Best Tent Camping near Otterbein, IN

Recent Tent Reviews near Otterbein, Indiana

339 Reviews of 4 Otterbein Campgrounds

• 

  Ryan H.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 22, 2021

  Sugar Creek Campground

  Sugar creek

  Fantastic place to camp. Full hookup sites, and tent camp sites on sugar creek. The creek is loaded with small mouth bass, some large mouth, gar, bluegill, and carp. The campground offers tubing excursions, but I advise booking that in advance, as they sell out of spots often. Love going there at least once every year.

• 

  Amanda K.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 26, 2020

  Pioneer Family Campground

  Beautiful, Friendly & Outdated

  We tent camped with 8 small kiddos. One if the largest tent sites I’ve been on. There is a small playground, and a pond for swimming and fishing. This campground gets stars from me for the gorgeous and peaceful surroundings, as well as very friendly staff. However, their two flushing toilets and two showers (free) are very outdated with some rusty nails sticking out, and we didn’t see anyone clean anything in the bathrooms for the few days that we were there (which meant a very full garbage and lots of dead bugs everywhere). Ice was an affordable $2 per bag, but bring your own firewood... it was $10 for a few pieces of fallen branches which did not even fit in the firepit. Near the campground is an awesome playground (Lincoln Township Park), as well as an adorable family owned Ice Cream shop (Sycamore Drive-In).

• C

  Christopher Y.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 27, 2023

  Ross Camp

  RV yes, tent, no

  Beautiful park. All sites are very close and covered with hard concrete or rocks. Best for RV or pull behind. All sites powered. Not recommended for tent camping.

• 

  Barry S.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 6, 2023

  Old Mill Run Park

  Clean and Comfortable

  Not a lot of tent-camping options, but we found a nice open area not far from the showers.  Quiet campground in September.  I would do this again...

• 

  Jennifer S.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 31, 2018

  Forest Glen County Preserve

  so much!

  this has a 12 mile loop for backpackers to camp on (although be sure to register for it) and tent camping! it has a really cool look out tower. definitely recommend

• E

  Elisha E.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 10, 2018

  Old Mill Run Park

  Not what it used to be

  Not many sites for "tent" camping. This place used to be so nice, but now it is over priced and over run with campers. You should just get a hotel. There is a crazy long waiting list for no reason.

• C

  Christopher Y.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 13, 2023

  Bachelor Runn Campground

  Gets better every time

  We keep coming back for more. Disc golf. Hiking. Biking. Tent camping. Fishing. Lounging. Driving range. Always something to do. The best thing to do here in my opinion is relax in the shade with and good book while the kids play at the park.

• c

  christie J.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 28, 2018

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  Nearby race track

  It’s a shame that this park is located so close to a motor speedway! The Saturday night tent camping ambience was ruined by the sound of cars rounding a track at high speeds from about 8-10 pm.

  Before you book here, make sure the nearby speedway doesn’t have an event.

• 

  Gedy M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 30, 2021

  Sugar Creek Campground and Canoe Rental LLC

  Great place

  I am tent camper and stayed at tent primitive section right by the creek. They have RV section, electric tent sites and primitive and those do not mix - no tents at rv section and vice versa. I camp weekdays so I had all section to myself for three days. You can carry your chair right to the creek and hang out in the shade. There are few trails looping around for the walks. Most of tent sites got shade. Rv sites all seem to be level, although kind of close together. Nice and clean bathrooms and shower facility. I have not tried renting canoe because they were closed for a season, due to low water level in the creek. There are a lot of nice places around to visit Turkey Run and Shades state parks are not far as well as numerous covered bridges to explore. Campground stays quiet at night - haven’t seen partying or noise. They also have few cute cabins for rent right by the creek. Will definitely be back and would recommend this place to anyone.

• 

  Mike V.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 23, 2016

  Lake Waveland Park

  Waveland Lake and Park, near Waveland, Indiana

  Nice clean park in west-central Indiana that has a lake and a large number of camping sites along with restrooms and showers. The primitive tent camping sites don't require reservations, and each have a picnic table. There are modern campsites that have water and electrical hook-ups, and there are some small cabins that can be rented. The bath house was clean, and the grounds crew does a great job keeping the grass cut. Camp sites seem more spread out here compared to most state parks. Location is fairly close to Sugar Creek and other parks such as Turkey Run and Shades State Park. The lake is popular for fishing.

• 

  Hope H.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 21, 2018

  Crawfordsville KOA

  Good Campground, horrible tent sites

  The staff was great, all the amenities were fantastic. This campsite would be great if you were staying in an RV, camper, or one of the cabins, but the tent sites are terrible. They are right next to the highway, and they are all very exposed, and have little protection from mosquitoes.

• 

  Sammii D.

  Ranger

  

  Sep. 23, 2020

  French Post Park

  Quick and Easy place to Getaway

  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.

