Potato Creek State Park Campground

Great for camper camping and day visits. They have hiking trails and boating and fishing.

Well run state park. Set up well for family visits

We spend a weekend at Potato Creek State Park. It's about 2.5 hr drive from Chicago, so we decided to give it a try. Campsites are nice, but you literally can see and hear everything your neighbor is doing. Restrooms are clean. Well maintained. Tons of biking and hiking trails. No swimming in the lake, old boats for rent, if you are lucky, and come in the morning, you will get a 15 mph motor, otherwise paddles. I assume you can bring your own kayak or canoe. Lake has a sandy beach, but warnings about no swimming. One of those overcrowded places. Lot's of wetlands to see wildlife, mainly birds. and mosquitoes. Probably will not be going there again. Little boring. We enjoyed it more on a Sunday evening, when everyone left, and we had the whole campground to ourselves. It was nice not hear people, but the sounds of nature. 

Well Groomed, Not Much Privacy 

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!

Family favorite

took my son on a father son camping trip! normaly i would bring my 32 foot camper but we roughed it for the weekend and tent camped. sites were smooth and level and well taken care of. lots of nice walking and biking trails and a big electric motor only fishing lake and nice beach.

great state park with lots to offer

We love camping here. Lots of sites to choose from. Enjoy kayaking, fishing and the bycicle trails.

Great place

Always enjoy our stay here. The grounds are always well kept. Love how far back the campgrounds are from the main entrance. Bike paths and walking paths maintained nicely. Full park is very well kept and manicured well. The only thing is restrooms....cleaned but not spotless like some others. They are heavily used so not really an issue, mainly old and tired. Time to upgrade! Not an issue for us, but should be redone soon in our opinion. 

Potato Creek review 

Nice lake for boating and fishing, great for bike riding. Campsites have really nice fire ring with grates for cooking as well as picnic tables.

Great weekend, Kayaking & bike riding 

Hiking, biking swimming, fishing, what more could you ask for. We love it here

One of our favorite State Parks

Variety of hikes can be done here through wooded areas, wetlands, and prairies. You can rent boats or bikes. Lots of bike trails. Canoeing the lake is very enjoyable too and reasonable prices ($20 for the day). The campground is pretty open, not much/any buffer between campsites, but they are large sites. Nature center is very nice for young kids.

Open campsites but nice area

We have visited this campground twice now. The first time we stayed in one of the cabins. The cabins are large, bathroom was very clean, large screened in porch. Only con was that the cabins all share one large firepit. 
This past weekend we stayed in a camper. The sites were a nice size. Clean sites. Bathrooms were decent for a campground in my opinion. The kids had a great time riding bikes, playing on multiple playgrounds, and playing in the lake all day. 

Great Family Camground

Campground= 4 stars; check-in= 2 stars. Very large campground with close to 300 sites plus a horse camp and about 20 cabins. We picked this park solely because it was convenient to our next destination, so we were not concerned with amenities. We did not make a reservation because I really do not want to pay the extra fee if it is not necessary. Upon arrival, we paid the $9 entrance fee ($7 for Indiana residents) and drove the 3 miles to the campground office. Somewhat surprised to find both staffed at 6 pm on a Thursday after Labor Day. We were told to drive around and pick several desired sites as they could not tell us which ones still had people due to arrive that night who had reserved. Huh?? So, we drove around two of the five loops and picked half a dozen sites that would be suitable. But that’s where the fun began- not! There seemed to be some computer glitch in that every site we asked about showed as not available, even though more than half the sites were empty. Eventually, we were told to just go to one of the sites we picked and set up and that a security guard would come and collect our money. Eventually, at just before 9 pm, the security guard did come and told us the glitch had been fixed and asked that we come to the office and register. The glitch was not fixed! But we paid our fee and were able to stay the night and the staff was very apologetic. 

