Best Equestrian Camping near Valparaiso, IN

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.

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.

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.