Best Equestrian Camping near Monterey, IN

...although you probably wouldn't want to camp in the Indiana winter. I grew up coming here mostly to sled on the hills! But, there is a lot more to do. It surrounds Worster Lake and there are cabins, RV sites, and tent sites along with horse trails and bike trails. In the winter, there's sledding hills and ice fishing. The campgrounds are pretty standard, nothing special. If you live in the area, it's a fine little getaway.

I feel this is one of the best state parks in Indiana. Come with your own water as they don’t have water hookups at your campsite but there are some nearby. The sites are very spacious and clean. Bath houses are always clean! Playground areas for the kids throughout the park lots of bike and walking trails. No pools but a beautiful man made lake for swimming and fishing. Lots of wildlife throughout the park. A great nature center is a must to see for the little ones. My family has camped here for many years. There is also a separate campground for horse lovers.

Great place for a weekend camping trip of kayaking and some hiking.

Pro's

• Large Campsites
• Clean showers and bathrooms
• 2 kayak ramps with ability to hike in between them
• Fire tower
• Great views in the river
• Horse Trails

Con's

• No privacy in campsites, so it more of a RV's / partying camping
• Hiking is mainly flat trails thru the woods
• No Camp Store, the Host sold firewood and Ice

This campground is a great place for families and pets.

We camped in the electric part of the park. During our stay we enjoyed the hiking opportunities for us and our dogs.

There were children involved in bike riding and playing at the playground every day and activities like the park Challenge to explore the park in a guided way, looking for local animals and skeletal remains.

Yu can also fish, canoe, Kayak or tube on the Tippecanoe River.

The Comfort Buildings were well lit and clean. They were also well stocked.

There was a horse camp available as well as youth tenting and cabins to rent.

This is a great State Park with more things to offer in addition to the ones mentioned above. We will definitely be back.Check it out for yourself soon!

Campground= 4 stars; check-in= 2 stars. Very large campground with close to 300 sites plus a horse camp and about 20 cabins. We picked this park solely because it was convenient to our next destination, so we were not concerned with amenities. We did not make a reservation because I really do not want to pay the extra fee if it is not necessary. Upon arrival, we paid the $9 entrance fee ($7 for Indiana residents) and drove the 3 miles to the campground office. Somewhat surprised to find both staffed at 6 pm on a Thursday after Labor Day. We were told to drive around and pick several desired sites as they could not tell us which ones still had people due to arrive that night who had reserved. Huh?? So, we drove around two of the five loops and picked half a dozen sites that would be suitable. But that’s where the fun began- not! There seemed to be some computer glitch in that every site we asked about showed as not available, even though more than half the sites were empty. Eventually, we were told to just go to one of the sites we picked and set up and that a security guard would come and collect our money. Eventually, at just before 9 pm, the security guard did come and told us the glitch had been fixed and asked that we come to the office and register. The glitch was not fixed! But we paid our fee and were able to stay the night and the staff was very apologetic. 

There is no differentiation between RV and tent sites (the only one that is separate is the horse camp). The E Loop seemed to be the most crowded, mostly with RVs. The sites in the D Loop were spaced a decent amount of distance apart but other than that, there was no real privacy between them. This was not a problem because the loop had many empty sites and we were able to easily find one that had an empty one on either side of us. There are paths to the beach accessible from the D and E loops but note the beach is only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. There is no longer a dog beach at Potato Creek. There is a general store(open until 8 pm) and bike rentals which, if we were going to stay longer, we might have taken advantage of. There are boat rentals in season. Several trails and playgrounds so I imagine that in the summer, this is a nice family campground (even the name is Family campground). 

The mosquitos were vicious, likely worse due to the amount of rain the area has had this year. Bathrooms were very clean and there was hot water, a nice luxury but you have to be careful not to bump your head on the shelf over the sink when washing your face. Didn’t use them but there were also showers. 

The check-in process notwithstanding, our stay was fine for the night.

As far as Indiana parks goes, this is a hidden gem. We have camped here many times. Even the trails we frequent always seem new because each season offers a different kind of beauty.

I’ve not camped at this park, only hiked it. I’ve probably hiked it two dozen times at least and it’s got nice trails for the part of Indiana that it’s in. Most of them are relatively flat with some trails,like number two, having some hills and stairs in them. My favorite trail is probably number one, which is a 1 mile weird loop that has some neat scenery, especially in the summertime.

