Best RV Parks & Resorts near Shoals, IN

This is just a beautiful Indiana State Park located near the small community of Jasonville, Indiana which offers simple dining, grocery store, hardware store and fuel. The park has numerous recreational activities to include 3 lakes spanning some 400 acres that are known for spectacular fishing, seasonal family aquatic center for swimming with a large water slide, seasonal nature center, and several hiking trails. The campsites are in a heavily wooded area with fantastic tree canopy for shade and comfort. Sites are mostly level gravel pads ranging from primitive to 30 amp electric, 50 amp electric or a limited number of full hookup; water, sewer and 50 amp service sites plus plenty of clean bath houses. Large rig friendly. The park also has family cabins available. A small camp store supplies firewood, ice, bait and sundries...Indiana fishing license at the park office. Want to relax...enjoy beautiful sunsets on the lake, paddling a canoe or kayak, or casting a line for dinner...this is a perfect place to make that happen.

We stayed a few nights at this campground in October.  The campground is made for smaller sizes but we were able to negotiate the main ring road with our 37' travel trailer.  The spot that we had reserved was in an area were we could not get into but we went to the gatehouse and they gave us another spot that was on the main ring road that we were able to park in with no issues.  Cell service was great with Verizon and AT&T service.  The lake was beautiful and the park was well maintained.  Wished the beach, paddle boats, and petting zoo was open...  Still had a great time.  We will surely come back next year when everything is open!!  Had 30 and 50 amp service with water hookups and a dump station at the exit.  Make sure you have plenty of leveling blocks.  We used all of ours and was not level.

Tipsaw Recreation Area Hoosier National Forest is the place to visit if you have a large group or family event planned.

We had a good time doing basic camping activities while here, nothing flashy just fun water sports, campfire activities and hiking. ( no signal so appreciate the quiet :)

5 camping areas which are mostly group based and reservable. Catbrier Loop is the more wide open campground with large RV sites, a pit toilet, pavilion and small field for group events and a path to the beach. Goldenrod (camping side by side) and Primrose (camping around the loop)offer more shade and area to spread out with pit toilets, picnic tables and fire rings. Dogwood has double RV sites and some singles, and you feel more “in the woods” with full canopy coverage. A showerhouse and pit toilet, picnic tables and fire pits. The largest area is Jackpine Loop, good shade, showerhouse and more privacy. 

The beach area on Tipsaw Lake is very family oriented, nice bathhouse facility, small picnic pavilions on cement walkways and a nice beach with play area for the kids. We did not visit the beach because dogs are not allowed. Adjacent is the boat ramp which is ramp, dock, pit toilet and parking. The dogs had fun here playing in the water along the ramp, not much shore to speak of. 

The Tipsaw Lake Trail is 5.9 miles of technical rolling hills with complete tree coverage. We hiked it and I noticed that it is a little overgrown but overall a nice trail. With all the rain the trail was muddy and several of the small streams still had water in them. Ticks are bad with the rain and overgrowth so apply your bug spray liberally! 

In addition to the recreation area there is the Mogan Trailhead in the area which is shared with horses. A zip line Eagles Wing and Citgo gas station. Tell City to the south has the usual stores and fast food for any needed amenities, the ranger station is also located there but closed on the weekends.

I spoke with several of the camp hosts and they were very informative about the area and took good care of their areas. They also have the firewood if you need some.

Paynetown SRA is right on Lake Monroe about 10 minutes from Bloomington, IN. Campsites have a gravel parking pad, picnic table, fire-ring, and electrical hookups. Restrooms & showers were about average... not great/not bad. A private company rents kayaks, jet skis, boats, and paddleboards from the camp-store in the SRA. There are beaches, a nature center, & playgrounds, so it seems very family friendly. There's a cool little pizza place right down the road too. This is the perfect place to camp for a weekend of fun on Lake Monroe. It's also only about 20 minutes from Lake Lemon.

