Best Dispersed Camping near Hoosier National Forest in Indiana

Recent Dispersed Reviews in Hoosier National Forest

30 Reviews of 13 Hoosier National Forest Campgrounds

• 

  Shane B.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 13, 2024

  Horse Camp Rd Dispersed

  HNF dispersed site

  Cool place

• 

  Harley G.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Nice

  Very long secluded road. Took a bit to find the first spot to camp, once we found it the other spots weren’t too far past.

• 

  samuel C.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 24, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Perfect

  The perfect dispersed site for my way through, quiet and peaceful. Good spot for tent camping , we enjoyed our stay.

• A

  Amber R.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 3, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Secluded in the woods

  Beautiful secluded site that is pretty far off of the road, but not too far. There was no traffic or other people in site. I have a promaster conversion and had no trouble making it to this site, however the road was gravel and steep at times. I have lived in Indiana for ever and have made many trips this way, but I never knew sites like this existed.

• 

  james W.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 6, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Real dispersed camping

  For those of you who don't understand disperse camping this is the perfect site for a tent to camp without anything but what you bring in and take out understand what dispersed camping is and then there won't be any complaints about can't get a camper in or whatever I always see the complaints this is dispersed camping at its best

• 

  Matt V.

  Traveler

  

  May. 9, 2024

  Peninsula Trail

  Awesome Place to BackCountry

  The Peninsula Trail and Grub Ridge trails both have marked campsites that are very far apart and totally private.  These are dispersed/primitive sites with a fire ring only.  Very remote feeling (except you CAN hear any loud cars/motorcycles at night from the main road over the lake). Light pollution is pretty low however, so good stargazing. 

  Trails are in good shape and the Penninsuala trail is pretty easy. Grub Ridge trail gets moderate the further west you take it.  CAmpsites 10,11,12,13 are very accessible with a short hike and are fantastic spots.   

  Lakeside spots are great also if you hike farther, but as others have said, drunk boaters tend to stop along the shore even though they are not supposed to. A few years ago boat access was limited to non-motoroized but not sure it is being enforced very well.  

  All the same, the Deam Wilderness area is Indianas best for backpacking and backcountry camping. 

  Down tower ridge road, to the east, just past the tower - turn right and the road there has lots of drive-in sites as well. These fill up fast on the weekends.

• S

  Sabrina C.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 7, 2024

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  It’s a very spartan spot

  Spot has a creek and is flat enough for a tent mostly just a single person spot no toilets. Road south coming in was destroyed some time ago have to w yer from east or west road.

• J

  Jase G.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 26, 2024

  Hickory Ridge

  Secluded with view

  Good spot to get some quiet time to learn/hone skills or for some good quality time with the family while being plugged into nature and unplugged from their electronics

• K

  Kayla C.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 30, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Pretty Forest Spot

  Huge sinkhole that makes for a cool look. Dry area for tent, not big enough for a camper but cool for car camping!

• 

  Reuben R.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 7, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Great!

  Solo camped here with my dogs. First time I’ve ever been camping but this spot was really cool. Clean. Secluded and peaceful, though every night at around 5pm I would hear rustling in the leaves, I assumed it was a pack of cayotes and they would leave once I started banging on stuff and primally yelling. Very spooky! Awesome spot, though albeit I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I’m glad I found it!

• 

  April S.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 5, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  This is dispersed at its best!

  Free camp ground. Very private. Decent sized space to park for 2-3 vehicles. Trails, plenty of dry wood, away from the roads, no running water or electricity, decent amount of spaces we came in at night and counted about 9 very far spread out camp sights. Good ground to pitch a tent to. There was other camp grounds bigger than the one we stayed at and had several people at them with a big bonfire going but what’s great is when we found our spot we couldn’t see their fire or even hear them! One thing to note is that some of the camp sites are tucked back into the trees a little and can be hard to spot. At night we thought one was open but there was actually someone there and just couldn’t see them from the road so we had to back out and go to the next site (sorry whoever that was lol). It is also a ways off the beaten path for through car camping but honestly if we were ever coming back through this way I would make the hour detour to stop here again!

• c

  charmaigne

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 8, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Secluded and peaceful

  Absolutely loved my time here. So quiet and peaceful.

• 

  Jaymi A.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 5, 2023

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Perfect for Invisible Boondocking

  This is NOT a campground, but just roadside pull-offs on public land. There are no restrooms, fire rings, picnic tables, or other amenities. However, if you are camping in a self-contained SMALL vehicle, this is quiet, secluded, and beautiful. I did not see any pull offs that would accommodate an RV of any size, and nothing large enough to turn a trailer around.One pull off was nearly too small to turn around my small pick up truck. But the thick forest was beautiful. There are rock outcroppings along this road, which follows Mitchell Creek and lots to explore on foot. While I was exploring and camping on this road, only two vehicles passed during the entire 16 hours. VERY quiet. Have a paper map handy, as there is no cell signal and GPS was spotty. The place I camped had a small graveyard behind it, so if you’re superstitious, this may not be for you. There was also a big white building that was all locked up surrounded by open meadow that a larger vehicle might be able to park behind. A circular “drive” was mown around the building. A few of the pull offs I didn’t explore because they were muddy or washed out after several days of rain. I would camp here again for the quiet and it’s proximity to Hemlock Cliffs and Yellow Birch Ravine.

