Best Tent Camping near South Bend, IN

My wife and I come here every year since purchasing our travel trailer. We recommend securing a spot in the back sites 230-287 for larger lots and quieter atmosphere. Younger families tend to book up front near the playground and the noise and activities are more robust. Be ready with back up cords, some sites require 75 ft to hook up. With dog friendly beaches, beginner MTB trails and paved bike paths, this checks all our boxes. Natural wetlands abound, so definitely bring the mosquito spray. Typical Indiana Campground with basic amenities, older comfort stations and spotty WIFI. I like unplugging but sometimes work demands I respond promptly. Not too far from South Bend for city amenities, restaurants and supplies. Takes 10-15 mins to drive out of campground, so keep this in mind. Definitely keep coming back!

Stayed in site 43 of the Douglas loop. Douglas loop is all non electric.

Our site was big enough for our tents, a picnic table and fire ring. The bathrooms/showers are really close by which is nice but you do get the lights from the bathroom facing site 43. Not a big deal but if you’re looking for more darkness then definitely choose one of the other sites around 43.

All parking sites are paved for camper vans/trailers but no water or power hookups. All sites have nice huge tent pads that are nice and level. Only noise we heard was the train every now and then.

The showers are individual rooms separate from the bathrooms. And there’s a gas station and liquor store near the entrance of the campground for fire wood and beer.

I didn’t get to stay in the walk in campsites but they are very nice and close-ish to the showers.

We pulled in around 4:30 in the evening. The sight was spacious with plenty of room in between sites. Since the weather was cooler , it was pretty sparse with other campers. We stayed 2 nights over the weekend. You are within walking distance to the beach within the park. The buildings have great architecture. The sight had 50 amp electric hook ups but no water or sewer connections, and we knew that going in. We had a back in sight #69. There was plenty of space on all sides. We have a 37’ motorhome and pulled a Jeep behind it. There was plenty of room to maneuver around. The sight also had a wood picnic table and fire ring for a wood fire pit. We will definitely be back! I wish I had taken more photos from the beach and beach pavilion.

Twin Mills is a really beautiful and quiet RV Campground, with tall trees in Northern Indiana. We frequent this location when getting RV Repairs and visiting Elkhart, the birth place of most RVs.

There are cabins and tent sites and a large lake access point with a beach area. The playgrounds seemed to be in good shape and the dumpsters were centrally located.

The park has a gate entrance for security.

There is a large pool area and basketball court.

There are several sections in the park, some more wooded and narrow sites, some are more spread out.

Cellular: T-Mobile had good signal strength and bandwidth, AT&T was not as good but still doable.

Most of the sites are full hook up, some have 30amp and some have 50amp.

Amenities: Pool Clubhouse Basketball Volleyball Picnic tables Fire rings Trash Playground Lake access Beach area Dock Cabins Tent sites

Great campground. Better cared for than a State Park and better accommodations, too. Newish shower house with 6 uni-sex showers (all with their own locking doors). Water mechanisms on several made hot water a little tricky… test before you undress haha. If 5+ showers are in use, don't count on much hot water.

Very friendly operators and employees. Genuinely interested in how you're doing. Above average camp store and they even deliver your firewood order to your site for you ($7 for a 15"x15"ish bundle).

Beach access is easy and the beach is nice. On the cooler week we were there, would only see one or two other people out if any, but when school gets out mid-June, sounds like it gets busier. Our Monday-Friday stay saw us as the only tent campers which was great. Our kids enjoyed the playground and we made use of the grills by the picnic shelter a few times.

All tent sites (except for T12) are walk in (but most are only 100-300 feet).

Tent Sites 1, 2, 3, 11 and 12 as well as the group site are on their own away from the main loops. They are served by a flush toilet with running (cold) water. Or you can make the slightly longer walk to the shower house.

Tent 1 is 100 foot walk, small site, easily visible from T-2 and 3 as well as the group site.

Tent 2 is medium sized, across from T-3 and visible from T-1 and T-3. 

Tent 3 is large. Slightly overlooks the group site and can see T-1 and T-2.

Tent 4 is large, but almost totally isolated. It's surrounded by hills (although T-5 is on one of those hills so could overlook it. Long walk to bathroom.

Tent 5 overlooks 4 a little and is a medium sized site. Also long walk to bathroom.

Tent 6 is elevated above everything so overlooks T-5, T-7 and the RV loop. It's a huge site with nothing but nature around and above you. Long walk to bathroom.

Tent 7 shortest walk to car parking, but surrounded by other sites. Access to other sites runs through site as well.

Tent 8 and 9 are basically one large site with two tables and fire rings. Requires a walk up several flights of stairs, but puts you on top of a bluff that, without trees, would give you a view of the lake. They charge a premium for these sites.

Tent 11 is probably the longest walk… you walk past T-1,2,3, then up 70 steps to the top of a ridge. You cannot see or be seen and the picnic table is covered with a shelter. Not a ton of space, but a great site for a lite packer.

Tent 12 is a drive in site right next to the bathroom and the main drive into the campground.

We were pleasantly surprised and, outside of a cold shower or two, never disappointed in our stay.

We wanted to stay at Warren Dunes State Park, but I think this discovery was a better choice. A clean and friendly municipal campground on the St. Joseph River. The grounds are mostly open with little shade, but we had a tent site by the river and trees. What impressed me most was that they have a building specifically for cleaning fish, with scales, cutting boards and sinks. Another nice feature is the outdoor sink at the shower & restroom building for campers to wash dishes. As tent campers I wish more places had a set up like that. There’s a large stack of firewood, so it’s easy to get a bundle that’s good and dry. We did go to Warren Dunes for an afternoon. It’s busy and crowded. If you go to the beach, be aware there’s very little shade. North of there is Grand Mere State Park, which is better for hiking. In Berrien Springs, check out Zick’s specialty meats across the river from the camp.

We stayed in the semi modern sites, which was tents and no RVs nearby, which was good. That was about it. The Interstate was directly behind the sites, so the highway traffic noise took away from the feeling you want when camping, that off the grid feeling.

The site was clean, picnic table and fire ring. There was a water spigot close by too. We did some short hiking to sand dunes which was really cool. Nice paths lead to beautiful sunset over dunes.

Upon returning from the hike, we set up camp. That's when we found the ticks. We found probably 10 on our dog, several on us. The couple next to our site was struggling with ticks also, and they hadn't hiked, so makes me think they were from the campground. (We stayed ON the trail carefully while hiking). We've camped a lot and never dealt with this many ticks.

We actually ended up bailing due to how many were on us all. Spent the next 24 hours picking them off everyone in our family at home. Not good. We know it's a fact of life, but this place was infested. Bummer of a trip.