We called for reservations less than two weeks in advance, and they only had one site left. If coming from the north-west, try to arrive before dark as the road over the hills to this place is beautiful, but narrow and forested with some trees very close to the roadway. The entrance road to the campground is quite steep. We arrived after the office had closed, so they had left an envelope taped to the door with our name and a map to our site. We were in the full-hookup, back-in RV sites connected with the cabins but they are across the street so they’re not too connected if you don’t know who’s in the cabin nearest you. Most of the other rigs in this row seemed to be long-term. We were on the end opening onto trees and the gravel cul de sac. It’s beautiful.

Pads are gravel and we did need to use several leveling blocks on our site, which made for a doosey of a bottom step into and out of our trailer. This end of the park is very quiet, with dark skies at night for stargazing and lovely field and forest sounds. Even though the office had closed a couple of hours before, the owner Bruce came by after we had set up to make sure we were in ok. Thoughtful!

The “patio” pad for the picnic table is 12” concrete blocks. It was mostly level, but not near the edge near our tow vehicle. Tripped a few times; these blocks should be redone.

We needed some trailer work while we were here, so asked the owner for recommendations. The manager Ed then came by after the guy had come to be sure we were pleased with the recommendation.

Bathrooms were a short walk up the hill to the office. Pretty good, though they often needed supplies restocked.

We would definitely stay here again. We stayed in site 9.

Starve Hollow offers camping from full hookup, electric only (by the lake), tent camping, and cabins.  The lake has a swimming area (no lifeguards), playgrounds, and bathhouse.  The lake allows boats with electric trolling motor only. 

We stayed in the full hookup section (camping facilities: electric, sewer, and water hookup as well as fire ring, picnic table, and parking spur at each site. Modern restrooms/showers(wheelchair accessible) are available nearby. 53 sites available, sites 222, 232, and 234 are wheelchair accessible).  The bathhouse was clean (even though it rained most of the weekend).  these sites are a good size and able to get any size Trailer or RV into these sites.  There is mostly grass on most of the sites in this area.

The campground also offers electric only sites (camping facilities: electric hookup, fire ring, picnic table and parking spur at each site. Drinking water is available in area. Modern restrooms/showers(wheelchair accessible) are available nearby. Dumping station is available. There are 87 sites available. Sites 28, 44, 65, 75 and 90 are wheelchair accessible).  They have about 20 sites that back up right to the lake allowing fishing from your campsite.  Keep in mind that a lot of the electric only sites are very tight with a lot of trees in the area.  I can probably only get my 36 ft 5th wheel into a third of the sites, but there are many of sites that had shorter units on them.   

Cabins:  Starve Hollow has 13 rent-a-camp cabins available March-Nov.(closed Dec.-Feb.)(NOTE: Local sales only during off season/winter months, contact property for details). Each cabin has a front porch with a swing, outside electric outlet and front porch light. Inside there are two small rooms each providing a ceiling fan with light, a heating/cooling unit and electrical outlets. The front room offers a small table with bench seats, corner shelf, chair, rocking chair, and a loft. The back room offers a bunk bed(single) and a double bed(NO LINENS or MATTRESS PROVIDED). Air mattress recommended.

Fishing/Boating Starve-Hollow Lake has three boat ramps to choose from, one at the dam and two in the electric campground. Kayak, rowboat and canoe rental is available. A valid Indiana fishing license is required. Rowboat and canoe rental is available from mid April through October. Starve-Hollow Lake is a trolling motor only lake. For campers a fish cleaning station is available.

Swimming A large beach is available for swimming from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Restrooms, dressing facilities, showers, and food concessions are available to visitors. Wheelchair ramps allow access to beach and concession area.

Picnicking There are picnic areas and picnic shelters that can be reserved. Both shelters can be accessed by wheelchair. The East shelter has an electrical outlet. Picnic tables and grills are located at the picnic sites. A wheelchair accessible playground, basketball goals, softball fields, horseshoe pits and a sand volleyball court are located on or near the swimming beach.