  

There is no differentiation between RV and tent sites (the only one that is separate is the horse camp). The E Loop seemed to be the most crowded, mostly with RVs. The sites in the D Loop were spaced a decent amount of distance apart but other than that, there was no real privacy between them. This was not a problem because the loop had many empty sites and we were able to easily find one that had an empty one on either side of us. There are paths to the beach accessible from the D and E loops but note the beach is only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. There is no longer a dog beach at Potato Creek. There is a general store(open until 8 pm) and bike rentals which, if we were going to stay longer, we might have taken advantage of. There are boat rentals in season. Several trails and playgrounds so I imagine that in the summer, this is a nice family campground (even the name is Family campground). 

  

The mosquitos were vicious, likely worse due to the amount of rain the area has had this year. Bathrooms were very clean and there was hot water, a nice luxury but you have to be careful not to bump your head on the shelf over the sink when washing your face. Didn’t use them but there were also showers. 

  

The check-in process notwithstanding, our stay was fine for the night.

Campground=4 stars; check-in=2 stars

The campground is huge, but we have never felt crowded.  There is a nice prairie area to walk around in, and an easy to ride pave bike trail.  We watched the osprey nest one year for several hours.  We have not yet had a kayak out on the lake, but the lake is big. The bathrooms have always been clean, and the campground hosts friendly.  The sites vary in size and slope, so research and prepare for anything.  But all of the sites are manageable.  South Bend is close by if you want to adventure in.

This is our favorite State Park campground

The park itself is rather large, and the camping area is pretty expansive as well. Bathrooms are cleanish…but they start getting a little wild as the weekend wears on. Perpetual mud and slop from the showers, but functional. The sites are roomy enough but they are a little close together. Some sites are shaded, some are open…hard to tell when booking. Not many trees to set up a hammock on site. General store was well stocked and the staff across the board were very helpful. 

Big, clean and plenty to do

I took my son for a quick trip, but the camp grounds were full, so we made a day of hiking, biking and fishing…of course we had a picnic, too.  The trail head near the fishing dock was the perfect place to park.  It allowed hiking one way and biking the other.  The trails were very well maintained, wide and shaded for a hot midsummer day.  The picnic areas were clean and spread out all over the park, as well as the restrooms.  The fishing dock was crowded, but being a clear summer day, it’s to be expected.  We just made our way around the bank and dropped a line.  The water was beautiful!  Folks were kayaking, canoeing and paddle boating all over.  The staff were very pleasant and helpful, too.  All in all, a great visit.  Will definitely be back to pop a tent now that we know the area!

Great place close to home

Amazing place. So much space. Great bathrooms and amenities. So much nature. Loved our stay here. 

Massive campground

We love Potato Creek! The paved bike trails are amazing. The sites are large and private. There are great and there is a good selection between shaded and sunny. 
With a selection of fun things to do (bike and boat rentals, hiking trails, a wonderful nature center, playgrounds) our family never runs out of things to do here. 

One of Our Favorites!

Our first time here with our pop-up. It's a beautiful park. So much nature to explore, so we'll have to come back again. Note that my four star rating is based on five stars being perfection, so I would still definitely recommend it.

  

Our site was purposely located close to a bathhouse, but was not too close to have any bothersome noises. The bathhouse was a bit dated, but pretty clean. Individual stall showers with inner and outer curtains. Curtains could have been a bit longer, because the inner one allowed lots of spray into the outer "dry" part of the stall.

  

Great playground on the east side of the first loop. Kids seem to play there for hours and enjoy riding bikes around the loops. Very well manicured grounds, including paths from the sites to the bathhouse.

  

Nice little store that had a little bit of everything attendants were friendly. Firewood available. Cheaper outside the park, but don't mind supporting the park. Was open till 9PM even on Sunday.

  

Beach was small, but seems adequate for the number of people there. Could use a little sand cleaning, but not bad. Swimming area roped off to keep boats out. Bathrooms have showers.

  

Already planning our next visit!

1st time, will definitely be back.

We wanted to explore the “RV Capital of the World” and Notre Dame University while passing through. This park fit the bill. Arrived Thursday with the campground maybe 25% full. By Friday night it was full!  Great spacing between sites and offers miles of hiking and biking trails. 
Verizon signal essentially nonexistent, but air TV reception not bad. 
Fresh water fill and dump stations were the best we’ve seen anywhere. 