Best Glamping near Santa Claus, IN

This park is conveniently located beside Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana! There is a wide variety of activities and it's a fun place to camp with family! Some of the sites are a little too close together but other than that, my family really enjoys camping at Lake Rudolph!

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.

This was a very quiet campsite in southern Indiana. We had a hard time finding dispered camping in the national Forest so we settled for this site. There was one other site occupied in the middle of the week so it was definitely quiet. Gravel platform for pitching a tent. Clean bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks which were nice.

The park is well kept and organized. There are a ton of sites to visit and see. If you like hiking or mountain biking this is for you! Horse people love it also. The campground is near the trail to the old abandoned bridge which is well worth the hike. The fire tower has a commanding view. If you are not enjoying this park, not much else in Indiana will make you happy. Extra points: experienced cavers will enjoy the number of caves. These are by permit only however and novice non cavers should take a proper class and go with experts. There are multiple show caves in the area you can get a basic tour of also.

My husband, 3.5yo, 1yo and myself went to O'Bannon Woods the weekend before the 4th of July and I can't believe I've never been there! It's an amazing little park. We camp in a 12' pop up and our site 111 was nice for it. We did have to back between two trees at about 10pm in the dark, but we made it!

We LOVED the nature center and the living history village! The nature center had plenty of critters for the kids to look at. The living village was a pleasant surprise since I didn't realize they had one. They also have demonstrations of the hay press on holiday weekends which was really neat to watch.

We only hiked one trail and that was the one from the campground to the nature center. It was fairly rough in spots but enjoyable. The nearby caves ran by the park were a nice escape from the summer heat. We went on the short one with the kids and it was just the right length for their ages.

Also, if you like wine, there's a little winery down the road, Scout Mountain and they had the best deal on firewood along with great wine!

I can't wait to go back, I honestly can't believe I've lived in southern Indiana my whole life and have never been here.

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.

33’ Class C - Pull Through Lot

Our family enjoyed the amenities and the easy “special entrance” shuttle to holiday world. Super easy and fun.

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!

Elaborate campground! Rented golf cart. Clean shower houses. Big regular pool. Water park. Enough space between sites for comfort.

We love coming here annually for Mother’s Day weekend. This campground has a lot to offer but is focused for seasonal camping. A lot of amenities and the town is fun to sight see.