Best Tent Camping near Newburgh, IN

South Slope Loop At Hoosier National Forest is located second campground in on your way to Celina lake. This is the RV friendly campground with electrical hookups for your toys. You give up some privacy and quiet to have your electric as the sites are closer together and of course your neighbor may not be as courteous with the noise said electronics create.

There is excellent tree cover and you do have some tree block between sites. A nice large newer showerhouse, water points, picnic tables and fire rings to finish off the homeyness.

All of the hosts that i interacted with were very friendly and went out of their way to assist when they could. The local Ranger Station is located in Tell City and closed on the weekend.

We spent our time hiking on the Interpretive Trail (1mi)near Celina Lake and Two Rivers Trail (15 mi) which encompasses both Celina and Indian Lake . You can disperse camp for $5 a night as long as you are 300 ft from the trail. And take your bug spray or you may be nothing but a dried out husk by the end of your visit, ticks are horrible right now!

We spent time at the lake also. Very peaceful, electric motors only so no waves or tubers flying by. There is a small handicap accessible fishing pier adjacent the parking area. A nice area to visit.

13 total sites, 2 of which are tent/primitive only and set 50ft or so back into the trees. No electric or water. A single vault toilet of average cleanliness, but was stocked with 6 partial rolls of tp. Tent pads are all flat and level, but parking pads are definitely not. It's all gravel roads including the "Saddle Lake Road" entrance all the way from Old State Road 37. There is a parking lot and boat ramp further down the hill at the lake, but state law does not permit swimming from the shore without a designated beach. $5/night fee paid by honor system drop box near camp entrance.

We chose this campground due to its proximity to Holiday World and its family friendly atmosphere.

The Bad: We took our 5 and 3 year old daughters for their first camp out with the plan to do Holiday World the next day. This place has golf carts zipping all over all hours of the day and night. Apparently it is the thing to do to decorate golf carts with bright lights, blairing music, and megaphones. They even has a golf cart parade that went from 8:30-10:40pm and included thrown candy that ran about 30 feet from our tent! There was no privacy between sites, constant noise, and trash all over the ground! As an advocate for leave no trace camping, I was completely disgusted with the amount of trash on the ground at our camp site.

The Good (there was some): The shuttle to Holiday World was great, the staff were friendly, they have a great mini golf course that the girls loved, a top notch playground, and scheduled kuds activities (many are free). they also have a pool and water slides, but i cant comment on those as we did not try them.

At the end of the day, we had a great trip. but if i were to stay here again it would have to be a more secluded camp site without the constant buzz of golf carts. And I sure hope the amount of trash we saw was a fluke.

There are 8-10 spots available, all but one of which are drive-in. I think a smaller RV or third-wheel could get into the first and last spots, otherwise, all the spots looked suitable for tent or hammock camping. 

We had enough Verizon coverage to get emails and make calls but not enough to have worked on for a longer stay. The campsite is near Saddle Lake and it is walkable at a stretch but there is no swimming allowed there. Based on the other visitors, fishing is the main draw here. The sites were somewhat divided by trees and undergrowth but you will see or hear other campers and the occasional truck flying up the nearby gravel road at 2 am. Site #11 is more private and not visible from the drive in, it is on the right as you pull in going toward the lake.

Collecting firewood is not permitted here. Bring whatever you need out, I did not see anywhere to get ice or firewood between the campsite and I-64.

The vault toilet was adequately clean. 

Dry camping (no water). 

All drive-in sites had a fire pit and picnic table. 

We had a hook for trash and whatnot. Be advised that bears are only very rarely seen in Indiana but the racoons are ruthless and highly organized.

I wrote about my visit here: Saddle Lake camping un-fails

This is a centrally located primitive campground that my siblings and I use often for weekend expeditions. The long winding gravel road takes you away from the highway and deposits you in a serene location that is perfect no matter which season you visit. Each site offers ample space for multiple vehicles and occupants; each site also has a picnic table, double lantern hook, and a nice iron fire ring with a swiveling grate. We have spent many weekends here and have never had any issues with any of the other patrons. Each site is $5 a night, they use the honor system, and they have a pit vault bathroom that is usually in pretty clean condition.