We have been blown away by the efforts put into Indiana’s state parks and Potato Creek is no exception. Well kept, beautiful grounds and trails. Restrooms are a bit dated, but clean and functioning. Our daughter loved the play area and huge grassy area to run around on. The Peppermint Hill mountain bike/hiking loop was really fun and not to be missed. Seems like a very popular place, even in the off season, so you’re best bet is to make a reservation or call ahead to make sure they can accommodate you.

My wife and I come here every year since purchasing our travel trailer. We recommend securing a spot in the back sites 230-287 for larger lots and quieter atmosphere. Younger families tend to book up front near the playground and the noise and activities are more robust. Be ready with back up cords, some sites require 75 ft to hook up. With dog friendly beaches, beginner MTB trails and paved bike paths, this checks all our boxes. Natural wetlands abound, so definitely bring the mosquito spray. Typical Indiana Campground with basic amenities, older comfort stations and spotty WIFI. I like unplugging but sometimes work demands I respond promptly. Not too far from South Bend for city amenities, restaurants and supplies. Takes 10-15 mins to drive out of campground, so keep this in mind. Definitely keep coming back!

This small 10 campsite area of The Tippecanoe River State Park only has 1 water spigot & 4 vault toilets (2 men's & 2 women's) for the more adventurous campers. The main reason I like it there is that you're camping directly on the river. On one of the sites you can actually get out of your tent & throw a rock into the river.

Prior to this year (2018) this non-electric smaller area of the park WAS known as "The Canoe Camp", stipulating you must have a canoe or some kind of boat to camp here.

Now, this area is "The River Tent Area". Anyone with a tent can camp here now. I have camped there 3 times this year & had a few things happen. (All in one trip)

In the camping brochure it plainly states "No swimming" in 2 separate paragraghs. I had picked THAT weekend because there was free fishing for Indiana residents & my friend wanted to take her 2 young boys fishing & camping. We caught nothing. Probably due to the people belly flopping in the river a mere 20 ft. away.

Our day FAR from over. Some other campers that night decided to play flashlight games in ALL 10 campsites. It's not too easy getting 2 small boy's to bed while there are scary shadows being cast on all 4 sides of our tent.

The park rangers DO come around & check on things 👍 but I was getting ice in the main campground after the fishing incident & my friend,who had never camped there before, didn't feel it was her place to say anything. The reservations were in my name. Plus we packed & left 1st thing in the morning after the flashlight ordeal. ((back to work) I did call the office & inform that evening at home.

I'm worried that opening that area up to anybody with a tent wasn't a very good idea.

 This is a North Central State Park in Indiana. Not one of the better units, but it has some charms. The mosquitos get bad in the summer, so come prepared. We camped the end of May& they were just getting going. Spring& late fall would be a good time to visit.

 None of the campsites have a view of the river. Only 112 campsites in the electric side. There's a primitive tent campground by the river, with a few sites. There's also a horsemans campground, which we didn't look at. This is a well established campground& has nice shade trees in all the sites. 

Get water before setting up at the water station after the small gatehouse. There's 2 sides at the dump station. In the campground there's 2 comfort stations. Station A looked like it had been totally rehabbed in the last 5 years. Everything looked nice& the showers could be turned to your preferred temperature. Cleaner than the last state park we were at for sure!

 Handicap accessible sites are 109/110/111/112. There are 2 pit toilets in the campground, though I don't know why. The modern bathrooms are right across the road. Stay away from sites 73/75& 105/106. Right by the pits, with a sidewalk between them. The sites are typical state park. No privacy for most. There's gravel for your camper pad. Not dirt.

 The best sites are site 1- right on the main drag, but the most private site in the place. If you enjoy watching the rigs come in& leave, this is your site! Vegetation separates you from site 2. Site 58 is the only pull through in the campground. Site 63 is also a pretty good site. All sites are not too far from the bathrooms. 

For the playground, sites 2,3,4,6,&7 have direct access to a playground& you can watch your children from your site. All the interior sites by comfort station B have direct access to the playground from your site & you can watch your children from your site. Avoid if you dislike the sound of children playing. 

We stayed in site 102, which is right across from bathroom A. All the outer sites are pretty good. Our site ponded water after a rain, but soaked in fast. 

There's some trails that can be accessed from the campground- Trails 1,3,4&5.

 All in all an average park. Nothing really special except for the river. Fishing was poor according to my husband.

We had a great weekend camping at this State Park. From the front gate person to the camp host, everyone was very friendly and helpful. We were on campsite 13 in the electric campground. The site was clean and well maintained. There was a picnic table, fire pit, and a very level pad. The bathrooms were a short walk from our site and were very clean. The sites are well spaced apart so you don't feel like you are on top of one another. We hiked on Trail 4. It was well maintained and well marked. There is a camp host selling firewood and ice. We had a great fire at night. All in all an excellent campground. We will definitely visit again.

