Nichole M.

Hazleton, IN

Joined December 2018

Quiet and Secluded

We stayed at site D3 over Memorial Day weekend. I was pretty nervous when we first saw the site, it was literally on a hillside. We have two small kids and were with family (in adjacent D4) so we really hoped for a site with flat space for the kids to play in, but there was absolutely no grassy area. That didn't stop us from having a good time!

The D loop was nice and quiet with very little traffic. We were very close to the lake to drop our kayaks in the water or fish without going far, always a plus!

Bathrooms were very clean for camp restrooms. The showers were in their own rooms, so that was really nice. Great water pressure and it wasn't a push button shower like some campgrounds have!

Since we have kids, we had to check out the play ground. It was pretty disappointing with only a couple swings, a hot metal slide and a climbing bar. The beach was far from impressive with basically gravel as half of the beach. I wasn't expecting Florida beaches in Kentucky, but in Indiana we have nice sandy beaches at lakes so I was disappointed.

The lake was gorgeous and perfect for kayaking though, with lots of nice coves to explore and wildlife to see. I saw a doe with a spotted fawn nursing on my first trip onto the water

All in all, if you want flat spaces, don't go to loop D, loop C was much flatter. We probably won't return, but it was a nice stay, but probably better for those without small kids to entertain.

THE BEST!

Turkey Run is one of my top 2 campgrounds in Indiana! We camped here during the Covered Bridge Festival, which is really hard to get a site, book early if you're wanting to do that. We went during the week so it was easier to get a campsite.

Our site, 226 was on a small loop that was nice and wooded. The campground staff was really good at keeping the noise down, we've had problems with noisy campers before so that was nice to see.

My absolute favorite part though, is the trails. You completely forget you're in Indiana. We went on trail 5 I believe which ran through a creek bed for awhile and that made it even more fun. We normally have our kids (4 and 1.5) but were kid free this time. We wouldn't have been able to take them on this trail at this age.

If you're into kayaking or canoeing, there are several canoe liveries that service the area and a trip down Sugar Creek is always a good time.

Put this one on your must see list!

Great Halloween Weekend for Kids

We stayed the weekend before Halloween. We missed reserving the weekend they have the campground trick or treating, which was the weekend before, but this was just as fun. Apparently that weekend has to be reserved the day reservations open for it. They had a trunk or treat in the pool parking lot and although there weren't a ton of vehicles, it was definitely enough for the kids to have fun trick or treating. Next time we'll be sure to park and hand out candy as well. There was also a hayride in the evening for a small fee and that included making smore's at the bonfire.

We camped with 3 other families and had adjacent sites that worked perfectly for us, plenty of space for the kids to play, although a little far from the playground.

Their hiking trails are nice, at least they were years ago when I camped here as a kid. The Wabash River has a great view, so be sure to check that out too. The little town of New Harmony is so quaint, you definitely have to stroll around town and visit the sites there! It's one of our favorites that is close to home

Nice Lake, Not so great campground

We reserved here last minute for Memorial Day weekend, 2018. That said, we couldn't be choosy when it came to getting a site and we ended up with Site 8. It was literally on a culvert pipe on top of the ditch. Luckily we were camping with 3 other families a little ways down the campground so we did everything at their sites 11, 12, and 13, which were pretty spacious. Those were right along the trail down to the lake, so we were able to kayak nearby and it was a short walk to fish on the lake.

There are no restrooms, only pit toilets, so obviously no showers. The campground was pretty quiet for a holiday weekend so that was nice. The playground equipment was a short bike ride down the road, but right in the sun mid day so the equipment was too hot for the kids to play on until evening.

When I checked the info for the campground on ReserveAmerica, it said that it had a beach on the lake, but when we arrived we discovered there was no longer a beach. The lake was beautiful to kayak on though, lots of little fingers to explore and see the wildlife.

Overall not bad because we came with family, but would've been sorely disappointed if that wasn't the case. Probably won't be back

Hidden Gem

My husband, 3.5yo, 1yo and myself went to O'Bannon Woods the weekend before the 4th of July and I can't believe I've never been there! It's an amazing little park. We camp in a 12' pop up and our site 111 was nice for it. We did have to back between two trees at about 10pm in the dark, but we made it!

We LOVED the nature center and the living history village! The nature center had plenty of critters for the kids to look at. The living village was a pleasant surprise since I didn't realize they had one. They also have demonstrations of the hay press on holiday weekends which was really neat to watch.

We only hiked one trail and that was the one from the campground to the nature center. It was fairly rough in spots but enjoyable. The nearby caves ran by the park were a nice escape from the summer heat. We went on the short one with the kids and it was just the right length for their ages.

Also, if you like wine, there's a little winery down the road, Scout Mountain and they had the best deal on firewood along with great wine!

I can't wait to go back, I honestly can't believe I've lived in southern Indiana my whole life and have never been here.

Good basecamp for surrounding activity, not the best for camping with kids

Pros:

Secluded campground

Beautiful area

Cons:

You're camping basically in a ravine.

No fire pit

We had site 15 and my in-laws had site 16 over Labor Day weekend 2018.

It took us over an hour to try and level our pop-up camper because the site was so steep. Our neighbors had the same problem. We took the advice of a fellow camper on here and brought an extension cord and we were so glad we did, I think my in-laws ended up needing it.

When we arrived I was disappointed to find that we didn't have a firepit, only an old grill that had a hole in the bottom, rendering it useless. Luckily my in-laws had a firepit so we had our fires over there. We do most of our cooking in cast iron over the fire, so a fire pit is a huge requirement for us. Our site was so steep it was hard for our two young children to walk and play on our site (4yo and 1.5yo) so we spent most of the time at their site anyway. The campsite we were on just wasn't that great for small children, but wouldn't be bad if you were in a tent without small children. Site 16 was great though.

Saturday night, we could hear a drunken group of about 20 with their speakers blasting music across the campground, so loud we couldn't hear each other talking around the campfire. I'm not normally one to complain about music at a campground, but this was overkill and was well into after quiet hours. Every so often you could tell that they were told to turn it down, but it only lasted a few minutes before it was cranked up again. It shut down probably around mid-night, but with two small kids it made for a long night.

The bathrooms were decent, one toilet would shoot water out of the top when you flushed. I didn't use the showers but they looked clean for a campground shower.

The LBL area is what made the trip worth it. We basically used the campground as a base camp to explore the area, which is a beautiful. We saw several deer within the park. The bison and elk prarie is a must see, the kids loved it. We drove to the Golden Pond visitors center and spent several hours at the Homeplace Living history village. Since it was Labor Day weekend they had a lot of events going on. We're now planning another trip back to the LBL area, just not at the same campground.