Top Tent Camping near Paragon, IN

Recent Tent Reviews In Paragon

657 Reviews of 16 Paragon Campgrounds

• 

  Betsy W.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 1, 2024

  Blackwell Campground — Hoosier National Forest

  Large, open, and very clean

  Open areas with pit toilets and water available. Shade and sunny locations. Pick a spot and set up with hammock-large rvs spots. No fee, no reservations, no problems. Officers from federal, state, and local patrol. Cell service by various providers is 1-2 bars. Highly recommend.

• 

  Noah Y.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 18, 2024

  Charles C. Deam Wilderness

  Great for casual/experienced camping and hiking

  A staple of our state here in Indiana. Unfortunately due to some storm damage, trails were rerouted or straight up inaccessible.

  Great places to find and set up camp. We even discovered a few extra hidden sites just by being forced off trails due to the damage.

  Every dispersed camper should add the hikes to the lake to their checklist.

• 

  Shane B.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 13, 2024

  Horse Camp Rd Dispersed

  HNF dispersed site

  Cool place

• 

  Sara W.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 4, 2024

  Prairie Creek

  Prairie creek

  Men's and women's shower house playground few trails rv tent and camper electric a few primitive sites 2 sites r 50 Amp I think the rest r 30 Amp water gets wonderfully hot Verizon works can have door dash and amazon delivered

• A

  Amber R.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 21, 2024

  Hickory Ridge Campground — Hoosier National Forest

  Secluded horse camp

  It’s a horse camp but we were able to camp here. There were also two vehicle campers across the way. It was peaceful. It was a ways down a winding gravel road, maybe 20 minutes on that road.

• 

  Harley G.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Nice

  Very long secluded road. Took a bit to find the first spot to camp, once we found it the other spots weren’t too far past.

• 

  patti J.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 7, 2024

  Heartland Resort

  Staff were helpful

  This would most likely be a last resort for us.  Went to our campsite only to find someone else using it.  Not what you need after driving 400-500 miles.  Had to go back to the office and ultimately took a different site after dirty looks from the poachers.

  Then the staff told us there was music that night after we told them we just wanted a peaceful nights sleep so we moved to another site further away from the jam session. Whew a lot of work to be here.  Cannot recall being impresses with the bathrooms/showers.

• 

  Joel K.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 26, 2024

  Shades State Park

  Nice campground, but not perfect

  Stayed here recently and overall the trip was a 10, but as for the campground itself there are somethings that could definitely be better.

  First, for all intents and purposes the sites are not marked.  At some point years ago they stencil painted the numbers both on the concrete parking block and on the ground near the entry pad for each site, but obviously over time most of these are worn away.  It's very difficult to find your actual site, even during the day when it's not busy.  At night, or with a campground full of people - not a chance.   Even more perplexing is why it's still like this when it's so easy to fix.

  Second, on the back loop, where we were, almost every car we saw was going the wrong way around the loop.  I've never seen this before and wasn't just one car.  There is a sign at the start of the loop indicating it's one direction, so not sure why this happens.

  Third, they have a camp store at the entry to the family campground, but it was never open in the time we were there, which was Friday / Saturday / Sunday, during the summer, so not sure what the situation was.

  Fourth, while the campground does have functional flush bathroom and shower, they only have one, and the rest are pit toilets, so depending on how far your site is from the building, it could be a very long walk, especially at night.

  The front gate to the park did have covered firewood, but the hours of the gate operation were not clear.  The sites themselves were fine, but not particularly deep, and some are basically completely exposed to all the foot and vehicle traffic going to the toilets, the dumpsters, or just driving around, so basically zero privacy.

  We did drive into Crawfordsville, which took about 20 minutes, and it was very nice with a local college (Wabash) and plenty of retail options to restock, grab a cold beverage, or refill the tank before driving home. 

  Would I stay here again, yes 100%, but be prepared and plan ahead.  Would I recommend this to others?  Meh.

• 

  James P.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 26, 2024

  Crawfordsville KOA

  Nice KOA

  Shade, grass, and gravel sites. A lot better than most KOAs. They ask that you not put outdoor rugs on grass; no problem as grass is nice. Sites 1-10 are your best bet for Starlink if that’s what you have; best opening through tree canopy of the northern sky. Pet friendly; counted three cats and a dog in the office when I checked in. Was given the option of choosing my site out of the seven available for my reservation. A mix of long term residents and travelers; some of the long term resident sites were a little junky.

• 

  samuel C.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 24, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Perfect

  The perfect dispersed site for my way through, quiet and peaceful. Good spot for tent camping , we enjoyed our stay.

• F

  Fern B.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 21, 2024

  Jackson Washington State Forest

  Great primitive campground

  Spacious sites. Beautiful forest. Quiet, but only 5 minutes small town with gas stations, grocery, etc. Not many amenities. Only pit toilets and water spigots. Firewood was not available during our visit. No reservations. First come first serve, but even on a "busy" Saturday in July less than 1/3 of the sites were full. Two "loops" one in a pine forest below the small lake and one at the lake/up the hill. Multiple playgrounds. Great trails to hike. Cool CCC construction. Highly recommend.