Nice big sites. Well wooded and shaded. Park offers hiking, canoeing,kayaking, and a nature center.

Well maintained and beautiful state park. Sites were perfect. Good service from the rangers at the gate. Thanks!

Friendly staff, very beautiful drive underneath the canopy to the campsites, variety of sites to choose from. Our site (64) was both pretty spacious and right on the tree line, had a fire pit, grill and electric. Size of sites seemed to differ as well as sizes of the grills. Some sites were also more secluded than others. Overall was a nice place to visit, just beware of how many mosquitoes there are. Obviously we’re in nature and a wooded area so bugs are normal, however we were shocked to see how many mosquitoes were swarming our vehicle before we even stepped out. Lots and lots of bug spray being reapplied seemed to do the trick for me, but my boyfriend still got bit excessively. Definitely bring an extra can of bug spray if you’re staying here! That was the biggest drawback for us but park rangers also came around several times throughout our stay spraying mosquito repellent out of trucks to keep them at bay so that definitely helped. I also read that Tippecanoe river is known to have local river otters, however after getting there it was clear that this was more rare to sight otters here and that there weren’t very many (easily accessible) places to view the river. There was a boat launch/otter picnic area, but all the other access points to the river seemed to be through hiking trails, same as the fire tower and we just weren’t up for it with all of the mosquitoes unfortunately. That being said, we were visiting in a pretty humid time, the bugs could’ve just been really bad while we were there, hopefully others reading will have better luck! If bugs aren’t a bother for you, this is definitely a good campground to connect with nature, many different trails and lots of birds to watch.

The site #63 was great, however you couldn’t stay outside without being eaten alive ! We went for the trails but the mosquitoes kept us inside. But nearby there’s a small town with a great canoe rental ! We did love that and no mosquitoes on moving water !

Will definitely camp here again. Perfect spot for spring or fall camping I can definitely see why some of the reviews complained of mosquitoes in the summer. Lots of woods with sitting water behind them. Beautiful and saw some pretty birds!

This campground was nice enough. Clean bathrooms and convenient access to trails from the campground. However, the mosquitos are absolutely terrible due to the campgrounds proximity to the Tippacanoe River. Yeah, I know there will be bugs when camping but the amount of mosquitos at the park was like nothing I have ever experienced. I would not go back unless it was in the late fall/winter.

We visited this park twice (once in Sept 2020 and again in June 2021).  Both times we stayed in the cabin campground and both times had very good experiences.  Each time we went mid-week so there was hardly anyone else there, and that was great.  The cabins are small but perfectly fine for our group with two bunk beds, a small loft, and a small table inside.  They have electricity so charging phones and devices is not a problem.   Cabins 4 and 5 are up this small driveway and are slightly separated and I would recommend those if you can.  We never had to go to "town" so not sure how far it is to any stores.

Each time we rented a canoe and did a paddle/float trip on the river that ended at the canoe rental location.  Would not hesitate to stay here again.

We arrived late, and the friendly park security directed us to the campground.

The vault toilets were acceptably clean. Spots were close to the river. The campground has cabins, trails for hiking and horseback riding.

As other reviews have stated….the mosquitoes are prolific and abundant! We left early.

An autumn stay to Tippecanoe River State Park was about as good as it gets for us. Mature wooded campground. Plentiful level grassy tent spots to put up a tent. Clean facilities. Quiet park. Knowledgeable and friendly staff.

This is the place to go for a quiet simple camping trip. There is no pool or camp store and cell service is limited so it is a great place to get away from it all. Lots of kids riding bikes and playing at the playground. Almost every camper brings their dog. It is how camping should be!

Great campground. Our site had plenty of space for our tent and other gear. Close walking distance to several bathrooms/bath houses. Did not check out any trails or other options there. Did participate in a star gazing event being held that weekend and it is still something my husband and I talk about regularly. I have AT&T service and could not use my phone at all, my husband has Verizon and had no problems with cell service.

Large sites with lots of trees. Great activities for kids of all ages.

Older campground with a lot of trees for shade. Sites are big and level. A lot of activities for kids of all ages.

small but worth going. fire tower climb was beautiful. A nice little place to relax.

I’ve been to many state parks but this is one of my favorites. Big lots, friendly staff. Trails and the river close by. Bathrooms are phenomenal!! Enjoy!