5 campgrounds with availability next weekend
Lake Monroe Village near Ellettsville houses premium glamping accommodations alongside Yogi Bears at Lake Monroe, both offering experiences beyond traditional camping. Featuring cabins with modern amenities and glamping options, these destinations provide comfort while maintaining a connection to nature. A recent visitor noted, "Great place for friends and families. Tons for both kids and adults. Super close to the lake and really nice facilities all around!" The accommodations include comfortable beds, climate control, and full utilities for a resort-style experience. With 182 year-round sites, Lake Monroe Village blends camping convenience with upscale amenities including showers, electric hookups, and water access, creating an outdoor retreat with hotel-like comforts.
The splash parks and swimming pools at Yogi Bears complement the natural setting of Lake Monroe, creating a balanced glamping experience. One camper highlighted, "We enjoyed our stay and visiting IU in the process. Great location and clean camp ground." Brown County-Nashville KOA, located within driving distance, extends the glamping options with safari-style accommodations from April through November. Fern Hills Club adds another dimension to the area's glamping scene with its unique naturist approach and well-appointed canvas accommodations. Local attractions include hiking in Morgan-Monroe State Forest, water activities on Lake Monroe, and cultural experiences in nearby Bloomington and Nashville. Most glamping sites feature reservable accommodations with picnic areas, fire rings, and market access for supplies, eliminating the need to venture far from your luxury camping home base.
"Site 13 has a little trail that goes down to a large flooded sinkhole behind the campsite. There were lots of tree frogs singing because of the proximity to water."
"Water and bathrooms available. When you arrive set up at your site. Then you will need to go WITH EXACT CHANGE to the sign in at the main building."
from $25 - $55 / night
"Couples and families usually welcome call befour your first visit rentals available
pool could be better nice conversation pool
seasonsl sites available if accepted"
"There are 75 acres of trails to hike on or drive your golf cart on ."
"It was an awesome set up and we had a great time. We went around Halloween time so the kids participated in a costume contest, pumpkin decorating contest, and trick or treat."
"Friendly Staff. Camp site was a pull through so very easy to set up. Was a full hook up site at that. We enjoyed our stay and visiting IU in the process. Great location and clean camp ground."
"Super close to the lake and really nice facilities all around!"
"Close to Lake Monroe. Nice pool. Great people."
"Our Boy Scout troop enjoyed visiting this location. It was well maintained and the staff was helpful."
"Located on Monroe lake, they have canoeing, row boats, sailboats, motor boats, and skiing.
Lots of fun activities to do, and great hiking trails. Their mess hall is top notch."
"Nice quiet secluded lots of nature great atmosphere family friendly"
"This wonderful hidden gem is 14 miles away from McCormick's Creek State Park. It is a DNR state operated and has some pretty cool fishing. It was family-approved by my kin."
from $10 - $30 / night
"We are very close to the Brown County frisbee golf course as well as the brown county state park where mountain biking and hiking is top notch. Yellowwood lake is ~10 minutes away as is Lake Lemon."
"Far enough away from town to be peaceful but close enough to be convenient. Riley has made a great spot to camp and relax."
"Bathrooms/showers are clean. Laundry on site. Small store and library where you can borrow books. Nice dog walk and small fenced dog area. Sites level and good for big rigs down to tents."
"Clean bathrooms and showers. Nice laundromat. Staff was very friendly. Was a little pricey but with water electric sewer and cable hookups and a laundromat. Definitely worth the price."
"They have pull spaces for large motor homes with 50 Amp electric. They also have several nice shower houses and plenty of dumpsters for dumping trash."
"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. "
Available next weekend
from $20 - $1200 / night
"Some staff were good others just okay. The ATV and ropes course on site were excellent! The free bike trails were hard to find. The “lake” was really more like a large pond."
"Full hook-up or water and electric sites, sites are level. Tent sites available. This place has zip-lining, paintball, arrow tag, ATVs, off-road tours, mountain biking, hiking, cabins."
from $15 - $40 / night
ScoutMark & Denise are great camp hosts they care about everyone and will help them if they need it. They do so much for the holidays and have some great times together around the campfires. Will miss them this winter but will be thinking of them during the Army Navy game. (A inside joke lol).
Guide⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our First RV Home Has Been Such a Blessing!
My husband and I absolutely loved our first few months here at Friends O' Mine Campgrounds & Cabins as first-time RV owners with our Class A RV.
