Cecil M Harden Lake Raccoon State Recreation Area

Super easy reservations online, and if it’s a weekday or a Sunday you could likely just roll up. $16/night for a tent site plus $9 out of state car fee. Security is at the main gate until midnight so later check-ins are possible. Great set-up after driving 11+ hours!

On an east/west trip and only had an overnight here. Campground is well maintained. Bathhouse clean, plenty of showers, flush toilets. Will need to fill your water holding tank as sites only have electric. Most sites are very spacious. Only negative was our site description and picture. Described the pad as level when it was actually about a 30% grade. We are camping in a truck camper and had planned to leave the camper on the truck but had to take it off to get level. And said the “yard” was grassy but it was only dirt which then became muddy after a bad storm. Great areas to walk your dog. We would definitely stop again but pick a different site. Camp store and ice, other items sold.

This whole campground facility is top notch! Wow. I’m speechless. The wooded walking trail all around is beautiful. Highly recommend early Fall!

     We last visited in 2014 & not much has changed. This is a good base camp for visiting the covered bridges. The DNR office in the park has lots of area info, I got a map of where the bridges are & we were set! 

     The bathrooms are typical state park. They look like they were updated in the last 15 years, but are state park clean( which means surface it looks ok, but needs a deep clean). There are pit toilets scattered around the campground too, which were pretty good according to my husband. 

     The hikes are really run down. They need to start maintaining them better. Lots of erosion & broken slats on the bridges. Signage was ok, but I was let down a couple of times. Trail one has scenic overlooks & vistas, but none of them are signed if you're on trail.

    This campground has a reputation as being a big party place. That might be true, but we were on the far end of White tail loop & noise was moderate on Friday & Saturday. 

 There's plenty of sites that have a VERY bad incline. Bring extra levelers. People were complaining on Facebook that the site descriptions have the inclines wrong.

   White tail loop is where we camped the last time too. We looked at the other loops & I marked down a few I thought were pretty good. White tail: Site 130/145 are somewhat secluded & large. There's a bad incline on 145 though.

  Sites 135/136/137/138 are paved & relatively flat. 139 is paved. 140 has a nicer view of the lake, but to get to it you have to walk. There's a trail from the campsite.

 These sites are at the end of the loop & there's a walk to get to the bathrooms. There's also a large playground here, which gets loud during the day. 

   There's an overflow site 141 that's not marked on the reservation map. It stayed empty the whole weekend we were there. There's a trail from this site leading to the lake. Be prepared for the rest of White tail campers to use this site to access the lake & trail 4. There was a constant stream of people while we were there. They don't think anything about walking through site 140 either. Very annoying! 

Lakeview is the nonelectric side. The vegetation was covering the view of most sites. Sites 93/94/99/102 looked like sites with a view of the water. I only saw access to the lake from 102. 

 Songbird I only wrote down site 8 as being level& by the bathroom. 

 Hideaway looked nice & it's a small loop.

Primitive sites are very nice. We had a fairly quiet weekend. The raccoons definitely are active so make sure you lock it all up at night. The water was breathtaking and very calm even with all of the boat activity.

This is a really nice state park but very crowded and noisy. There are multiple boat ramps for easy access to the water. I met a friend there who is a resident of Indianapolis and we had a great time on the water. They have boat slips for rent during your stay so that you can leave your boat in the water for the duration of your stay and avoid having to take it out every night. Nice. There is a paved walking/biking path between the different areas of the park. Believe it or not, there are a lot of racoons there so be careful with your stuff. My site was on a ridge next to the main road coming into the camping area. The amount of traffic was insane.  The main bathrooms get a grade of A..  They also have additional vault toilets dispersed in the campground with only screen doors on them. Really????

Paved walking trails. Friendly people can book 6 mo. In advance.

We stayed for the 3 days after Labor Day and the campground was immaculate. No trash from previous campers at the campsites and the restrooms were spotless.

My wife our dogs and I camped here from 08/20/21- 08/22/21 camping in a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108 TB. The campground had a nice playground and we really enjoyed the area.

Love this clean and quite campground. It has a clean lake and clean restrooms.

It is a lovely park. Especially if you have a boat. They have a separate swimming area its kinda like its own cove. They have a camp store that is okay. They dont have much to choose from but there is a DG just down the road. Excellent fishing and fun trails to explore. The adorable raccoons are everywhere. They are like a little gang of bandits- they even steal food and drinks out of the cooler. The deer are around to greet you as well. Remember do not feed the critters... If possible.