• 

  Gretchen G.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 28, 2021

  Sugar Creek Campground and Canoe Rental LLC

  Great family spot

  This campground is great! The creek is awesome for catching tadpoles and minnows. And definitely take time to float or kayak down the river. The pond is stocked with GIANT fish (catch and release only) and definitely go for a hike over at Turkey Run. Our site (4) was a good location for us, although we tent camped in 25 before and you can't beat those views

• 

  Adam M.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 13, 2021

  Lake Holiday Camping Resort

  Season spot maybe?

  I came for a 4th of July weekend tent camping one year. In my humble opinion I experienced a party type atmosphere with a bunch of season rv type campers. Tight group of people who spend the summers there. If you have a golf cart it seemed popular. Just not our cup of tea but, if it's yours it might be worth checking out.

• 

  Mark R.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 20, 2019

  Peaceful Waters Campground

  Nice place close to Turkey Run State Park

  I stayed at one of the primitive tent sites. It was nice and shaded. As the other reviewer pointed out, further away from the entrance will get you away from the road noise. The shower house was very clean and well kept.

  I would definitely stay here again. I would just select a site toward the back.

• 

  Robin H.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 21, 2020

  Spring Hill Campground

  Careful

  Called up there last minute on Fourth of July weekend (early morning, Friday) 2020 to check if they had any last minute openings for tent camping & the lady who answered the phone was EXTREMELY rude from the very beginning. She said “for tent? You do realize it’s a holiday weekend, no we don’t have any openings” laughed and hung up on us. Like who acts like that. I’ve only heard bad things about this place growing up in Kokomo but it was a last minute thing. Won’t ever call again.

• D

  David P.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 29, 2021

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  My 'home' campsite.

  I live about 30 minutes from Kickapoo SP and anytime I feel I need to camp I head over. Great little campground in Central Illinois. Some pretty trails overlooking, beside, and sometimes through water. The RV sites are great for either rv, van, or tent camping with a lot of level ground at most sites. There are some real diamonds of a campsite hidden here that you can basically be in the woods with clear ground for a level tent. I love this simple campground and have brought a handful of friends here who also enjoyed it.

• 

  jennifer C.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 20, 2024

  France Park

  Great place for the whole family to camp at !

  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 !

• 

  Amy Y.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 4, 2019

  Prophetstown State Park Campground

  Great well kept campground. Tent camping sites are ok.

  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.

• 

  Alan F.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 11, 2023

  Peaceful Waters Campground

  Great campground for tent camping

  We just left after a 2 night stay and we’re really pleased with this camp ground. The staff were very friendly and wanted to make sure our stay was the best it could be.

  Our primitive tent site was in the very back isolated from the rest of the grounds. A port-a-potty was near by, but the shower house was a short drive away. Also, the site, 27C, was alone with timber separating it from the nearest site. The downside to this site is the morning/afternoon sun, but we adapted with a pop-up canopy and positioning our tent to utilize the little shady available.

  The shower house was one of the cleanest we’ve seen and the staff makes a concerted effort to keep it that way.

  The camp store was a nice convenience and wood delivery was a plus.

  Lastly, features include a pond to fish (and rental of paddle boats/canoes) where my son and I caught two decent sized fish from the dock. Playground, volleyball court, and a half court basketball were right off the backside fishing dock.

• S

  Sadie R.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 1, 2020

  Harry L Swartz Campground

  Pretty spot/small gravel campsites

  Il start this by saying: we prefer tent camping/primitive/atleast semi isolated spots. If you’re looking for RV camping, this is probably a decent spot so read no further!

  We drove in to the Middle Fork Forest Preserve looking for a place to camp same day on our way down to Giant City. We weren’t able to make a reservation less than 5 days in advance online so we tried to call. No one in the office except Th-Sunday and it was Wednesday so we couldn’t get in touch. All good. It happens and it did say that clearly on their website and on voicemail. We needed a place for the night so decided to risk driving over from I57 S. Rolled in around 5 and all the campsites were marked reserved but there were about 3 people set up to camp there. We didn’t end up camping the night 1. Because we didn’t want to be jerks about the reservations although it seemed like no one else would be arriving until at the earliest the next day and 2. All of the campsites were pretty tight together and surfaced with gravel. That’s a personal preference thing. We always look for primitive/walk-in/hike in sites to set up tents/hammocks. This spot was mostly set up for RVs.

  The hiking looked pretty lovely and the grounds/facilities looked well kept! Just maybe not our preference.

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  

  Nov. 25, 2019

  Heritage Farm Alpaca Experience

  A truly wonderful experience!

