Best Glamping near Heltonville, IN

Camp sites are pretty small, but are aligned along a small stream. Heavy truck and train traffic can be heard at all hours. Sites equipped with electricity, a gazebo & picnic table, and fire pit. Camp store, cave tours, gift shop, and other pay activities are within steps of camping, but only open until 5:00. No security or staff at all after hours. Bath house was heated, extremely clean with flush toilets, and continual hot water. City water access in the middle of the campsite. Play area and 2 large covered areas for get together's. Newer cabins looked very nice from outside. Caves are obviously a must see while there. More caves are within driving distance.

Starve Hollow offers camping from full hookup, electric only (by the lake), tent camping, and cabins.  The lake has a swimming area (no lifeguards), playgrounds, and bathhouse.  The lake allows boats with electric trolling motor only. 

We stayed in the full hookup section (camping facilities: electric, sewer, and water hookup as well as fire ring, picnic table, and parking spur at each site. Modern restrooms/showers(wheelchair accessible) are available nearby. 53 sites available, sites 222, 232, and 234 are wheelchair accessible).  The bathhouse was clean (even though it rained most of the weekend).  these sites are a good size and able to get any size Trailer or RV into these sites.  There is mostly grass on most of the sites in this area.

The campground also offers electric only sites (camping facilities: electric hookup, fire ring, picnic table and parking spur at each site. Drinking water is available in area. Modern restrooms/showers(wheelchair accessible) are available nearby. Dumping station is available. There are 87 sites available. Sites 28, 44, 65, 75 and 90 are wheelchair accessible).  They have about 20 sites that back up right to the lake allowing fishing from your campsite.  Keep in mind that a lot of the electric only sites are very tight with a lot of trees in the area.  I can probably only get my 36 ft 5th wheel into a third of the sites, but there are many of sites that had shorter units on them.   

Cabins:  Starve Hollow has 13 rent-a-camp cabins available March-Nov.(closed Dec.-Feb.)(NOTE: Local sales only during off season/winter months, contact property for details). Each cabin has a front porch with a swing, outside electric outlet and front porch light. Inside there are two small rooms each providing a ceiling fan with light, a heating/cooling unit and electrical outlets. The front room offers a small table with bench seats, corner shelf, chair, rocking chair, and a loft. The back room offers a bunk bed(single) and a double bed(NO LINENS or MATTRESS PROVIDED). Air mattress recommended.

Fishing/Boating Starve-Hollow Lake has three boat ramps to choose from, one at the dam and two in the electric campground. Kayak, rowboat and canoe rental is available. A valid Indiana fishing license is required. Rowboat and canoe rental is available from mid April through October. Starve-Hollow Lake is a trolling motor only lake. For campers a fish cleaning station is available.

Swimming A large beach is available for swimming from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Restrooms, dressing facilities, showers, and food concessions are available to visitors. Wheelchair ramps allow access to beach and concession area.

Picnicking There are picnic areas and picnic shelters that can be reserved. Both shelters can be accessed by wheelchair. The East shelter has an electrical outlet. Picnic tables and grills are located at the picnic sites. A wheelchair accessible playground, basketball goals, softball fields, horseshoe pits and a sand volleyball court are located on or near the swimming beach.

Hiking Trails Starve Hollow has several hiking trails to explore that total approximately 11 miles.

There are full hook-up sites and electric. Regular electric sites on the water are beautiful but not sure we could park our 41 ft fifth wheel on a water site. Trails are rugged at times and you can access them through campground. We are here in the fall but the beach looks like a good size. Boat rentals. Cabins look cute. We peeked in one. Double bed with bunks in room. Theres a loft for kids. A/C and heat but not bathroom. Bring a mattress or sleeping bags or you will sleep on wood. I recommend the water cabins. Playgrounds are sprinkled throughout. DNR dont patrol a lot. Quiet campground.

This was a camping weekend. We've camped here before, but many years ago. It was time to go back. 

So, we couldn't remember much about this state park. We were never compelled to go back sooner. Now I remember why. This is a nice park. Not outstanding. Not special. It's just...nice. 

  There's 7 hiking trails. All are nice walks in the woods. All were muddy in sections. There's an old coal mine on Trail 2. Blocked off for safety. 

There's no beach, but they have an enormous pool. It has slides & everything. 

This is a fishing park. Boating with electric motors, so a quiet lake. Fishing was fair according to my fishing guy.

The Nature Center was inexplicably closed "for the season". Disappointing! 

There's many boat launches & picnic areas. Cabins for rent. Boats for rent.

 We stayed at the electric campground. The sites are great- wooded. This is a well established campground. 

The sites are all flat- ALL FLAT!!! No inclined sites at all! Unheard of in an Indiana State Park, but there you go.

There's some train noise.

 The bathrooms/showers are KOA clean. Also unheard of in an Indiana State Park. I couldn't even find a spider web. Kudos to the park employees& camp hosts!

 We had a site by the lake, but there was no lake view & there was a steep incline to get down to the water.

  This campground has a beautiful fishing pier just for campers. 

Bring an extension cord if you're in a pull through. If you want your door facing the fire pit- the electric box is in an awkward place.

 There's also another campground that has a mix of electric/full hookup & non electric sites. They have a beautiful bathhouse. 

All in all a pleasant weekend. We camped at Shakamak State Park in a Travel Trailer.

We’ve stayed at a few Koa campgrounds and this one didn’t compare quite as expected. It’s small, clean and owners are very friendly and helpful but one stretch of sites (where we were) is tight, short  and cramped. We had four 90-degree day’s so the big plus was the pool. Although dated it was large, clean and refreshing. The sites are on large sharp rocks too (not gravel) which was challenging. Even on our large rugs I could not take a single step without shoes. I also felt bad that our campfire ring was at the back canvas opening of our neighboring camper and a little frustrated that I had to keep moving our 4 camp chairs each time we walked from our door to the truck. The owners did advise they were working on expanding those campsite spots which is good. Our grandkids didn’t care to play in the playground (clean but small and dated) but nice playgrounds were plenty in the Brown County State Park whose entrance is just across the road which gives location an A+. Famous Nashville, IN was just 2 miles away.. another location plus. We’d go back again but I’ll be more site picky next time... but I still won’t like the big rocks! I like a little barefoot time when camping!

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.