This isn’t the type of park that you come to conquer, you come here for a lovely time. Carley State Park is easy to overlook in favor of nearby Whitewater State Park. Whitewater has an actual visitor center, the dramatic scenery, the flush toilets, and spacious/level sites. In lieu of those amenities, Carley offers you rustic charm, relative quiet(vehicles have a max length of 30 ft which cuts down on monster RVs), and a hint of summer camp nostalgia in the picnic area. 

While we were here we attempted to do the hiking club trail, unfortunately the water levels were high and we weren’t able to cross any of the river crossings. When the water levels are lower you are able to cross on giant concrete steps. We were there on a Monday and there were maybe 3 cars parked in the whole park. 

Barely any of the sites were occupied when we visited. The campsites are all situated on a hill and they were all very close to this road and were slightly cramped in addition to not being terribly level. Most sites could accommodate one 4-person tent, nothing bigger than that. If you value privacy you might want to be strategic about which site you choose, but I assume that it is a quiet enough campground that this wouldn’t be a huge problem.