Indiana’s Top 5 State Parks for Camping
By: Coltin Gresser
If you were to ask anyone who is an Indiana resident the question “Are there any wild places in your state”. Most of them are going to say heck no, all that’s here is agriculture fields and the typical mid-west cities. While they are sadly not wrong about the sea of corn and soybeans and the gloomy concrete jungles, we call cities, there are some hidden gems in our state. Most of these wild places will make you double-check to see if you are still in Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources manages these parks for the public to enjoy. This list of State Parks I’ll be discussing will have a little bit for everyone to enjoy. So, with that said let’s lace up our boots and get into it.
Turkey Run State Park
To start us off we will be heading to Marshall Indiana. Turkey Run State Park is a great place for geology fans, the sandstone ravines not only are beautiful to look at and be in but tell the history of the landscape. Some of the top activities of this park are hiking, floating and kayaking the beautiful sugar creek that flows through, horseback riding, and the programs that the nature center holds, and their activities are great for people of all ages.
Due to the location of this park, it is a Indiana birding trail place, during the right time of year you will see some special species of migratory birds. The campground is somewhat spaced out but no matter where you stay you will see and hear other campers. It is a busier park and one of the most popular ones in the state.
So, finding reservations during peak camping season may be hard. Here is the URL
for more information (DNR: State Parks: Turkey Run State Park (in.gov) ).
Indiana Dunes State Park
The next Park is in Chesterton Indiana, on the southern rim of Great Lake Michigan. This park shows off the beauty that the sand dune ecosystems give. These 2,182 acres have the three-sand dune challenge of hiking the three biggest sanddunes in Indiana. This is another part of the Indiana Birding Trail, so another hotspot for the birding community. Within the Park, the top activities are hiking, swimming beach days on the lakefront, and birding. Unlike Turkey Run, this park is settled near many cities in Northern Indiana. So, if you want to go out and shop in the nearby cities, they are only 15-20 minutes away. This park camping area is similar to Turkey Runs and it is another popular park so make sure you get your reservations in ahead of the rush depending on the time of year you go.
Here is the URL (DNR: State Parks: Indiana Dunes State Park ).
Potato Creek State Park
This state park is moderately visited but not as much as the first two I have listed. This one is in North Liberty Indiana. Some of the most popular activities in this park are bird watching, looking at some of the unique flora due to there being wetlands, fishing and boating in Worster Lake, and mountain biking. The campground is more spread out than the dunes and Turkey Run. You will still be around people, but you will have more of a chance to relax by yourself or with your group. The lake is an electric motor lake so make sure you plan accordingly.
Here is the URL (DNR: State Parks: Potato Creek State Park (in.gov) ).
Racoon Lake State Park
Here is another park that is moderately visited. Rockville Indiana is where this nice quitter park resides. Big Racoon Creek was dammed to supply the locals with a water source and to provide water for the flour mills. This area was huge in flour
production, and they still have mills and historical buildings intact. The most popular activities to do here are hiking, boating, fishing in Racoon Lake, and wildlife watching. The campgrounds are semi-spaced out, but due to it not being one of the most popular parks it doesn’t get too crazy busy.
Here is the URL ( Campground Details - Raccoon Lake, IN - Indiana Department of Natural Resources (reserveamerica.com) ).
Shades State Park
We will end this list where we started it. Shades State Park is in Waveland Indiana. Just north of Turkey Run State Park. The ecosystem here is very similar to that of Turkey Run where the sandstone ravines rule this place. Sugar Creek is the main river that flows through.
Top activities are hiking, floating, and fishing Sugar Creek, wildlife watching, and going through the Pine Hills Nature Preserve. This park is the least visited on this list and is nice and quiet compared to some other parks in the state. A unique activity that the park naturalist does is a couple of astronomy shows during the summertime.
Here is the URL (DNR: State Parks: Shades State Park (in.gov) ).
