Best Tent Camping near Mount Ayr, IN

We spent the weekend exploring America’s 61st National Park- Indiana Dunes National Park. The National Park campsite was full and recommended this place about 10 minutes away. It was our first time tent camping and the sites were very clean and nice. The bathrooms were also well maintained and camping staff very friendly and helpful.

First time to Indiana with a quick trip to the Dunes. We were disappointed the state park was full but found this campground close by. The tent sites were very private as we were the only ones there for the night. Plenty of space tucked among the trees. Bathrooms seemed newer and were very clean. The only thing that disappointed us was the lack of COVID precautions. No mask worn by the office worker or wiping down of desk or credit card machine. Would still recommend for the future.

Seems like a beginner place to go camping. Easy for families with young kids. They have a tent camping section in one area with rooms to leave cars. A boat camp right into the water. A playground. A shelter with plenty of picnic tables to have a fairly large gathering. Pretty cool area to hang out. You need to call to make reservations from the town.

I had a peaceful stay in a tent site here. I tried an RV resort park first and my site was right next to train tracks and packed in next to the other sites. This spot was more spacious and fairly quiet with good showers. A great place for a stop when visiting the dunes if the park campgrounds are full.

Hit a little rough patch in life and needed a break from sleeping in the car and hotels . All the staff at the park were very friendly and understanding of our situation. At $20 a nite for tent site ,showers ,clean toilets ,whole park is very clean ! Lots of things to do here and the waterfall was our fav part ! Deff will be back when in the area . Our site was right down the Rd from the waterfall so had a great view !

Prophetstown is a very well kept and clean park.  The sites book up super fast on weekends and you have to book months out. If you tent camp like we do the park makes you set tent up on gravel which is a little disappointing.  The best sites are the rev sites and they are slowly growing the tent ones.  Very little shade.  Unless you are on a full hookup site.  The playgrounds are nice and big but far away from the electric sites.  Bike trails are great and paved roads make it easy.  The best thing about this park is the water park. Not included for camping price but still decent priced.  We did go 3 days ina row which cost us $40 total for the weekend.  It can become costly if you go to the park multiple Fay’s ina row.  Overall our trip was great.  We have camped 2 times now.

We had four sites on Osage loop for tent camping.  Two were very small (14&15), and little grass for tent setup, fine for RV or trailer campers.  They were private with brush between sites.  16&17 were amazing for tents!!  Open, tall trees for our tight rope and hammocks and shade. Grass for tents  16&17 Osage loop also open to 9&10 on Hickory loop.  With a lot of space between so no site setup is on top of each other.  Wish we knew more about individual site layout.  Grills were new.  Bathrooms inclu vault were cleanest I’ve seen.  Bike path/hike path is long and wide and very nice.  We had kids under age 8.  River is fast, tried to fish.  Stars were out.  Had rain Saturday but we all just hang out and manage just fine.  Overall, where the loops get close on the map, the sites back up with good space without ground brush - if you’re trying to string together a few sites for a group where you can pass through - also fine for strangers.  Biggest spaces.  Can add that 13, 6, 5, ,4  Osage are good RV but not good tent.

Although we would normally wait until the last minute to book a site, we booked early this time, and were glad that we did. All tent sites were reserved a week before our trip, so best to plan ahead. We chose sites 4, 5, and 6 to accommodate our group of 7. Each site had morning shade only, and the shade from the forest to the east of the sites closed in around 5 p.m. This campsite allows up to 2 tents per site, but it was nice to spread out a bit. We chose the sites that we did expecting to have a view of the river, but the maps are misleading– there is no river view, although it’s only a few feet to the river. It’s probably for the best though, since there is a boat ramp that runs through the campground that gets plenty of use. Despite the fact that we had a fair amount of rain during our trip, our sites never got muddy, because the soil is very sandy. An annoyance when your feet are constantly dirty, but great when it’s a stormy weekend. The sites were a good size, complete with fire pit, grill grate, and picnic table, and the entire campground was well maintained. The pit toilets were cleaned daily and were always well stocked. The showers were also clean, HOWEVER, as a tent camper, you’re not allowed to use the showers.(?!!) I mean, really, what are we? Heathens? We were chased away until we removed the blue placard given at check-in. The Park has a lot of hiking trails, and other activities. The town of Winamac was pretty small, but there are canoe, kayak, and pontoon rentals nearby. We also saw a paintball court close by. Firewood($6/bundle) and ice($2/bag) are available at the park gate. There is a private, certified, gentleman selling dry, well-seasoned firewood about a mile or two north of the park on US 35, east side of the road. He charges$20 for more than 10 times the amount of wood provided by the park.

 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.

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.

Camped here for Labor Day weekend. The koa is right next to Indiana Beach campground and we learned campers can use amenities at both sites. Koa has two nice pools (one large pool for kids and adults and smaller one for toddlers). The IB side has a large mini golf course ($8 for those > 5) and a nice arcade our boys enjoyed (also for a fee). The IB side has a very large spalsh pad, but was never open or on when we went over there. We stayed in a pull through spot with full hook up and it was mostly quiet. Quiet time is supposed to be after 11. The first night some people across from us were loud until after 1am. Reading other Google reviews it sounds like the quiet hours are not enforced and it can get very loud in the tent area. There is a nice camp store with essentials and ice cream. Lots of bathrooms around and the ones we used were clean. It was a nice weekend.
Also we had a very poor wifi signal. My husband had a hot spot from work and that was helpful. We were unable to get many channels on on tv with our antenna. If you have a satellite dish bring it.

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.

 We normally stay in state parks, but for two different years we wanted to attend the Feast of the Hunter's Moon and this was our best option. We have a tent and a canoe, so we really enjoyed the campsites they have by the river.
 The folks who run the place are very nice, one night they even opened up the camp store so we could get tent stakes, which we'd forgotten. They are great at planning activities for the guests and really like to make people feel at home. 
 In addition to the feast, nearby is Tippecanoe State Park and Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara house.

Great place to stay and very convenient if you are going to go to Indiana Beach amusement park. There is a ferry that will take you to the park so you don’t have to drive.