Best Dog-Friendly Camping near North Vernon, IN

With COVID, it seems that everyone...and then more people are going camping. It's a bittersweet type of situation. Nevertheless, it's been very hard to find decent camping in Indiana that isn't packed in like sardines, while also trying to escape the city and get into nature - not around more people.

Luckily, a friend and I came here last October and this place was great. We got a non electric site and were in the middle of the sites. We had a great lake view and were very happy with our setup. It was a pull-through site, although not all are like that. We were able to set up in no time. 

We had lots of space, away from our neighbors. The campstore had wood and random items that you might need should you forget. We were just steps away from the lake and enjoyed walking down there every morning. There aren't the best hiking trails around, so you'll need to drive to the nearby Brown County or National Forest to hike on trails that are actually worth the time. 

I will add that the setup is a bit odd for non-electric. You basically had to pull up to the gatehouse, get your reservation info, then do a U-turn and go back out past the campstore in order to get to your campground. Very odd setup to say the least.

Out of all places I've camped in Indiana, this is, by far, the worst. Please note that this is for the non-electric sites. Reasons for the low rating:

• the firewood that they sell to you is complete crap. It's so wet and damp that you can't burn it. We have had to take every single batch back we've purchased cause it's so bad. They don't do refunds.
• The playground is so close to most campsites in the non-electric section. I'd recommend getting as far away as possible as the screams of children echo like birds flying throughout the campground.
• Not the park's fault, but raccoons are horrible here. I'm talking, "walk up to your campfire as you're sitting next to it and steal food that's on the burner" bad. Lol.

We were lucky enough to find a campsite (#118) very far away from the playground which was surrounded by grasses that separated the campsites surrounding you which was very nice. Again, the raccoons were horrible though.

Gorgeous property with such kind and friendly owners. New owners that are making improvements to the property but it is so nice already.

The lake is GORGEOUS. Sites have mature trees, variety of singing birds. Really nice stay here as we were passing through. There is a sand volleyball net, gah gah ball, dog park, playground, mini golf (not ready for summer yet), and a new pool soon (concrete poured the other day).

Campground is a few miles from interstate and right off the highway so some highway noise but still a great picturesque place.

We will definitely stay here again if we are in the area .

Park is well maintained. Nice sized pool and very clean pool area. Park has a playground and dog park. Lots of space between campers with cement patio, fire pit and picnic table and lots of trees. We had no issue pulling in our 42’ 5th wheel. We came in after hours and our name with sits number was posted on the door and plenty of maps for the park. Nice layout! You could barely hear a train off in the distance which sounded cozy. Campground is about 30 min from Madison and Ohio River is across the street. Only con- trash cans are like in a whole different country and hard to get too. Would stay again!!!!!

This was my first time visiting. It’s a very large campground with lots of amenities. I’ve noticed a lot of bad reviews on other platforms about potholes and mud, and although some of that is true, it seems to be mostly on the KOA side. The only major potholes I have encountered are upon entering and exiting near the ranger station. The lot is gravel and very large for my small rig which was cool. It was nice and level, so I didn’t have to do much. I have great service here with my T-Mobile 5g internet as well as my starlink. Because it’s off season, there isn’t a lot going on, but I’m ok with that. I also appreciated the dog park that was well maintained to give my pup some freedom to roam off leash. I would definitely recommend.

Update: The only negative things I encountered while staying at this campground were the loud golf carts with their music blasting until late at night on the weekends. It seems like the same person would just cruise up and down the roads all evening. The other thing that wasn’t really an issue for me (due to being off season) were the limited amount of washers/dryers for the size of the campground. I can’t imagine what it’s like during peak season.