We downsized from our 5-bedroom home in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. We sold our home and I followed my Husband back here to Indiana after he received a wonderful career opportunity. My Husband is a Veteran, 🇺🇸 and after moving to Nashville, Indiana, we had immediately fallen in love with this small town - where we respected and admired the way Nashville reminds us of where we had just moved from in Missouri.
We stayed at Grand Wood Suites for six months, after paying for a hotel, all while continuously paying for our two large storage units, as well as our mortgage payment and then rent for most of the beginning of this year; so, we decided to downsize to save money to buy land sooner, instead of continuing to rent. 🏕️ We already loved camping - we started with a pop-up camper on the 🔝 of our Jeep and camped dozens of times, then traded up to a pop-up camper. So we used what we had in savings, bought our Class A RV, donated our pop-up camper, and came to Friends O' Mine - and it was the best decision!
From day one, the other campers have been so friendly, as are the nice employees and amazing owners. They truly make you feel like family. They set up weekly entertainment that brings the whole campground together around the campfire - there is a huge fire in the middle with six porch swings attached to a massive gazebo and veranda surrounding it. It's incredibly cozy and just inviting you to join in.
We've enjoyed live musical singers entertaining us around the campfire all evening, and we were invited to watch a documentary about a local racecar driver in their indoor recreational room, right next to the indoor laundry facilities.
There is also a subterranean pool that my Husband and I enjoyed swimming in almost every day during our first month here - it was very relaxing and refreshing!
One of our favorite parts has been our peaceful, nighttime walks around the large, well-stocked catch-and-release pond. My Husband and I hold hands together and walk around it at sunset almost every evening. It's so serene and calming to hear the sounds of the water and feel the beautiful Autumn breeze.
This has been a very relaxing, enjoyable, and heartwarming experience for us. If you are looking for a clean, friendly, peaceful, and welcoming place to stay - whether for a weekend or for a season - we cannot recommend Friends O' Mine Campgrounds & Cabins enough. We are so grateful we found it!
GuideGreat place to stay. Full hook ups, about 90 percent level sites. 33 RV sites and 3 or 4 primitive camp sites. The main bathhouse is pretty clean, included laundry, and a great host and hostess (Mark and Denise). The only bad is the price hikes here. One would think MWR would throw money towards some things...like a dog park, some leveling, lights at the kids playground, and MWR sponsored and paid for holiday parties/outings for vets, retirees, and all the active here on base. But nope, just collecting revenue without any beanies. Anyway, the host keeps it grounded.
Traveler50A service, no water or sewer at the site. Fill your fresh tank on the way in. There’s a dump station on the property, so emptying on the way out is easy.
Site is mostly level with partial shade. The approach is the one thing to watch: 293 isn’t angled off the road, so it’s a tighter back-in than most. We’re towing a 33’ Airstream Classic and made it first try with no issues, so bigger rigs can absolutely get in here. Just take it slow. Once parked, there’s plenty of room, and the spacing between sites is better than most state park campgrounds we’ve stayed in. Bathhouse is only a few sites down.
Cell signal ran about 2 bars. We’re on Starlink so it didn’t matter, but plan accordingly if you work from the road.
Park staff are the highlight. Stephanie checked us in and could not have been more accommodating. Friendly, quick, genuinely helpful.
GuideThis is a beautiful park with lots of amenities. The sites have paved pads but very few are level - weird. Lake access, wooded and sunny sites.
GuideLevel sites, electric and sewer at each site, clean facilities, camp ground clean. Was quite less the muffled sounds of the gun range for reserve troops training/qualifying. Mark the host was very helpful and inviting. Free laundry facilities. There is no WiFi, cell coverage was good. I used a Starlink and worked great. This RV park is on base and you need verified access. Overall it’s a nice place for the price (stayed 5 days).
LegendMost of the spaces that had both water and electric were mostly in the sun. But all the other spaces had plenty of shade and trees around them. Our space was spot on level and nice area around each space to where you didn’t feel like you were camped on top of other people. The showers were adequate. Great hiking trails in the area. Very quiet. Although we were there on a weekday. One downside was we had Verizon as a cell phone carrier and only had one bar.
TravelerWe had a nice site that was evenly spaced from the other campsites by trees and was nice and close to water, the bathrooms, and the shower houses, which were very clean! The camp store was nice and the paddle boats were fun! The pool was only opened on the weekends in August which was disappointing but there was a large fishing dock and many boating opportunities. Very nice camping spot, but in August beware of the bugs!
TravelerVery nice campground, full hookup up, helpful staff. Small pool with limited hours. Camp store. Very close to Brown County State Park and Nashville, IN. Lots of mature trees.
