site numbers so allusive. Either they aren’t marked at all, they’re so small you can hardly see them or there is no rhyme or reason as to where they put them. Consistency would be great!!!!! It was just very difficult to navigate in a strange campground in the dark. Like many I’m sure we ended up just walking in front of the truck with a flashlight to be able to see the numbers. We avoid setting up in the dark at all costs because it’s absolutely the worst but sometimes you just get caught for various reasons- and there should be a better way.
Guide
Electric sites near the lake with several water front sites. Full hook up sites that are well spread out so you are not on top of each other. Very friendly staff. Clean facilities. Quite the hidden gem.
Legend
We stayed here because of the discount offered through Passport America, and somehow the price was still too high. We paid $42 for a FHU pull through site (that was after the discount). However, it was a nice park and it was nice to get caught up on laundry and showers.
You can pay for laundry with the CSCPay app ($5 credit when you first sign up, so your first load is free), or you can pay with credit card. No coins taken. Laundry was nice and clean and the dryers worked excellent.
There are FHU pull through sites, or back in sites with electric only (there is a dump station available). There are also cute cabins available as well.
There are lots of things to do here at the park, but the park itself is out in the middle of nowhere. It was a really eerie feeling when we were there, because almost every spot was taken, but nobody was there. I guess people pay for the season and leave their trailers on site and come in for the weekend.
There’s a nice tent area in the back, rolling grassy area where we let our dog run around off leash since nobody was around. The lake in the middle of the park was really nice, and you can rent pedal gokarts or golf carts, or boats for paddling around the lake.
The camp store is nice, lots of food and supplies and gifts available for sale. There are trash dumpsters here but no recycling.
Guide
Well kept campground. Cleanest campground bathrooms I have ever seen. Friendly staff. Our site was directly beside a tiny cabin and could have been a little bigger but that’s what you get often times with RV sites. Unfortunately, witnessed one of the staff members abusing their dog.
Scout
Very well kept, pleasant people. Nice location.
Scout
Booked here last minute for the night on my way west. Beautiful campground with lots of activities for the family. They are all dog friendly with a few small dog runs spread throughout the sites. Primitive is $60 n/, full water/electricity is $80 n/. A bit pricey, but It’s worthwhile due to all that they have; horses, goats (that you can feed), a medium camping store with an ice cream shop attached, showers and running toilets.
GPS will take you to the back entrance that you cannot get in at. Instead of turning at the light, continue going down to the roundabout until you see the KOA sign and it’ll take you to the actual entrance and then office to sign in.
ScoutSite was very small for 55$ a night, plus I was charged 30$ fee for a credit card terminal payment!! Didnt even tell me! Campers still pay for swimming per person! Staff was rude, all of them! Security guy is a little jerk and has a need to over compensate! And to top it all off there is a road with tire spike strips!! So it you go the wrong way, which is super easy because there are no rode signs, you will flatten every tire you have! Thats how much they care about their campers! I would not stay here for free! We camped at Hidden Paradise Campground in a Travel Trailer.
TravelerDecided to try a new campground and glad we did! Staff was very friendly, and overall a cute, quiet, and nice campground! Beach was muddy and shallow, but the lake was beautiful! Bathrooms were decent nothing great nothing bad, bugs weren’t as bad as I expected. We had a great time, renting a canoe and keeping it on our site until we returned it. Highly recommend getting a site on the water! Would definitely return.
ScoutWe booked this location as a one night stop on our way to our destination, but it turned out to be way more than that. The owner, their staff, and fellow campers embraced us as part of the family. Their fire pit fellowship is second to none. It’s places like this that inspire us to continue camping.
LegendHidden Paradise:
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer)
Overall Rating: 4: Most all campers are here to enjoy the water and groups enjoying each other.
Price 2023: About $51 to $56
Usage during visit: During our time: Very heavy on weekend and very empty during the week.
Site Privacy: No low shrubbery to offer privacy.
Site Spacing: Decent for a private park. Some families reserve side by side site.
Site surface: gravel and grass
Reservations: You better if it’s a weekend.
Campground Noise: There is fun noise , but nothing out of line. Staff is visible and seem to do a good job of maintaining order etc
Road Noise: This campground is nicely nestled away from public roads.
Through Traffic in campground: No issue.
Electric Hookup: Yes
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: Yes
Potable Water Available: At the site.
Generators: Not needed
Bathroom: Yes and clean
Showers: Yes and clean
Pull Throughs: Some pull overs and pull through.
Cell Service (AT&T). Pretty good. The park has internet for guests. Check to see where in the campground the strongest signal is.
Setting: Open park like with scattered trees. Along the bank are the nicest and most popular sites.
Weather: Some occasional thunderstorms. 80s.
Bugs: None during our stay
Solar: Most sites will work for portable panels if needed.
Staff: Active.
Rig size: There are spaces for large trailers and RVs
Best Sites: Along the river. Best: 60(most private - back in site. ), 68,69 ( a bit more spacious- pull over sites along river. 67 is spacious on one side and other side is blocked if a small trailer is backed in .
146 is not along river, but if you back in it is more private. Our corner site offered privacy when we pulled our trailer in forward onto the grass. However behind us, a trailer sits on high ground.
Scout
Nice quiet secluded lots of nature great atmosphere family friendly
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular cabin campsite near Columbus, IN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Columbus, IN is Starve Hollow State Rec Area with a 4.4-star rating from 25 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 35 cabin camping locations near Columbus, IN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
