We stayed at site 13 at Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Mason Ridge Campground in June 2020. 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. Mason Ridge Campground has vault toilets and drinking water available. There are outdoor sinks at the drinking water stations. There is a dumpster in the campground for trash. Mason Ridge Campground is first come, first served, self-register and pay at the park office. Bring exact change. Firewood is available to purchase, but only when the park office is open, and hours are limited. It is also allowed for campers to gather downed wood throughout the forest for campfires. Chainsaws are not allowed, so bring a handsaw and spitting axe if you want to do this. Campsites are mostly good for tents, but several of the sites would be fine for small to medium sized travel trailers and RVs. Sites are primitive, with gravel parking pads. Campfire ring, grill grate, and picnic table are at all sites. There is a dump station. There are no electric sites. Oak Ridge Campground is a second campground loop in MMSF. It only has a handful of sites but feels very secluded. Most of these sites are suited for tents only, or little teardrop campers. Oak Ridge is only open as an“overflow” campground, so only bet on it being open during summer. There is also a group campground for scout troupes and other groups. When we camped here, there was a rowdy group of car campers that came to have a bonfire and drink all night two sites down from us. They would loud and obnoxious. I do not know if this type of thing is common occurrence at this property, or if we“lucked out” that night. The rest of the folks camping there were quiet. There were no hordes of flashlight children running amuck through the campground like you get at the state parks. There is a playground and fire tower right next to the Mason Ridge campground, but both were closed due to coronavirus. There are many trails in MMSF. Good hiking.
Pros: sinks, feeling of seclusion, quiet(other than the one group), usually availability unless you arrive really late, long hiking trails
Cons: limited office hours for firewood purchase, obnoxious car campers
In summary, this campground is for those who like to“rough it” a little bit.
Yellowwood state forest campground does not accept reservations. It is first come, first served. Drive up, select your site, and then go to the park office to pay using a self-pay envelope. Bring exact change(cash). Current prices are listed on the Indiana DNR website. The park office does have firewood for sale, but only during open hours, which are limited. There is no camp store, no playgrounds, and no pool. Swimming is not allowed in Yellowwood lake. Each site has a fire ring with grill grate and picnic table. There are four campground loops and a horseman’s campground. Campgrounds have vault toilets and drinking water access. I do not know if water is turned on year-round. There are no modern restrooms. Sites are wooded and fairly level. All sites are primitive. We have only tent camped at Yellowwood, so I can’t say what size travel trailers would fit in the sites. Yellowwood road changes over to gravel once you enter the state forest. It is well maintained. You can also access the forest by Jackson Creek road, but you’re on gravel for longer, and I seem to remember it being a bit rougher. We have camped at Yellowwood several times between 2011-2018. The only time we have ever seen the campground busy is over big holiday weekends like Labor Day, Memorial Day, and 4th of July. Otherwise use is light. We have several times been one of two or three campers in the loop. Several trails are nearby in the state forest, including the Tecumseh Trail. Horse trails are also available. Yellowwood lake is adjacent to the campground and there is a boat ramp, but there are limitations on boating(motor size). Check with the DNR website. Camp here if you like quiet, peaceful camping. You won’t run into a bunch of loud partiers.
Brown County (BC) campground is very popular and frequently full in the summer. We recently stayed in spot 203 in the Taylor Ridge loop, which is an electric site. There are many sites in the area, but this site is more private than most as it backs up to the ravine. It was a large site. All sites have fire rings with grate and picnic table. Most sites have gravel driveways but some are paved. The Indiana State Parks Reserve America site indicates the driveway grade. Our site was labeled as "slight" and required just a little bit of leveling for our trailer (small teardrop). Some sites have a much more severe grade, and some trailers looked a bit precariously parked due to the grade.
Bathrooms are so-so in the BC campgrounds. There are vault toilets and modern restrooms with showers. Showerheads could really use a descale. Water temperature was great, not too hot or too cool. The modern restrooms were cleaned once per day, pretty thoroughly. 1-ply toilet paper.
BC has three campground areas, Buffalo Ridge, Raccoon Ridge, and Taylor Ridge. Buffalo Ridge is pretty much an open field but has the nicest restrooms. It's also right near the entrance and campstore, so it's busy with lots of comings and goings at all hours. No shade, no privacy.
Raccoon Ridge is semi-wooded and smaller. It is a loop off of the main road so you don't get as much traffic driving by all of the time. Taylor Ridge follows a long ridge (hence the name), so sites are mostly side by side along the main road. A drawback to this is you get the main road traffic driving by most sites. A plus to this is you don't have people to all sides of you, just left and right (for most of the sites).
There is a mountain bike trail and a hiking trail that connect right off of the Taylor Ridge campground. You can hike for miles connecting to the various Brown County trails.
There is a pool, inn, several playgrounds, nature center, and a fire tower in the park. Many of these things were closed due to coronavirus, but will reopen at some point.
BC has recently redone several of its accessible sites and they looked really nice.
BC gets four stars for me because there is a lot to do in the park and the campground isn't that bad. There are much nicer campgrounds in the region, but they don't have the other recreational amenities BC has.