• 

  Josie W.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 12, 2024

  Blackwell Campground — Hoosier National Forest

  Spacious Camping

  We really liked the set up of this campsite. The fire rings were spread apart amidst a green hill. There was some shade available around the edges. Plenty of room to spread out from your neighbors; it wasn’t too busy when we were there (a Thursday). Camp accesses two trailheads directly. There were two bathrooms, a place for garbage, and potable water. Screech owls and active birds made it an exciting evening.

• J

  Jerry D.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 8, 2024

  Camp Buckwood

  Very Nice and Freindly

  Stayed two nights, tent camping. It was a great time meeting new people and exploring the surrounding area.

• S

  Stephanie C.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 8, 2024

  Hickory Hills Camp Resort

  Perfect RV Resort south of Indianapolis

  We were so fortunate to have found The Retreat at Hickory Hills and stay there for a month! There’s two pools, a pickle ball court, a basketball half court, farm animals, golf cart trails, kayak/canoe/row boats, exploring creeks, fishing, a dog park, several playgrounds, Gaga ball, tether ball, volleyball, frisbee golf and several weekend activities for everyone. Saturday mornings were our favorite where we could get biscuits and gravy, coffee and the kids had craft time. It’s definitely worth bringing mountain bikes or renting their golf carts to explore their golf cart trails! We went out on these several times and it never got old! Staff and campers were welcoming and friendly. We still haven’t stopped talking about how CLEAN they keep everything. The sites were large and they’re still expanding and adding more sites. There’s a seasonal campers area and an overnight or monthly area. We stayed in the overnight/monthly area. It was peaceful and relaxing throughout the week and lively during the weekend. It was a wonderful balance!! We’ll definitely be back.

• 

  Jacob A.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 4, 2024

  Shakamak State Park

  One of our favorite parks!

  We have been coming here every year since 2016. Most of the sites are shady. Our favorite site is 72. It is close to a water hookup if you need to top off your fresh water tank, shady, and not too close to other sites. They added a new shower house close by in 2022 or 2023.

• A

  Amber R.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 3, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Secluded in the woods

  Beautiful secluded site that is pretty far off of the road, but not too far. There was no traffic or other people in site. I have a promaster conversion and had no trouble making it to this site, however the road was gravel and steep at times. I have lived in Indiana for ever and have made many trips this way, but I never knew sites like this existed.

• 

  L J.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 3, 2024

  CERA Sports Corporation

  Discount!

  You can visit this website to search for discount codes to help optimize your vacation costs: https://freecouponsaz.com/

• 

  Cynthia K.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 28, 2024

  Taylor Ridge Campground — Brown County State Park

  Meh

   First off- Brown County is a lovely park. This review is only for the campground. 

  The only time we ever camped here was in 2003 when we had 3 kids & a popup. New to the park I thought the Racoon Ridge Loop looked good & picked site 121. Bad mistake! We stayed 3 nights & every night we had a weird thing happen. The worst was the bat that found it's way into the popup one night. None of it was in any way Brown County's fault, but we never went back. 

  We were staying at Paynetown recently & decided to visit Brown County & the campground. The mirror tag helped with this. We visited on a Saturday morning in late June. The whole campground was full & it was jumpin'!

   We skipped Buffalo Ridge. Raccoon Ridge is the smallest loop. Close sites. Our former site 121 has a pit toilet right next to it now. There's several sites along the main road, also very close to each other & right on the road.

   I thought that Taylor Ridge was the best loop based on my memories from 2003. It's really a long warren of close sites, some with terrible inclines.

   I was able to write down a few sites I thought would work- Sites with no one close by: 193/194/266. 

  265 was the only pull thru I saw, but there may be others. 

  End of loop: 317/318 

  Ridge view from your site: 310/311/312/313/314 

  Random sites that looked ok: 179/188/215/223/225/242/259/260/265/277/280/287/422- these sites are just what I eyeballed while the husband was cruising down the main road. 

  We decided we were never going to camp here again. The sites are too close together. There's too many people crammed in a small space. If you go be aware that summer weekends & leaf peeper season will be very busy. The middle of the week or shoulder season would probably be your best bet for a more relaxing experience.

• 

  Cynthia K.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 25, 2024

  Hardin Ridge

  National Forest

   We did a drive through to check out the campground. It was $8 for day use, self pay.

  This is a beautiful campground. There's 4 loops with 30 & 50 amp. 2 loops with no electric.

   Well spaced all tucked into the trees on a ridge. Also some carry in sites.

   If we tented camped still I'd be in heaven! 

  You can reserve sites, or some are first come first served.

  Shower/restroom with pit toilets scattered around. 

  3 trails. A beach, picnic areas& a boat launch. 

  This seems less popular than Paynetown, but a lot quieter!!

• 

  Cynthia K.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 25, 2024

  Paynetown Campground

  Crazy busy on a summer weekend

   This is a SRA on the shores of Lake Monroe by Bloomington Indiana. This is a boating/fishing park. We went on a hot weekend the 4rth weekend in June & it was completely full. 

  There's only 3 short trails. The longest is 1.25 miles. Not a hiking park. 