Morgan-Monroe State Forest offers year-round primitive camping for those seeking alternatives to glamping in Ellettsville, Indiana. Located about 12 miles northeast of Ellettsville, the forest features basic camping with vault toilets and outdoor sinks. Sites are typically shaded with trees and remain available even during peak season when other campgrounds fill up.
Hiking through mixed forests: Morgan-Monroe State Forest maintains multiple trails ranging from short walks to challenging treks. "This is the best camping within an hour on Indianapolis and if your looking for free and solitary sites try the backwoods camping area for the low gap trail theres a parking lot there," notes Sars C. from Morgan-Monroe State Forest.
Fishing at multiple lakes: Shakamak State Park provides access to three lakes spanning 400 acres. "This is a fishing park. Boating with electric motors, so a quiet lake. Fishing was fair according to my fishing guy," reports one visitor. The park includes several boat launches and rentals for those without their own equipment.
Mountain biking near Brown County: For those wanting more adventurous activities beyond glamping accommodations in Ellettsville, Indiana, eXplore Brown County offers extensive options. "This place has zip-lining, paintball, arrow tag, ATVs, off-road tours, mountain biking, hiking, cabins," explains Georgeann D.
Natural water features: Many campsites provide direct access to water. "Mason Ridge Campground has vault toilets and drinking water available. There are outdoor sinks at the drinking water stations. Site 13 has a little trail that goes down to a large flooded sinkhole behind the campsite. There were lots of tree frogs singing because of the proximity to water," shares Daisy C.
Level camping surfaces: Unlike some Indiana parks with sloped sites, Shakamak State Park Campground offers remarkably flat camping areas. "The sites are all flat- ALL FLAT!!! No inclined sites at all! Unheard of in an Indiana State Park, but there you go," notes Cynthia K. The park also maintains "KOA clean" bathrooms and showers.
Privacy between sites: For upscale camping near Ellettsville, Indiana, the wooded sites provide natural separation. "We had a nice site that was evenly spaced from the other campsites by trees and was nice and close to water, the bathrooms, and the shower houses," explains Lauren E. about Shakamak State Park.
Limited RV accessibility: Large rigs face challenges at certain campgrounds. "We are RV campers and there are only about 5 sites we could get in to. Our camper is about 25' and it was tight get in and out of the campground," warns Ron H. about Morgan-Monroe State Forest.
Bathhouse conditions vary: While some parks maintain excellent facilities, others need updates. At Ransburg Scout Reservation, "The mess hall is top notch. We have camped here in a cabin, and also tent camped. Beautiful grounds and a great place to enjoy nature," says Margo B.
Payment procedures: Some campgrounds require specific payment methods. "When you arrive set up at your site. Then you will need to go WITH EXACT CHANGE to the sign in at the main building. It's easy, there is a little box on the side of the firewood shed," explains Rob R. about Morgan-Monroe.
Water activities for different ages: Yogi Bears at Lake Monroe caters specifically to families with varied water recreation. "It is definitely for kids. They have a huge splash park, wading pool for toddlers, and a 4 foot pool besides tons of interactive activities for kids," writes Pamela H.
Age-appropriate activities: Different campgrounds target specific age groups. "Nice family campground overall, but really geared toward the 8 and under crowd. The splash park was fun, even for the teen kids, but the pool was tiny and shallow and disappointing," notes Joe M.
Playground options: When considering glamping options near Ellettsville, Indiana, assess recreational facilities for children. "There is a playground at the entrance of Mason Ridge campground and a fire tower," mentions Ginger T. Other campgrounds offer varying playground quality, with some featuring newer equipment while others maintain older structures.
Hookup placement: Consider RV door placement when selecting sites. "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," advises Cynthia K. about Shakamak State Park.
Leveling requirements: Site surfaces may require additional equipment. "Most of the spaces that had both water and electric were mostly in the sun. But all the other spaces had plenty of shade and trees around them. Our space was spot on level and nice area around each space," reports Lisa M.
Dump station access: Some facilities present challenges for larger RVs. At Brown County-Nashville KOA, visitors note varying site quality. "Sites are level and good for big rigs down to tents," explains Cherie B., while at Morgan-Monroe, one camper mentioned "the dump station hose did not have a connection to allow me to flush the blackwater holding tank."
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Ellettsville, IN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Ellettsville, IN is Oak Ridge Camping Area — Morgan-Monroe State Forest with a 4.1-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Ellettsville, IN?
TheDyrt.com has all 27 glamping camping locations near Ellettsville, IN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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