Best Cabin Camping near Plainfield, IN

This campground is nestled on a ridge above Indiana's Lake Monroe. The wooded sites include a fire-ring, a pole for your lantern and generous flat graveled areas to pitch your tent, as well as a couple of picnic tables per site. There are pleanty of RV sites with electric hookup available as well. Each area of the campground has a knowlegeable courteous full time host, and ice is available at the main gate. Foraging for wood is allowed which is a definite bonus in this era of emerald ash-borer awareness and wood import restrictions. The plentiful raccoons seem almost tame, yet keep a safe distance from campers if you allow them to. There is a small beach to beat the summer heat, and nearby showerhouses (even in the non-electric sites) are kept clean with adequately warm water. There is a small interpretive hike with approximately 300 feet of elevation change situated near the ampitheater that can be completed in a couple of hours.

I have to say it is always nice to stay at a state park in the off season. There are a couple hundred sites in this park and we were one of about 12 occupants. Even if this park had been full, the sites offer nice space. Sites vary from full shade to wide open out in the sun. Bathrooms are clean, but they are pretty spread out. Most sites offer electricity, but no water or sewer hook-up for RV. Water spigots are pretty spread out too. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. I didn't see any camp hosts that sold firewood when office is closed. Park is located right across the street from the local high school, I thought this was sort of odd.

We were just passing through for a nights stay, but it looked like there were some nice trails for hiking. The children playgrounds looked nice as well.

There is just one thing that keeps me from rating this a 5 star campground. It's the sites!  So....4 stars...but read on for my thoughts on the sites.

What's up with these sites?

• If you want to be be able to see what your neighbors are eating and hear their conversations, you'll love the electric sites (1 through 189).

• If you like to feel like you're alone in the woods, you won't like most of the electric sites. 

• There is a partial solution. Sites 190-202 have no electricity, but most are fairly private/secluded. Sites 203-222 are additional primitive sites on a loop but they are not at all private; you can see lots of neighboring sites. There's a lot of shade, but you could probably set up solar panels if you require electricity.

• If you want privacy in the electric section (1-189), I don't have a great recommendation other than you should stay on the outside of the loops. Then you'll only have people beside you rather than beside and across from you.

Good luck! Stay one night when there aren't many people and scope out sites for your next stay. If you're from the area, this could be a park worth returning to over and over if you are able to stay on a site you enjoy.

I've included a map of sites 1-189 and photos that show some sites I like and sites I don't like. In my opinion, a site is not one for me if I can see 3 other picnic tables while sitting at the table at my site. If you camp with other families, this would be good because you can make your own 'group' site.

Something you need to know: Indiana state parks have a $7 entry fee but you'll only pay it once (unlike some states that make you pay every day). It's supposed to be $9 for non-residents, but we were only charged $7. The hang tag for your vehicle will get you in the main entrance for the rest of your stay.

If you come without a reservation: The registration attendant assigned a site to us but maybe you can choose one. Since it was the day after Labor Day and the park was sparsely populated, there was no one near us. Privacy was not an issue for our stay, but we wouldn't have enjoyed our site on a busy weekend...although there were many sites we would have liked even less.

The basics: picnic tables, fire rings, dump station, potable water, flush toilets and sinks in the bathrooms, separate shower facility. There are vault toilets closer to sites 190-222. Sites 1-189 have electricity.

Activities: Nearby swimming pool and playground. There are almost 11 miles of hiking trails. The longest one is 2 miles, but you can combine some trails and wander in the woods for quite a while. You can also wade in McCormick's Creek; the water was low in early September. You can stay busy in this park for quite a while. And if you want to go to Bloomington, it's only about 25 minutes away