A friend and I came here with her pop-up tent for a random weekend in 2020 when the weather was absolutely perfect for camping - in the 70s the entire trip. 

We arrived and were shocked to see that our site was basically on top of our neighbor's and it was not flat at all. Luckily, we weren't tent camping or it would've been a disaster. 

We did have some lake views, although we were in the middle of the road so we didn't have our own private space like other sites did. We were in the non-electric area, but did have modern restrooms.

The restrooms were kept very clean and smelled of bleach at all times (a good thing during COVID). There is also a hiking trail that goes near the lake that is very close to the campground, so good access point for hikers. 

One thing to note is how close the sites are to each other, especially for those in the electric areas. It was as if it was a little city with how many people/campers/RVs/campers there were. I wasn't a fan.

One of the best state park campgrounds I've grown to love with beautiful views, hiking, and boating

We stayed in site 93 in the lake view area. The campsite itself was large and clean. The bathrooms were clean and fairly close to the campsite. The “lakeview” title is a bit misleading as there is a view of the lake but it is largely covered by trees. Wish there was a park ranger presence there to ask loud guests to keep it down past quiet hours, but never saw a ranger the entire time. There was a trail that led down to the lake but it was steep and a bit hard to maneuver. If there was an access set of steps to get to the lake it would be much nicer for guests with limited mobility. Over all we would stay here again.

I loved this camp ground, there was a beach which was nice and a building to get food. They have a basketball court, and a few trails. We stayed Thurs thru Sunday and had a very nice time.

We really enjoyed our visit to Raccoon Lake. Plenty of places to hike, awesome beach, clean restrooms. No cell service but who needs it!

This place is so beautiful! We stayed in the hideaway loop and it was perfect. Lots of wildlife, so pack your food up right. The hiking trails were pretty, not very rugged. Scenery was nice on the trails.

Very nice camping. Lots to do.

Overall, a very nice campground. I grew up just 30 minutes away from here and recently just visited for the first time. Nice camp sites and friendly staff. My only reason for not giving 5 stars is the bathrooms are nice, but not air conditioned.

Raccoon State Recreation Area | Cecil M Harden Lake is located in the heart of historic covered bridge country just 50 miles West of Indianapolis. The campground is surrounded by the 2,060 acre Cecil M Harden reservoir offering boating (boat rental), fishing and a large swimming beach with concessions and amenities. The campground is extremely well maintained with many sites sheltered by tree canopy ranging from non-electric, 30 amp, to 50 amp. Fresh water is available at fill stations and a spacious dump station area make for easy disposal. Many of the sites are not level so chose wisely to suit your needs. Easy beach access from the campground via a paved walk/bike path, well stocked camp store at the entrance to the campground, well maintained bath house facilities, active interpretive Naturalist programs, and numerous hiking trail opportunities round out the amenities. This is a beautiful campground; and if you like to explore...take a drive through the area and enjoy the many historic towns, covered bridges and roller mills throughout the county.

Great place to camp, can be flooded at times, some of the sites have a huge inclines or declines, allot of sites reserved way in advanced. There is a few pull throughs, no water hook ups at site.

Be prepared for the Raccoons and tons of fun! Beautiful lake with several nearby places to rent boat's! Beautiful, peaceful campsites with a lot of shade!

We had an amazing weekend camping at one of the non-electric sites. Our site was right next to the lake, which was awesome for the kids. The grounds were very clean and the sites had plenty of space. The only drawback for us was having one shower stall available in the Men's and Women's restrooms in the non-electric area.

Well-maintained campground! The restroom/shower facilities are clean and well lit. Campsites are nicely wooded and spacious. Most are very unlevel though - so bring ALL your blocks! 😜 Good hiking and a fun and clean sandy beach. Also a nice biking/walking trail. For those with boats, this is a nice sized lake with easy access too!

Great visit when boating is your main objective!

Campgrounds were very clean, plenty to do, playsets for kids and the lake right with everything! I would I highly suggest this, especially to any boater campers

Great campground, clean and nice sites! There is plenty to do, and the lake it one of my favorites! plenty of boat ramps for access and great environment all around

Racoon Lake was an awesome experince. We rented a pontoon boat while we were there and went tubing up and down the lake. It was a clean campground as well. The views were absolutely stunning.

Bathroom facilities are very clean, new bike, walking, rollerblading path. Beach is large and clean. We go every year and love it!

We love camping here! Lots to do. Love the archery range.