Tippecanoe River State Park Campground

Date of stay: August 2014

Having just left the Chicago area and headed to Indianapolis, I wanted to relax for a week before hitting another big city. After a quick look at my options within striking distance of Indy, I chose Tippecanoe River State Park. The cool name had absolutely nothing to do with my choice. ;)

Electric only campsites (water and dump station in park). $19 a night Sunday thru Wednesday and $26 a night Thursday thru Saturday. Plus a one time $7 vehicle entry fee.

The park is wooded, but doesn’t offer much (if any) privacy between sites. This wasn’t an issue when I first arrived during the week as I had half of the campground to myself. However the place was full on the weekend (I have no idea where the people came from as there isn’t a lot of population density in the area) and therefore was noisy with people enjoying their weekend. Pretty damn noisy. Earplugs were required.

There are hiking trails as well as a decent amount of roads to ride bikes on (11 miles are possible without having to cover the same road). A quote from my blog post: “The park itself is quite good sized, with a lot of river frontage and different areas including group camping, cabin rentals, a separate horse campground, and day use areas.”

I explored the surrounding area a bit and was pleasantly surprised by the city of Culver. I also took advantage of the nearby Panhandle Pathway (rails-to-trails) for a nice long bike ride.

Overall not a bad place to recharge one’s batteries if you happen to be in the area.

We stopped in Mid October. It was still in the 70's. maybe 20 campers. Clean and quiet. If you are searching for privacy, this is fairly open. Lots of tall oaks. Plenty of trails, and the Tippecanoe River is lovely. As usual the park employees were helpful and friendly.

Like others have stated, during the week the campground is mostly empty but fills up on weekends. The sites are kind of close together but not bad really. The shower in my loop gave you like 10 seconds worth of lukewarm spray for every push of the button, really! And the latch on the stall for the toilet was broken. So, not the best comfort station. There are several hiking trails though not as well marked as I would have liked. Did see several pileated woodpeckers on my hikes - always a joy. My Verizon cell signal was weak but using my WeBoost got it up to good.

Sites are well spaced among mature trees. Sites are level with plenty of asphalt. Picnic tables and fire rings at each site. Water spigots throughout. 50 amp service at most sites. Great hosts and employees. Quiet and relaxing.
The only con is the IN park access fee of $9 in addition to camping.

Sites are level and paved. 50amp electric. Water spigots throughout. Well maintained. Nice people working here. Our rate was Holiday rate. Wooded and moist...mosquitoes. Come prepared.
Very quiet and relaxing. Dog friendly. Firewood and ice from host.

Price reflects sales tax, transaction fee and vehicle entrance fee = $21. We stayed at site 58, a rare pull-thru near the back of the electric campground. After weekend warriors left we essentially had the place to ourselves. Site was gravel and level. We used Comfort Station A, a longer trip but worth it for better showers. Hot and muggy here but had 50 amp for air conditioners. Our AT&T WiFi was sufficient for most of our needs, except streaming. Only 1 bar for Verizon. Staff was friendly and park rangers were out and visible. No problems with noise.

More mosquitoes than I have ever experienced anywhere. Everyone at the campground this week agreed. We had to use Thermacell and re-spray Off every 20 minutes AND stay inside our outdoor netting.

Sites are level, terrible phone signal. Good hiking and great paved roads. Good trails. Small campground so relatively quiet.

This park is known for its trails, however you can’t wear enough protection from the mosquitoes. Beautiful park, nearby kayak canoe rentals are a plus. But nothing can get me to stay there again. We are hikers and if it wasn’t for the canoe trip the weekend would have been a total loss.

We stayed here in our class B van for 2 nights. The shower house was great; seemed fairly new and was clean. Our site was butted against a row of trees. We enjoyed our spot and time here as we were making our way towards the Indiana Dunes NP. The cell coverage was poor and our mobile internet could not connect due to tree obstruction. I only mention this because my husband had to send an email for work and we roamed on foot all over to get enough signal. Finally up at the education center, our hotspot had enough to send- then we were able to enjoy the rest of our stay!

A Beautiful park that offers cabins, and large, flat campgrounds with lots of camping spaces but still enough distance to have some privacy. Each type of site is located in a different part of the park. Just keep in mind that the only tent camping spot is canoe camp, which you have to kayak or canoe across although it isn't far from the river and easy to access. Staff are usually very helpful and friendly too.