Yellowwood state forest campground does not accept reservations. It is first come, first served. Drive up, select your site, and then go to the park office to pay using a self-pay envelope. Bring exact change(cash). Current prices are listed on the Indiana DNR website. The park office does have firewood for sale, but only during open hours, which are limited. There is no camp store, no playgrounds, and no pool. Swimming is not allowed in Yellowwood lake. Each site has a fire ring with grill grate and picnic table. There are four campground loops and a horseman’s campground. Campgrounds have vault toilets and drinking water access. I do not know if water is turned on year-round. There are no modern restrooms. Sites are wooded and fairly level. All sites are primitive. We have only tent camped at Yellowwood, so I can’t say what size travel trailers would fit in the sites. Yellowwood road changes over to gravel once you enter the state forest. It is well maintained. You can also access the forest by Jackson Creek road, but you’re on gravel for longer, and I seem to remember it being a bit rougher. We have camped at Yellowwood several times between 2011-2018. The only time we have ever seen the campground busy is over big holiday weekends like Labor Day, Memorial Day, and 4th of July. Otherwise use is light. We have several times been one of two or three campers in the loop. Several trails are nearby in the state forest, including the Tecumseh Trail. Horse trails are also available. Yellowwood lake is adjacent to the campground and there is a boat ramp, but there are limitations on boating(motor size). Check with the DNR website. Camp here if you like quiet, peaceful camping. You won’t run into a bunch of loud partiers.

This campground was reasonably priced, had clean facilities and quite unusual and intesting hiking nearby. There are multiple trails and some quite challenging ones. No water hookups at the site but all except the "youth sites" had 110, 30, and 50 amp power. I was able to charge my ev without issue. Sites tried from all concrete to a dusty dirt and rock tent area, and all had old wood picnic tables. While the hiking was incredible, the maps of the trails were poor and not up to date, with some trails not on map at all. On one trail part of it went through box canyons up an active, though trickling, stream bed.

We stayed here this weekend and had a terrific time. The weather was very hot but there is a river to tube and canoe in to keep you cool. We stayed at site #35. It is in a very quiet, off the main road, in a circle, in full shade. It’s is very close to the restroom but a distance from the camp store and dumpster. The site was clean and well equipped with a fire ring and picnic table. The site is very uneven. It definitely sloops to the back corner. It’s was difficult to level our camper but we got it in the end. The site was huge but given the unevenness it would be difficult for tents. The campground is family friendly and was quiet at night. There is a lot to do at this state park. We hiked the #3 and #5 trails and it took us about 2 hours. It was very busy but everyone was very polite. It was a great stay all around.

First, I would like to correct someone's prior review. Electric and non electric sites are both reservable and walk up. Almost half and half. The hike in sites are all walk up. As you look at their maps, if making a reservation, each site on the left of the road are NOT reservable. All sites on the right AREvreservable. However, if you want to reserve a site, I highly suggest you do it very early in the season, esp. if you are including a weekend. Depending on how busy check in is at the time you show up without a reservation (again, only for non reservable sites), they sometimes will let you drive around and pick out a site from the left when entering loop, then come back to gate and pay. You will see reserved signs on every reservable site whether anyone is actually in them that night or not. It saves a lot of trouble for all concerned by not letting you pick a site you THINK you can have by not understanding their system. On to the review: I have camped at Hardin Ridge since the 70s. I have tent camped in regular primitive, hike-in, and in electic with a camper. All the sites are large and well-shaded with tables and fire pits/grates. The grounds are kept very clean, as well as the shower rooms, bathrooms, and vault toilets. There are many electric, some electric/water, and a few full hook up. Water spigots are heavily spread throughout each loop. Also, there are the RV water spigots avail along the lanes in some of the loops in case you want to fill tanks before parking at site without it's own water. The camp hosts have always been great to me and since I usually camp alone, someone checks on me each day. That includes when I pick the most secluded hike in spot. They have never been intrusive. They do expect every rule to be followed at all times and will tell you to pack up and leave if you are an asshole about noise, dogs, etc. There are at least one pair, some two, camphost pairs in each loop. While the campground is not a rest home by any means, it is not a party place such as Allens Creek or Paynetown campgrounds that share the same lake (Monroe). Some of the loops do not allow generators and or have restricted hours of usage. The is a small beach, boat launch, multiple small playgrounds, and an ampitheater, but there is no campstore. It is about 11 miles to the nearest small baitshop/store/gas pump. There is ice and wood for sale at the gate.