Are you an equestrian lover who prefers a more rustic experience when you visit Indianapolis? Finding a place to stay in Indiana while traveling with your horse has never been easier. With our help, you'll find the best Indiana equestrian campsites from scenic to easily accessible.
An expansive view and good fishing beckon you to Summit Lake State Park, near New Castle. More than 2,680 acres, including a large lake, await your visit. Facilities include 120 electric campsites, three boat ramps, a beach bathhouse and two large open shelters that can be reserved for family picnics and other events.
Summit Lake has an excellent bird watching and wildlife observation area. The property has always been an important area for waterfowl because of the many low-lying wet meadows and prairies. Migratory species have included rare species like the black tern, bald eagle, sandhill crane, American bittern, least bittern, king rail and osprey.
$23 - $31 / night
Guide
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.
RangerThe perfect dispersed site for my way through, quiet and peaceful. Good spot for tent camping , we enjoyed our stay.
TravelerBeautiful 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.
Legend
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.
ScoutFor 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
GuideLots of primitive campsites here. Many have short trails from them to the lake edge, making for some great night fishing with a cozy fire to return to.
ScoutHuge sinkhole that makes for a cool look. Dry area for tent, not big enough for a camper but cool for car camping!
ScoutSolo 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!
GuideFree 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!
TravelerAbsolutely loved my time here. So quiet and peaceful.
Scout
The Rules sheet that is included in some of the pictures indicates that no tent camping is allowed. Someone should update the icons on the page for this site.
GuideIf 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!
GuideThere 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.
Guidethis is a nice campground in a very touristy area. we arrived on a thursday and stayed through sunday. it got more and more crowded friday & saturday but quiet hours were observed and it was a relaxing stay at the end of a long trip. it says big rig friendly, i disagree, we have a 20’ trailer and it was tight. the lake is beautiful, no swimming kinda sucked. hiking was great.
Guide
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.
ScoutI stayed for one night in a non electric site on a trip. The campground was ok. The bathrooms were clean-ish but I couldn’t get the showers to be not cold. The site was nice and level. The sites are right next to each other with nothing breaking up the views of the neighbors. The site had a picnic table and a fire pit. Not many people there on a weeknight. I didn’t really check out the beach or the pool.
GuideBeautiful area. First come, first served, but open spots even on Memorial Day Weekend. Cash only. Lots of good sites!
GuideI’m writhing this review on a Tuesday and the Maintenence Crews are in full swing. The campground is sparsely populated as expected for a weekday. The spots are nice and grassy, secluded, and some that may be used for multiple or large family camp outs. They have john boats and kayaks for rent on the weekends along with a camp store. The Forest office and camp store are both closed during the week. 2bars of 5G for AT&T users. Nice picnic 6’ table and fire ring at every site.
TravelerThe Summer Vacation Life 😎 😍 Holidays opportunity Dale
GuideWe stayed at site 11 in the Red Pine campground. The sites were wooded and well maintained, as were the vault toilets. I would have preferred to have a sink to wash my hands, but this campground is more “roughing it” than those with full bathrooms. It was nice and quiet, it felt more secluded than larger campgrounds. Great area to hike and explore. We’ll be back!
TravelerIf 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
ScoutThe 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.
ScoutSo many great tent sites. Wooded. Row boats, kayaks.
LegendYellowwood 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
GuideThis was really convenient and close to Indy, where we took the grandkids to the children’s museum. The lake is fabulous, but there didn’t seem to be too many fish available for catching!! Pretty place and fun for a laid back place to stay. I wouldn’t recommend it for long term.
ScoutIt costs $13 now. Well maintained though. Plenty of bathrooms and campsites.
GuideWe 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.
Horse camping in Indiana offers a unique experience for equestrian enthusiasts, combining beautiful landscapes with facilities tailored for both riders and their horses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Indianapolis, IN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Indianapolis, IN is Johnson County Park with a 3.4-star rating from 8 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Indianapolis, IN?
TheDyrt.com has all 8 equestrian camping locations near Indianapolis, IN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
