Best Equestrian Camping near Indianapolis, IN

Yellowwood State Forest, named for the environmentally unique Yellowwood tree, is 23, 326 acres located 7 miles West of the artist community of Nashville, Indiana. Nestled in the rolling hills of southern Indiana famous for it's fall leaf color displays and gorgeous vistas. Yellowwood offers 79 primitive class c sites in four campground areas adjacent to the 133 acre Yellowwood Lake; Red Pine, White-Oak Hickory, Redbud and Black Gum;$13 per night. There are several potable water stations and pit toilets throughout the campgrounds and one dump station located in Red Bud. The Red Bud area also has a small camp store(not open during our visit, so not sure of their offerings). We did note some ADA accessible sites. Horse camping is also available in 12 class c sites in the Horseman Camp with miles of horse trails. Several picnic areas and shelters in the area; one beautiful location overlooking the lake with stunning brown county stone fireplaces. This park is perfect for tent camping or smaller units; we would not recommend for larger units as most sites are small and unlevel and may challenge your maneuvering skills! The park has 5 hiking trails ranging from easy to rugged and access to the Tecumesh Trail(43 miles) originally proposed to span from Florida to Canada. The park office facility offers boat(lake is known for good fishing) and kayak rental, ice and firewood. If you need facilities to accommodate your larger rig or feel a need for more amenities; Brown County State Park is just a few miles to the East...but don't pass up planning at least a day trip to enjoy this incredibly beautiful State Forest property. 772 Yellowwood Lake Rd, Nashville, IN 47448 GPS- 39.183995,-86.337878

 This is a State Forest campground near Nashville, Indiana. Primitive camping. Pit toilets only. This is by Yellowwood Lake, so boating & fishing opportunities. 

All these sites are first come, first serve. No reservations. 

There's a Forest Office with area information & a small display. 

There's several trails of varying length. 

Believe it or not- gold panning is a thing here! You need a permit.

They rent boats at the Forest Office. Electric motor only.

 There's several camping loops. There's a horse camp also. 

The boat ramp is near the horse camp loop.

 We didn't go down the Red Pine Loop, but did check out White Oak/Redbud& Black Gum.

 Hickory loop is right off the road & the sites are visible from the road. They looked nicely spaced.

White oak loop had several nice sites. Redbud is close to a building they call a camp store. It may have been many years ago, but not open now.

 Several picnic spots by the lake. The best site in Redbud would be 39. Large site with some shade. I would also say 38, but site 37 is directly behind it. This is the camp host spot, so occupied. These sites are near the pit toilets.

The best spot in Black Gum would be site 75. Large site at the end of the loop & right by the lake.

 If you go back to Hwy 46 where the road split on your way in, follow the sign to the dam. Just a large earthen dam, but there's trail heads here. There's the Scarce O' Fat Trail which has been mentioned on the Facebook Indiana Hiking page.

$13 per night regular camping.$16 per night for horseman's.

Very nice place! Hiking, fishing, kayaking, and horse riding trails. It is located just a few minutes from Brown County State park and Nashville In. There is a few RV sites (9 or 10) mostly tent camping sites. There is water available and outhouses, there is a dump station for RVs. I would have given 5 stars, but need some more sites for RVs (some of the sites are not real level). There is NO reservation.

Westwood is a beautiful well manicured park. The restrooms are very clean. The campsites are, I would say, normal size maybe a little cramped. Enough to park two cars in each site. It’s a small campground with around 33-38 camp sites and it’s first come first serve. No reservations. The lake is nice. Lots of small bass. If you have a boat, trolling motors only. Bank fishing is limited from what I walked but plenty of places you can fish. There is a 10 mile hiking / biking trail all the way around the lake. There are horse riding trails too. I will visit again.

This campground sits on a really good fishing lake. The lake is not swimable, beware of snakes, and does not allow gas motors.  There are a few nice trails, some horse trails, and nice picnic areas. The entire day ark and campground are clean and well maintained. The bathhouse at the campground is pretty nice, and there is a small playground area for the kids. Sites are a little small, but do provide shade. One drawback is the no reservation policy. While that can be a good thing at times, if you want to weekend camp, you better plan on setting up your site on Wednesday or Thursday. Always call ahead before heading that way to see if they have sites available.

Yellowwood state forest campground does not accept reservations. It is first come, first served. Drive up, select your site, and then go to the park office to pay using a self-pay envelope. Bring exact change(cash). Current prices are listed on the Indiana DNR website. The park office does have firewood for sale, but only during open hours, which are limited. There is no camp store, no playgrounds, and no pool. Swimming is not allowed in Yellowwood lake. Each site has a fire ring with grill grate and picnic table. There are four campground loops and a horseman’s campground. Campgrounds have vault toilets and drinking water access. I do not know if water is turned on year-round. There are no modern restrooms. Sites are wooded and fairly level. All sites are primitive. We have only tent camped at Yellowwood, so I can’t say what size travel trailers would fit in the sites. Yellowwood road changes over to gravel once you enter the state forest. It is well maintained. You can also access the forest by Jackson Creek road, but you’re on gravel for longer, and I seem to remember it being a bit rougher. We have camped at Yellowwood several times between 2011-2018. The only time we have ever seen the campground busy is over big holiday weekends like Labor Day, Memorial Day, and 4th of July. Otherwise use is light. We have several times been one of two or three campers in the loop. Several trails are nearby in the state forest, including the Tecumseh Trail. Horse trails are also available. Yellowwood lake is adjacent to the campground and there is a boat ramp, but there are limitations on boating(motor size). Check with the DNR website. Camp here if you like quiet, peaceful camping. You won’t run into a bunch of loud partiers.

Nice but bare bones former military campground.

We have camped here twice, we needed to be as close to Trafalgar Indiana as possible, not many camping options in the local area.

Peaceful little place but unfortunately it rained but we made the best of it, there’s some secluded spots where you can stay away from others or stay in the more general areas, nice lake to fish and we found a swimming hole for a refreshing dip. This was our first camping trip since moving to Indiana and it sparked a fire can’t wait to checkout all the other parks

They used to have awesome tent camping sites, but they stopped allowing tent camping. RV/camper's are the only thing they allow now.

Very quiet and peaceful!! Clean bathrooms/showers!!! Park is nice and clean too!! Very reasonable!!

Not a bad place to just pack up and camp. Clean facilities could use a bit more trees.

The cost of the spot was excellent. This is where we moved to after leaving Camp Atterbury. There are very few 50 amp spots, so we were in a 30 amp spot. The camp host was nice and helpful. The bathroom is adequate. There are no laundry facilities. There's lots of shade trees and the area is lush and green.

Great place to hike!! Trails are well maintained and lake is beautiful no matter when you go. Campground leaves a bit to be desired since the tent sites are a tad small but the rest of the park is so fantastic that we didn't spend a lot time time around there anyway.

Easy access but somewhat hidden, nice lake for kayaking.

First come first serve on the sites

Very beautiful yet primitive campground. All the campgrounds are numbered and have their own names. Think there are 80 sites in total. They have outhouses for toilets. Some sites have water fountains. There is a picnicing area for day use only right off the water which is beautiful. Sites can hold 6 people total and come with a fire pit with a grill attachment which is awesome! There is one small picnic table per site as well. It's nice a quiet here. Great place to escape the crazy. Very dog friendly too!

We have tent camped in Yellowwood several times and have always enjoyed our stay.

We have also had lots of fun renting a rowboat, and being out on the water. A few times we have camped in groups and rented an area, and that was also a great time camping with friends.