Goldenrod group campground at Tipsaw Lake Recreation area Hoosier National Forest is laid out in a lollipop design with no sites at the circle. It is an excellent group camp area cause it’s all you. Reservable and self contained with its own pit toilet , picnic tables and fire rings and you can easily set up a get together area near the entry. However...if you want a shower the showerhouses are a short walk down to the adjacent areas. 

The beach facilities are also within easy walking distance and the boatramp is right next to the beach. 

There is the 5.9 mile Tipsaw Lake Trail to hike, pay attention to your map and trail signs, we lost the trail twice and meandered around some before finding it again.

If you pack everything you need ( I’m never that lucky) you can park your vehicle for the duration of your visit. If, like me, there’s always something that got left sitting on the kitchen floor....then you are in luck! Citgo is south down IN 37 and Tell City with a Wally World and fast food is not to far beyond that.

And if you want to add some more adventure and hiking to your stay there is a zipline Eagles Wing and additional trail Mogan Trail (24ish miles shared with horse back riders) south on IN 37.

German Ridge Campground in Hoosier National Forest is where you will find the horse “tribe”.

I wrongfully assumed the horses would be at Saddle Lake across IN37, but then I rolled into German Ridge. 

The Campsites are set up nicely for the horse people with tie out areas and plenty of parking for horse trailers. The very first site is large enough for a group complete with fire ring for after a long day in the trails. A centrallyish located showerhouse, water points, picnic tables and fire rings finish off the area. There is some distance between the sites and a few nicely secluded sites for more privacy. A nice quiet shaded camping area.

There are two trailheads in the campground and a day use area further down the road which has plenty of parking for horse trailers. The trails are shared with hikers and bike riders. Total miles of multi-use trails was 24.

There is another trailhead further north on IN37 Mogan Trailhead that has room for horse trailer parking also. 

German Ridge Day use area has a nice swimming area, no dogs( or horses) allowed. Which to me is sorta wrong. There are plenty of beaches for the humans why not make this one an animal friendly area?! This is a small lake that looks like beavers may have occupied it at one time, we didn’t see any while we were there just lots of chewed trees. 

We hiked the 1.5 mile trail which ties in with one of the other longer trails in the area so watch your signage ;) very cool rock formations and a few low cliff areas. 

The beach has a smaller parking area, pavilion, historical markers and restroom facility. It was full when we visited but still not really crowded. 

The planners for Hoosier NF took some time and thought laying out these different areas. Each has something unique about it and is fashioned for a specific “group”. Worth the visit if you like the woods, dark nights and quiet.

Ranger Review: Primus at Harmonie State Park

I recently visited Harmonie State Park near New Harmony, In. https://indianastateparks.reserveamerica.com/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=IN&parkId=570048 Just a heads up when camping in Indiana there is a fee to visit the State Parks. I always carry cash for that , laundry and in some states bathroom use. So, the number one thing that stuck out to me about this campground was the shade. For the most part it’s level (floodplain...I saw no standing water) And all the sites are nicely shaded (we are talking full growth) and good size. The sites are electric only, no water, no sewer. There are centrally located water hydrants and a dump station on the way out of the campground. The campground wasn’t very full when we visited, but there is a plethora of activities to enjoy. An Olympic size pool which back in the day my kids woulda loved. Hiking paths (very wide), one right by the campground and a connector trail to the mountain bike trail area. There’s also a bike section on the paved roads. You could spend a comfortable week here and not be bored.

Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger I get to occasionally try out outdoor products while camping and this trip I brought along some Primus “kitchen gear” https://primus.us/ . Primus is known for its camping stoves , the kitchen accessories are pretty sweet too. I have the Trailsporks , a long spoon , a spatula for grilling , campfire plates and a campfire knife. These are very sturdy made accessories and pack in my kit without taking up a lot of space. There are a lot of options on the site to fit your packing needs too, from family fireside to fastpacking . I’m building my fireside kitchen kit .