  There's a visitor center off State Road 446. This is NOT a nature center! Just a place to pick up some information. 

  The marina & boat launch get the most use. There's also a beach. 

  There's a large Class B campground closer to the marina. There's some pit toilets & one flush toilet building. No showers. No electricity.

   There's a large dump station. 

  The electric campground has 227 sites. 3 are handicap accessible. There's also 27 pull throughs. Many have lake access due to camper made trails to the lake.

  We had site 137 which was a good site due to the fact we had no one on the left. There was a woods view.

  Many of these sites have a bad incline & people were putting their rigs sideways on the site close to the road. Our site was no exception, but we were able to make it work. This site also had afternoon sun.

   Restrooms/showers were state park clean. I was impressed with the hard working staff trying their best to give us a clean bathroom!

   The best sites in the campground are 171/172& 153/154. These have a lot of sun, but a stellar view of the lake. 

  132-137 have a trail to the lake. Very bad inclines though. 

  120-124 have trails to the lake & are in the woods. 

  103 is a large site& fairly even with lots of shade. 

  The sites from 180-227 are asphalt with concrete pads. The rest of the campground is gravel. 

  There's 4 carry in campsites for tents that looked very nice. Campsites in the E area have access to a sandy peninsula that was very popular for swimmers. 

  This is known in Indiana as a party park. There's some truth to that. It's VERY noisy & busy on a summer weekend. If you like a quieter experience come Monday through Wed. or wait until the off season.

• 

  Matt M.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 25, 2024

  Indiana State Fairgrounds Campground

  Not what we were expecting!

  We traveled to Indianapolis for the Olympic Swimming Time Trials. Stayed here 2 nights with our 2 grand-daughters. The area we stayed was directly adjacent to a bike path. It was separated by a fence and there was a gate right next to our site. The gate was locked however the gates were far enough apart that someone could get between them. Our first night, someone actually did this and walked right behind our site.

  The shower house was in serious need of some improvements! Old, dark, leaky pipes. 

  The area was OVERLY well lit, to the point we were hanging sleeping bags over the windows to try and make it somewhat dark inside the camper! 

  Getting to the sites took some figuring out also. We entered at the main gate to the fairgrounds and there were no signs directing us to the sites. Had to use GPS with satellite view to figure our way there. 

  For comparison, we've stayed at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and this is a night and day difference. Iowa Fairgrounds sites are $20 less per night, very nice shower facilities and plenty of room between sites. 

  We would stay here again but we'd need to exhaust all other options first.

  BTW, the price listed is wrong. We paid $50/night.

• 

  Holdun R.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 17, 2024

  Camp Atterbury Campground

  Great 1st experience

  This was my first time at a campsite, so I don't have other sites to compare to. Overall, my experience was great. Clean area with lots of amenities. They stack free firewood at your campsite to burn. I'm military, so the gunfire, canon fire, and helicopters didn't bother me at all. Those things don't happen all the time though.

• 

  Agus S.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 13, 2024

  Spring Mill State Park

  summer camp 2024

  nice camping here,but they have small area ,i see racoon,cath meow lol but they attack

• 

  rickie F.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 10, 2024

  Oak Ridge Morgan-Monroe State Forest

  Beautiful as it should be.

  We stayed pretty much on our site. Generally, we aim to do a bit of exploring, but we used their camping as a rendezvous. I was slightly disappointed by the site selections being mostly on a slant, but we did find one on the overfill site that suited our needs and we ended up loving it. I do plan on returning specifically to update a better review on the available views.

• c

  cathyL

  Guide

  

  Jun. 7, 2024

  Turkey Run State Park Campground

  Fabulous Park, Nice Campground

  Turkey Run is a fabulous state park with a nice campground. My only complaint about the campground is that many sites are in an open, level area without a lot of trees or bushes between them. You don’t have a lot of privacy. Two sections of the campground, with the higher numbered sites, are much more wooded. If I go again, I will try to be there!

  But the campground has two large modern bathrooms that are cleaned regularly. It also has clean well maintained vault toilets throughout the campground. Best of all, from the back of the campground you can access Trail 7, a moderate level trail that leads unexpectedly to a small stream running past a recessed cave. It’s a peaceful spot.

  Be advised that a “moderate” hike at Turkey Run can be challenging, with plenty of steps up and down the hillsides. Many of the trails go along stream beds, so you often need to make your way across the rocks to avoid wet feet. Be prepared with hiking boots and sticks.

  There are two covered bridges on the edges of the park. Be sure to check them out!

• 

  james W.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 6, 2024

  Berry Ridge Road - Dispersed Camping

  Real dispersed camping

  For those of you who don't understand disperse camping this is the perfect site for a tent to camp without anything but what you bring in and take out understand what dispersed camping is and then there won't be any complaints about can't get a camper in or whatever I always see the complaints this is dispersed camping at its best

• 

  KingDredd

  Scout

  

  Jun. 2, 2024

  Fowler County Park

  Amazing view and fishing

  Got in late after a spurratic decision to camp. Got here and found that point 5 was open and we tried it. Beautiful view, nice people, and great lake access. Mossy but we casted over it no problem and never had any issues.