Best Dispersed Camping near Rough River Lake

Dispersed Camping Reviews near Rough River Lake

7 Reviews of 4 Rough River Lake Campgrounds

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  Jaymi A.

  Scout

  Jul. 5, 2023

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Perfect for Invisible Boondocking

  This is NOT a campground, but just roadside pull-offs on public land. There are no restrooms, fire rings, picnic tables, or other amenities. However, if you are camping in a self-contained SMALL vehicle, this is quiet, secluded, and beautiful. I did not see any pull offs that would accommodate an RV of any size, and nothing large enough to turn a trailer around.One pull off was nearly too small to turn around my small pick up truck. But the thick forest was beautiful. There are rock outcroppings along this road, which follows Mitchell Creek and lots to explore on foot. While I was exploring and camping on this road, only two vehicles passed during the entire 16 hours. VERY quiet. Have a paper map handy, as there is no cell signal and GPS was spotty. The place I camped had a small graveyard behind it, so if you’re superstitious, this may not be for you. There was also a big white building that was all locked up surrounded by open meadow that a larger vehicle might be able to park behind. A circular “drive” was mown around the building. A few of the pull offs I didn’t explore because they were muddy or washed out after several days of rain. I would camp here again for the quiet and it’s proximity to Hemlock Cliffs and Yellow Birch Ravine.

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• 

  Shelly S.

  Legend

  Apr. 28, 2020

  First Creek Dispersed Camping — Mammoth Cave National Park

  All down hill

  First Camp Dispersed tent sites are an enjoyable hike down into the First Creek ,creek bed of Green River in Mammoth Cave National Forest, Ky

  If you go early enough in the season you will see some awesome rock formations. Once all the foliage fills in its not as picturesque .

  Find Ollie Rd on the back side of Mammoth and take the gravel road straight at the hard right turn. First Creek can be hiked to from two different parking areas and it’s part of the Loop trail used by hikers and horseback riders alike. A map is very useful for distances and trail directions because the markers are not always where they are supposed to be. There is an beautiful pond/lake at the bottom of the hike that empties into the Green River. Realize of course water = snakes and take precautions. Two choices of tent sites. Both have a fire ring , lantern hook and tent pad. Firewood is all around :) tote in your water or filtration system and everything you need cause the hike back up that hill ain’t short! It gets DARK here! You should have some beautiful star gazing opportunities and some wildlife interactions. Once again take precautions with your food, it’s a long hike back up that hill! Bug spray! Enough said! Love this out of the way area but it can be quite spooky ;) Enjoy ;)

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• 

  Tommy S.

  Ranger

  Jul. 12, 2020

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Limited dispersed sites

  Mitchell Creek Road in Hoosier National Forest, is just one small section of a road that runs along Mitchell Creek. On the west end, where the road turns right (north), there was a small drive to the right that went down towards the creek bed. There was a small fire ring here, and another fire ring around the back, both set up on the rocks of the dry riverbed. These didn't seem like great camping areas, let alone a "campsite". Towards the middle this road, just east of an intersection for a road to the south, there was a campsite creek side, and a little farther, a campsite on the hillside. The hillside spot was taken, so we took that last spot. Lookout for turtles on the road, we spotted and removed 4 of them.

  The area was rather buggy, and to be honest a little sketchy, so we slept in our van. Only two cars drove by, each time kicking up a big cloud of white dust which covered most of the foliage by the road. It hadn't rained in a while. We went briefly down to the creek, but it was very buggy and not very nice to hike. At night, we heard some loud mysterious crashing in some nearby trees, and what was possibly a large band of coyotes in the distance. Can't imagine I'd ever come back to this area, but it's there as an option for sure!

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• 

  Sofia A.

  Ranger

  Oct. 23, 2020

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Nice but nope

  It took me 20 from route 64 to find this place. If you are solo female traveler don’t even waste your time. After 5 min of driving on the very skinny gravel road y saw what it look like spots but Iam not sure really. 10 min later I got to the coordinates and there was nothing, not seven an opening just more road. Y just keep driving till I got back to 64 and found a Cracker Barrel 17 miles away.

• S

  Sabrina C.

  Scout

  Apr. 7, 2024

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  It’s a very spartan spot

  Spot has a creek and is flat enough for a tent mostly just a single person spot no toilets. Road south coming in was destroyed some time ago have to w yer from east or west road.

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  julie

  Traveler

  Sep. 16, 2025

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  Small pull off on the side of a gravel road.

  This is a bare bones location. There was evidence of a homemade fire pit and a small cleared area. No cell service at the site but there was a bar or two on the road just a few feet away. With a weboost there was att and tmobile service. Very quiet, only 2 vehicles passed by in the 36 hours I was there. 38.515995, -85.870726, 871 ft

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  Phil L.

  Scout

  May. 7, 2021

  Mitchell Creek Road Dispersed

  There is no camp ground

  There are just a couple of sites along the road. One is at the trail crossing for horses, hikers, and bikers. Its basically a make your own campsite. Ok place if you like to really rough it.