Hiking Trails Starve Hollow has several hiking trails to explore that total approximately 11 miles.

This was a camping weekend. We've camped here before, but many years ago. It was time to go back. 

So, we couldn't remember much about this state park. We were never compelled to go back sooner. Now I remember why. This is a nice park. Not outstanding. Not special. It's just...nice. 

  There's 7 hiking trails. All are nice walks in the woods. All were muddy in sections. There's an old coal mine on Trail 2. Blocked off for safety. 

There's no beach, but they have an enormous pool. It has slides & everything. 

This is a fishing park. Boating with electric motors, so a quiet lake. Fishing was fair according to my fishing guy.

The Nature Center was inexplicably closed "for the season". Disappointing! 

There's many boat launches & picnic areas. Cabins for rent. Boats for rent.

 We stayed at the electric campground. The sites are great- wooded. This is a well established campground. 

The sites are all flat- ALL FLAT!!! No inclined sites at all! Unheard of in an Indiana State Park, but there you go.

There's some train noise.

 The bathrooms/showers are KOA clean. Also unheard of in an Indiana State Park. I couldn't even find a spider web. Kudos to the park employees& camp hosts!

 We had a site by the lake, but there was no lake view & there was a steep incline to get down to the water.

  This campground has a beautiful fishing pier just for campers. 

Bring an extension cord if you're in a pull through. If you want your door facing the fire pit- the electric box is in an awkward place.

 There's also another campground that has a mix of electric/full hookup & non electric sites. They have a beautiful bathhouse. 

All in all a pleasant weekend. We camped at Shakamak State Park in a Travel Trailer.

 Lincoln State Park in Southern Indiana. About as far South as you can go! (In Indiana!). We did a weekend visit.

  150 electric sites. There's 30 & 50 Amp sites with water at each site!

6 handicap sites. There are NO pull through sites. 

 The best sites are by Lake Lincoln- 40 & 41. 39 is ok, but all 3 of these sites are in the sun most of the day. Also, 40 & 41 are not ON the lake. Trail 1 & a wide grassy area are before the water. The only advantage IMO is an unobstructed view of the water & a short walk to the lake. 

The sites seemed short, but people were able to park very large rigs in them. Check the site dimensions before booking or call the office to make sure you'll fit. 

  There's a large primitive campground. They have a modern bath house with showers. Some cabins.

  There's 2 bath houses in the electric side with flush toilets & showers. Very clean for a state park! 

  A double dump station. 

6 trails from easy to moderate. The longest is 3.7 miles. 

  Boating & fishing are popular, but electric motor only. There's boat rental. 

  There's a beach, but closed after Labor Day. The camp store is in the pavilion by the beach & has limited hours after Labor Day. 

  There's a small nature center. 

 Lots of history in the park & in the area. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is directly across the road from the state park

 . Santa Claus Indiana& Holiday World are nearby.

With COVID, it seems that everyone...and then more people are going camping. It's a bittersweet type of situation. Nevertheless, it's been very hard to find decent camping in Indiana that isn't packed in like sardines, while also trying to escape the city and get into nature - not around more people.

Luckily, a friend and I came here last October and this place was great. We got a non electric site and were in the middle of the sites. We had a great lake view and were very happy with our setup. It was a pull-through site, although not all are like that. We were able to set up in no time. 

We had lots of space, away from our neighbors. The campstore had wood and random items that you might need should you forget. We were just steps away from the lake and enjoyed walking down there every morning. There aren't the best hiking trails around, so you'll need to drive to the nearby Brown County or National Forest to hike on trails that are actually worth the time. 

I will add that the setup is a bit odd for non-electric. You basically had to pull up to the gatehouse, get your reservation info, then do a U-turn and go back out past the campstore in order to get to your campground. Very odd setup to say the least.