• 

  Angie B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 2, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Peaceful and Secluded

  If you are looking for solitude and peace in the forest, you will find it here! I went to the 2nd or 3rd site past the coordinates provided. It was very clean, flat, and had a nice fire pit. The sites are far enough apart that I truly felt like I had the woods all to myself! It stormed all night...that was a little scary, but the misty trees in the morning were magnificent!

• O

  Ozzie L.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 17, 2023

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  It's pretty nice

  There are a couple walking trails around, as well each site is fairly far apart. It's really quite only seen a handful of cars drive by and I've stayed here for 2 nights, would highly recommend.

• 

  loganx11

  Scout

  

  Feb. 1, 2023

  Jackson Trailhead

  good spot just gotta find it!

  there’s parking after a decrepit gravel road and suitable for camping. there are campsites along the trail just have to find them

• E

  Elliot F.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 27, 2022

  Peninsula Trail

  Awesome!

  Went there with my kids and wife, we had a really great time. Primitive camping at its finest. Long walk to the water so make sure you bring plenty of drinking water. Springs available in the valleys but watch for timber rattlesnakes. Definitely would make this a must to visit.

• j

  jacob

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 9, 2021

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Berry ridge campground

  If you are into boondocking at all defiantly check out berry ridge it’s just south of brown county Indiana beautiful country mostly hills tons of camp spots sometimes half mile or more apart haven’t seen any snakes here either and the best part I haven’t seen any people!!!!! Haha camp spot is about 100ft off the main road with thick woods in between the road and the campsite even if someone drove by we wouldn’t see them no water or electric hookups plenty of wood lying around to use for a fire clean campsites all gravel roads

• 

  Joe D.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 1, 2021

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Beautiful

  The coordinates take you to one of the first campsites but if you keep going down the road you'll find many more. I suggest parking on the road and walking in to the campsite to see if it will fit your needs before driving in.

• 

  Steve D.

  Ranger

  

  May. 28, 2021

  Peninsula Trail

  Multiple trips here a year

  LOVE this trail. Just challenging enough to make it worth it. Campsites I’ve great fire pits. Only downside is the drunk boat people that show up in the summer.

• P

  Phil L.

  Scout

  

  May. 7, 2021

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  There is no camp ground

  There are just a couple of sites along the road. One is at the trail crossing for horses, hikers, and bikers. Its basically a make your own campsite. Ok place if you like to really rough it.

• A

  Aspen B.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 27, 2021

  Peninsula Trail

  Relaxing Campsites on the Lake

  On the peninsula trail, there are multiple campsites with fire rings but you may also camp anywhere if you are at least 100 ft from the water. Campsite #18 has a great view and is large enough for at least 4 tents if you have a big group.

• 

  Osiel M.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 13, 2021

  Peninsula Trail

  Awesome place FREE

  It was an awesome backpacking journey for starters, little bit rough because of the horse riding track but awesome if you love to walk and see nature. Recommend this for sure!!!

• 

  Maris H.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 29, 2020

  Knobstone Trail

  The KT earns its nickname 'little AT'

  The KT is rugged and has lots of elevation gains over short distances. Everywhere you hike there are lovely vistas and lots of fossils on the trail snd creek beds. You're never too far from water, although the quality may differ depending on the time of year.

  Watch out for ticks. My dogs and I got loads of them in April 2020 from Leota to Spurgeon Hollow. There are road crossings every 5 to 10 miles, so if you run out of something or need to bail you can. The KT asks that you respect leave no trace philosophy, and I felt most hikers did.

  There is occasional trail magic but don't depend on it if thru hiking. I have not stayed in any campgrounds near the trail, so I can't review those, but the trailheads all have adequate parking and signage, and I found topo maps online for free.

  Let someone know your itinerary, have a means for filtering water, and enjoy!

• 

  Sofia A.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 23, 2020

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Nice but nope

  It took me 20 from route 64 to find this place. If you are solo female traveler don’t even waste your time. After 5 min of driving on the very skinny gravel road y saw what it look like spots but Iam not sure really. 10 min later I got to the coordinates and there was nothing, not seven an opening just more road. Y just keep driving till I got back to 64 and found a Cracker Barrel 17 miles away.

• 

  Tommy S.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 12, 2020

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Limited dispersed sites

  Mitchell Creek Road in Hoosier National Forest, is just one small section of a road that runs along Mitchell Creek. On the west end, where the road turns right (north), there was a small drive to the right that went down towards the creek bed. There was a small fire ring here, and another fire ring around the back, both set up on the rocks of the dry riverbed. These didn't seem like great camping areas, let alone a "campsite". Towards the middle this road, just east of an intersection for a road to the south, there was a campsite creek side, and a little farther, a campsite on the hillside. The hillside spot was taken, so we took that last spot. Lookout for turtles on the road, we spotted and removed 4 of them.

  The area was rather buggy, and to be honest a little sketchy, so we slept in our van. Only two cars drove by, each time kicking up a big cloud of white dust which covered most of the foliage by the road. It hadn't rained in a while. We went briefly down to the creek, but it was very buggy and not very nice to hike. At night, we heard some loud mysterious crashing in some nearby trees, and what was possibly a large band of coyotes in the distance. Can't imagine I'd ever come back to this area, but it's there as an option for sure!

• 

  Jeremy F.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 20, 2020

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Greatbdispersed sites.

  Multiple campsites in the area, I've stayed at two both of which were away from others, clean, fairly flat and had plenty of dead wood around to burn. Some sites, at least one, could fit a pretty good sized camper. This is pack in pack out, no amenities camping for free