Best Dog-Friendly Camping near West Lafayette, IN

This campground is a great place for families and pets.

We camped in the electric part of the park. During our stay we enjoyed the hiking opportunities for us and our dogs.

There were children involved in bike riding and playing at the playground every day and activities like the park Challenge to explore the park in a guided way, looking for local animals and skeletal remains.

Yu can also fish, canoe, Kayak or tube on the Tippecanoe River.

The Comfort Buildings were well lit and clean. They were also well stocked.

There was a horse camp available as well as youth tenting and cabins to rent.

This is a great State Park with more things to offer in addition to the ones mentioned above. We will definitely be back.Check it out for yourself soon!

Turkey Run is my all time favorite State Park in Indiana. It has great camping with both reserved and walk up options (get there early for walk up options). Reservations can be made here: https://indianastateparks.reserveamerica.com/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=IN&parkId=570032&ltcmp=177360&ltclickid=03_51015144_cfbb0fa2-9eb5-41c1-bcb2-f620d18c259e

The campgrounds have modern facilities including showers. Dogs are allowed. We love the hiking trails. The extra bonus for us was to do a covered bridge driving tour!

We heard a lot of good things recently about this park. We had no idea it was so close to us too. We packed up the dogs and headed to France Park for a full day of exploring, followed by staying at a primitive campsite.

We took two vehicles since we wanted to leave one at our campsite. Some sites are clustered together, however we lucked out and got one along the fishing lake with no nearby neighbors.

The quarry, wow! It was beyond stunning and never what I expected to see in an Indiana park. We had an amazing hike, checking out the quarry. We ventured out on one more trail and saw the waterfall but headed to our site to set up camp afterwards.

Park was quiet at night for the most part. The RV area isn’t too far away and sound does travel. Lots of people drive golf carts out there. At night you can hear the major highway too, but it didn’t stop us from having a good time.

We will definitely be going back again.

Turkey Run is arguably the most popular campground (and state park) in Indiana and has its pros and cons.

It is definitely designed to accommodate RVs, as the majority of the sites are situated in an open field. There are a few dozen sites that are in “loops” that are situated in shaded areas. Some camp sites have zero privacy while others have a little. Either way, if you’re here on a weekend, you’ll definitely have neighbors close by. You can see the entire campground via google maps street view, just FYI

This is a very family friendly campground and you will see lots of kids on bicycles flying around. I’ve stayed here a few times, and no matter the day of the week or the time of year, there are always lots of kids.

This campground has a raccoon “problem” due to campers having poor camp etiquette and feeding them. They come out of the woods towards dusk looking for food. They will come right up to you without hesitation, so don’t be alarmed if there’s one next to you while you cook s’mores over your fire (ask me how I know, hah). They will take any food that is left out. Do not turn your back to your dinner table at any time if there’s food out.

On my last visit to turkey run (I’ve camped here 3 or 4 times) I arrived to my campsite and someone had left dog food out for the raccoons in little piles all over the place which was super disappointing. Additionally, my neighbors didn’t put their campfire out when they packed up and left.

Perhaps I’m just used to camping in other areas where you have to worry about bears and burning the forests down…But campers here just aren’t as mindful or respectful of the campground.

The restrooms and showers (at least the one I use at this campground) is modernized and cleaned daily but there’s no dish pit/wash room available if you cook. Just be prepared to clean up accordingly and put trash in trash receptacles. There are a few vault toilets in the campground as well.

You can hike from the CG into the state park (highly recommend. It’s gorgeous!) just wear shoes that youre willing to get wet.

Overall, it’s a beautiful state park with a conveniently located campground. It’s not the best campground ever but for Indiana standards, it’s great. Even with my complaints, I always return because I enjoy visiting and hiking through the state park.

I learned of this place through the Dyrt (thank you!) and knew I wanted to stay here! There are several options available: tent camping (including a tree tent!), RV camping (two with electric hookups), and a 170-year-old log cabin. If you are RV camping, there are two very clean, private, and fully stocked "outhouses" (see photo below)

We originally planned to camp in our van but with below-freezing temperatures and a forecasted snowstorm, we decided to take refuge in the log cabin. To call this a log cabin is a disservice; yes, it is made from logs(and is 170 years old) but I was expecting a tiny one-room cabin; instead it is a two-story cozy home that can sleep up to six people, all in one upstairs room (two full-size beds and two twin beds; would be great for families). It was cozy and warm, heated by a gas stove. The bathroom (with a shower) is accessed from just outside the back door but is heated. The kitchen is an outdoor grill and picnic table, but we did not use this. 

Tim and Beth were very welcoming, as was Juno, their dog. We enjoyed helping to feed the Alpacas– they have over 50. The rooster crowed gustily at dawn (but dawn was after 7 am and we were already awake). Also on the farm is Stormy, the horse, chickens, and some barn cats. There is a shop that sells goods made from Alpaca wool and we made sure to visit before departing. 

Staying here was truly special and we hope to return to camp in one of the RV spots or the tree tent in the future.