Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Terre Haute, IN

This campground is great proximity to I-70 for an easy on/off the interstate and just outside of downtown Terre Haute (approximately eight miles). The park is nice and shady with large trees. When we were there in November, there were very few other campers and most appeared to be transients there for just one night. With all the amenities in this place there is probably a lot going on in the summer. Downtown Terre Haute has plenty of activities including live music, sporting events, museums, restaurants, and historic sites.

RV sites are pull thrus and back-ins that vary from 50 amp full hook-up with deluxe patio to 30 amp water/electric. All sites were level. There are definitely sites big enough for big-rigs with tow vehicles so you don’t have to unhook if you are just stopping for a night. Water, sewer and electric hook-ups were well-placed and easy to reach. In addition to the RV sites, there are kamping cabins with deluxe accommodations (including air conditioning, kitchens, and bathrooms) capable of sleeping up to 6 people to rustic cabins without bathrooms. Tent sites are available as is a “teepee.”

Amenities at the park include: swimming pool, camp store (with fire wood), full service restaurant (May – November), propane fill, bike rental, basketball courts, playground, horseshoes, petting zoo, and coin laundry. The restroom and shower house was clean. There is a dump station located at the exit of the park. Our Verizon 4G phone and hotpsot had great service. Our antenna picked up about two dozen television channels

If you have a dog, there is an off-leash dog park and you are free to walk dogs around the property and there is a long road leading into park. The only problem we had with the park was that some of the trees were not trimmed and the roads where narrow and would rub against our RV.

The center piece of Lieber State Recreation Area is the 1,400 acre Cagles Mill Lake. This is a flood control reservoir that is popular for pleasure boating, small house boats and sport fishing. Nearby attractions include the beautiful Cataract Falls. The campground consists of 115 Class A(electric only) and 94 Class B campsites with most tucked under hardwood and pine tree canopy. The campground features include a camp store for basic needs; firewood, ice, sundries and boat rental plus a recently updated dump station and potable water access area and clean comfort stations. Electric service is 30 amp only. Plenty of spots for larger rigs and many are fairly level with asphalt pads. The park offers a seasonal aquatic center with a zero entrance pool and water slide, a nature center with interpretive naturalist program, numerous shelters, playgrounds and picnic areas. Boating is the focus...but the camping is nice too! Easy access location just 3 miles south of Interstate I-70 on IN-243, 40 miles West of Indianapolis, 35 miles East of Terre Haute. Reservations recommended on summer weekends; reserveamerica.com

We were so fortunate to have found The Retreat at Hickory Hills and stay there for a month! There’s two pools, a pickle ball court, a basketball half court, farm animals, golf cart trails, kayak/canoe/row boats, exploring creeks, fishing, a dog park, several playgrounds, Gaga ball, tether ball, volleyball, frisbee golf and several weekend activities for everyone. Saturday mornings were our favorite where we could get biscuits and gravy, coffee and the kids had craft time. It’s definitely worth bringing mountain bikes or renting their golf carts to explore their golf cart trails! We went out on these several times and it never got old! Staff and campers were welcoming and friendly. We still haven’t stopped talking about how CLEAN they keep everything. The sites were large and they’re still expanding and adding more sites. There’s a seasonal campers area and an overnight or monthly area. We stayed in the overnight/monthly area. It was peaceful and relaxing throughout the week and lively during the weekend. It was a wonderful balance!! We’ll definitely be back.

Cost was$60 a night for a full hook up site. You pay for your whole site cost at the time of the reservation. Most sites are gravel. The campground had WIFI that was fast enough to stream. When I made our reservation, they were given the type and size of our RV and truck. When we arrived, we were told that we would not be able to get into that site due to the turns(too tight). They were able to move us to another site. What was the purpose of asking at reservation time the information about our RV and truck if you are not going to use it? We had to unhook and was not able to park our truck on our site. We had to leave it in the parking lot. There is only water hooks on every other site so depending what site you get, you might have to run your water hose under your RV to hook up. Sites are very close together. I would concern if our neighbor had a fire in their fire pit as it was under our bedroom slide. Our firepit had cigarette butts in it. There is an enclosed dog park. Many areas for children to play– bounce pillow, playground, gem mining, etc. I would not stay here again as they cannot handle large RVs and the sites are too close together. Due to the small site, as we were hooking up to leave, we blocked the road. This meant others had to drive through other sites to get around.