  I learned of this place through the Dyrt (thank you!) and knew I wanted to stay here! There are several options available: tent camping (including a tree tent!), RV camping (two with electric hookups), and a 170-year-old log cabin. If you are RV camping, there are two very clean, private, and fully stocked "outhouses" (see photo below)

  We originally planned to camp in our van but with below-freezing temperatures and a forecasted snowstorm, we decided to take refuge in the log cabin. To call this a log cabin is a disservice; yes, it is made from logs(and is 170 years old) but I was expecting a tiny one-room cabin; instead it is a two-story cozy home that can sleep up to six people, all in one upstairs room (two full-size beds and two twin beds; would be great for families). It was cozy and warm, heated by a gas stove. The bathroom (with a shower) is accessed from just outside the back door but is heated. The kitchen is an outdoor grill and picnic table, but we did not use this. 

  Tim and Beth were very welcoming, as was Juno, their dog. We enjoyed helping to feed the Alpacas– they have over 50. The rooster crowed gustily at dawn (but dawn was after 7 am and we were already awake). Also on the farm is Stormy, the horse, chickens, and some barn cats. There is a shop that sells goods made from Alpaca wool and we made sure to visit before departing. 

  Staying here was truly special and we hope to return to camp in one of the RV spots or the tree tent in the future.

• L

  Leah M.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 10, 2020

  Peaceful Waters Campground

  Great campground, nice people

  This is very nice campground with the right amount of facilities. We stayed in a primitive site but they also have RV sites and cabins. There is a playground for the kiddos if you have them, a volleyball net, and horseshoes. There are outhouses/port-a-potty’s around the campground and a shower house with toilets. The outhouse near our site was very clean, as was the shower house. There’s a nice pond in the center of the campground where they have paddle boats and canoes (we didn’t go out on the pond though); also saw people fishing. There’s a cute little camp store where you can buy ice, last minute necessities, drinks and snacks, or souvenirs. The folks here are very nice. You pay for firewood at the camp store and they deliver it to your site. The grounds are very well kept. Not too many critters, we only saw one squirrel. The Saturday night we were there they had karaoke at the stage by the camp store. Not sure if they regularly have stuff like that, maybe ask them about that if you’re curious. Our site was on the far side of the pond next to the playground and there weren’t many people near us, so it was pretty quiet except for the occasional road noise. There were tent sites beyond the trees behind us (I’m guessing these are the spots the other reviews are referring to) which would have better shade in the afternoon than ours did (but ours had shade in the morning while those sites would not). Overall, it was a nice place and pretty quiet & peaceful. We will definitely go back.

• 

  MickandKarla W.

  Legend

  

  May. 1, 2021

  Wabash & Erie Canal Park

  Great Little Campground

  Heading south out of Elkhart, we happened on this great little campground (CG). We called two hours out and they had a site that would fit our 39’ 5th wheel. We followed our RV GPS and Google maps instructions to the city park and CG area. When we came down the road to the CG we were unsure of the CG location, but it is located right behind the interpretive/conference center building. We were in FHU site C, which was technically a pull through. However, you have to turn in front of the interpretive/conference center and go around the building to be able to pull through the site at the back of the building. But, there’s a pine tree that is overgrown and could have scratched the side of our fifth wheel. Since we had already drove past the interpretive/conference center and were in front of site C, we just backed in to the spot, which was an easy back in and easily fit our rig and F-450. We got 3 bars on Verizon and 4 OTA channels, which included CBS and CW prime channels. We walked our pups along the canal and enjoyed the historic displays and buildings in this small park. We were soon joined by the campground hosts who arrived for their 4th season and they were very nice. There are 4 FHU sites of which A is the camp host. All the sites will take rigs up to 40’. There are also electric and tent sites as explained in the CG picture attached. There are walking trails and other interesting exhibits to explore. This CG is definitely a hidden gem. Too bad we only had an overnight stay.

• 

  Mike V.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 23, 2016

  Turkey Run State Park Campground — Turkey Run State Park

  Turkey Run State Park, west-central Indiana

  Much enjoyed hiking some of the trails at Turkey Run State Park near Marshall, Indiana. This is Indiana's 2nd oldest state park, now 100 years old (1916-2016). Visitors can camp in RV's or in tents in campground area that has water/electrical hook-ups, modern bathrooms w/ showers. There is also cabins to rent, or you can stay at Turkey Run Inn. Canoeing down Sugar Creek was great, and it passes through the state park at a fairly scenic section. Some hiking trails are easy to walk along, others trails are more rugged and difficult. Cross over Sugar Creek on a suspension bridge to get to more hiking trails in a more remote section of woods. We ate a very nice lunch in the restaurant in the Inn, and even played pinball in the gameroom. Great state park. Would be happy to go again some day.

• 

  Erin B.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 5, 2021

  Indiana Beach Campground

  Busy campground. Rules not enforced.

  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.

• S

  Sarena W.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 18, 2018

  Prophetstown State Park Campground

  Waves of Grain

  Well kept and clean area in the plains of Indiana. Great amnesties for the area such as a new, large public pool and a few hiking and biking trails.