Best Glamping near Santa Claus, IN

Lake Rudolph is a nicely themed campground, right in line with the nearby town, Santa Claus, IN. It is conveniently located beside one of the best theme parks in the midwest, Holiday World. Holiday World and Splashing Safari has a huge, awesome, water park, and a couple of the 10 best wooden roller coasters on the planet.

Back to the campground, the sites are not so level but located in a nice wooded area and well maintained interior roads and facilities. Just a quick travel note, there is not much to do in Santa Claus, IN aside from Holiday World.

We stayed here in a class C motorhome.

 I have tried to contact corporate and been ignored.. We  stayed at the Rudolph campsite in Santa Claus Indiana like I stated before we would like a refund for one night and one night of the golf cart as we wound up leaving.  the toilet seat was cracked, which pinched me and one of my Children left marks, there were also mouse droppings in the drawer where the silverware was and stains on the sheets. I have pictures of all this and since nobody has contacting us, I will give it until Monday morning and then I will have my attorney contact them with all the pictures since they don’t want to do anything about this and then I will also be posting with the Better Business Bureau and attaching all the pictures.

Camp sites are pretty small, but are aligned along a small stream. Heavy truck and train traffic can be heard at all hours. Sites equipped with electricity, a gazebo & picnic table, and fire pit. Camp store, cave tours, gift shop, and other pay activities are within steps of camping, but only open until 5:00. No security or staff at all after hours. Bath house was heated, extremely clean with flush toilets, and continual hot water. City water access in the middle of the campsite. Play area and 2 large covered areas for get together's. Newer cabins looked very nice from outside. Caves are obviously a must see while there. More caves are within driving distance.

Obannon Overall, this is a nice state park to camp in. Staff was very friendly. They have ice and wood. My kids enjoyed the nature center, pioneer village, and one of the easy trails.

We stayed in 220. It was nice to be right by the playground and bathrooms (which is what we wanted). Some spots near the back would be nice and secluded like the 180s and 190s and they’re still not too far from the bathrooms and playground. The better playground is in loop A.

I will say, I didn’t see any staff members cleaning up trash, getting campsites ready, or anything the 2 days we were there. Even though we went in November, it was a nice weekend and wasn’t dead, so I was surprised I didn’t see anyone cleaning. Wasn’t the cleanest state campground we’ve been at in Indiana. Certainly wasn’t awful though either.

My biggest gripe was they were hosting a huge cycling group. Like the whole loop A. We were all the way back in C. They held a concert that went on from like 8-11 pm. Being in a pop up, it was so loud and never ending. Made it difficult for my kids to sleep. If they’re going to hold (or allow) events like these, it should be posted on their website. Even with our sound machine, we still couldn’t block it out. I realize quiet hours aren’t until 11, but to me there’s a difference.

There is also hardly any signage and spots are difficult to find. No arrows about which way to go, signs saying which loop you’re in, and spots are only marked on the electrical boxes.

Overall, may stay again and try out the pool since we’re not too far from home, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to stay here.

My family and I are new to the RV World.  We are currently renting a Class A Motorhome (33ft; double slide) and traveling to the 48 contiguous states.  We began our trip in Columbus, OH (our home) and drove to Mammoth Cave in KY.  From KY, we drove to Santa Claus, IN for our first night stay in the RV.  

I am so glad we hooked up water, sewer and electricity for the first time at this site.  All of the equipment was clean and well-kept. 

We were greeted immediately upon arrival, given face masks and hand sanitizer, and kindly escorted to our site.  The concrete pad was in excellent condition and the lot seemed roomy (although we were practically the only campers in our section of the park).    If you are looking to be surrounded by nature, you may not appreciate overlooking the waterpark, but we didn't mind.  

I would have gladly given the site 5 stars, but nothing was open and my husband had his heart set on a funnel cake - as advertised.

Wow, Lake Rudolph Campground is huge! So huge in fact that we only ever saw 1/2 of it - we never even ventured into the other 1/2 of the campground (the top half of the map, which is probably MORE than 1/2 of the campground). We stayed in a water / electric site in Ornament Circle which was perfect because it was very close to the fishing ‘lake’, bathhouses, mini golf, and tram stop for Holiday World (which is, of course, why we were there). The mini golf (9 hole) was actually a lot of fun, and the fishing pond has a ton of fish in it. We caught crappie, bluegill, and a few smaller bass - but there are definitely some larger bass in there. The bathhouses were relatively dirty, but had free showers and plenty of stalls. We did not visit the campground store or anything in the upper 1/2 of the campground, as I mentioned, so we did not go to the in-campground pool or mini waterpark. The location of the campground is perfect if you’re visiting for Holiday World / Splashin’ Safari.

Speaking of which, I was a little hesitant about Holiday World as it sounds a little cheesy, but I think it’s one of the nicest amusement parks we’ve ever been to - and we’ve been to a lot! The theming is awesome with each section of the park entirely entrenched in its given holiday (different colors used on fences, the theming of all of the rides themselves, the concessions available, special characters, etc), it was just a ton of fun. We got to the park shortly after it opened, which means we had about an hour in the main park before Splashin’ Safari opened (which was our main focus). I had the grand idea to head straight for The Voyage, which I had heard was the top-rated coaster in the park, and grabbed the seats at the back of the coaster (it’s a wooden coaster, right? you’re supposed to sit in the back).

Ho-Lee Crap.

That thing was insane! I have never been on a wooden rollercoaster anything close to that extreme - in fact, all 3 of the famous wooden coasters at Holiday World obliterated most other wooden coasters we had been on. The Voyage in particular, though, is intense. I would not recommend sitting in the back of the train.. hah. The Legend and The Raven are both AWESOME and we enjoyed those more than The Voyage. The new (steel) coaster, Thunderbird, is extremely smooth, especially after riding the old wooden coasters, and it was fantastic - one of my favorite steel coasters that I’ve ever ridden. We spent most of the day at the water park, which was also a great time. The Mammoth in particular was a ton of fun, and unique - it’s a ‘water coaster’ but you sit in a large circular raft (with nice individual seats) instead of the typical in-line 2- or 4-person tube. We really enjoyed that one, though it did break down a few times that day which increased the wait times. The food was decent for an amusement park, and we definitely felt like we got our money’s worth.

We will definitely be back, and will stay at Lake Rudolph when we return!