Camping in Indiana

Camping rules worth knowing in Indiana

Dispersed camping on the Hoosier: 14 days in 28, 28 in a year

Dispersed camping is allowed throughout most of the Hoosier National Forest. Stays are limited to 14 days in a 28 day period and 28 days total per calendar year. Every dispersed camp must be at least 200 feet from trails, trailheads, roads, water sources, rock shelters, caves and historic structures, and camping along a road is prohibited unless you are in a designated site. Where the forest has made drive-in designated dispersed sites, a vehicle may be parked within one vehicle length or up to 30 feet from the edge of a designated road. Parking is prohibited on Tower Ridge Road in Monroe County except at designated trailheads. Source 9

Hoosier campgrounds run April through October

The forest states that its campground open season is generally April through October, that some campgrounds stay open year round with reduced amenities out of season at a reduced rate, and that reservations go through Recreation.gov or its telephone line. Seven developed campgrounds carry the system: Buzzard Roost, German Ridge, Hardin Ridge, Indian-Celina Lakes, Saddle Lake, Shirley Creek and Tipsaw Lake, with two rental cabins at Hardin Ridge. Prices run from nothing at Buzzard Roost and Shirley Creek to 38 dollars for an RV electric site at Hardin Ridge in peak season. Source 11

State forest dispersed camping is on three trails, on foot

This is the rule most often misread in Indiana. The Division allows dispersed camping only on sections of the Knobstone Trail at Clark and Jackson-Washington, on sections of the Adventure Trail at Harrison-Crawford, and on sections of the Tecumseh Trail at Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood, with 125 miles of trail carrying it in total. Sites must be at least a quarter mile from all roads, recreation areas and trailheads and at least 100 feet from the trail, so it is never a place you park. Stays are limited to 14 consecutive days, groups to six people per campsite, campfires to a pit twelve inches across with three feet cleared to mineral soil, and registration is required at Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood. There is no camping between Knobstone mile markers 0 to 2 or 30 to 34. Source 26

Corps lakes: camping only where it is designated

Under 36 CFR 327.7, camping is permitted only at sites or areas the District Commander designates, and camping at one or more campsites at any one water resource project for longer than 14 days during any 30 consecutive day period is prohibited without written permission. Leaving camping equipment on a site, or appearing at one without occupying it daily in order to reserve it for later, is prohibited separately. So is digging or levelling ground, building any structure, and occupying a site marked reserved without a reservation for it. Source 72

State forest camping is priced off the reservation system

Camping on state forest properties, fish and wildlife properties and backpack or canoe campgrounds that are not on the central reservation system is first come and first served: twelve dollars for a non-electric site and 12.15 for a primitive, backpack or canoe site. Where a primitive site is reservable it runs 14 to 16 dollars on ordinary nights and 16 to 18 on holiday weekends. The entrance fee is charged once on arrival on top of that, so budget for a gate ticket as well as a site. Source 30

Recreational fires are exempt, with conditions

Indiana generally prohibits open burning and then exempts recreational and ceremonial fires in all counties except where a local ordinance forbids them. The conditions are specific: burn only clean wood, paper, charcoal and clean petroleum products, keep the volume under 1,000 cubic feet, tell the local fire and health departments at least 24 hours ahead if the pile is bigger than 125 cubic feet, do not light more than two hours before the activity, never burn within 500 feet of any fuel storage area or pipeline, and attend the fire at all times and extinguish it when the activity ends. Residential burning is separately banned in Clark, Floyd, Lake and Porter counties. Source 73

Dunewood is the only campground, and it books ahead

Indiana Dunes National Park runs one campground. Dunewood has 67 campsites, of which 1 to 54 are conventional drive-in sites for RVs or tents and 55 to 67 are tent only, at 25 dollars a night as an expanded amenity fee, open 1 April through 1 November. Stays are limited to 14 days in a 30 day period. The Park Service says RV length is limited at some sites without publishing a figure, so measure and ask. A group site at Dunbar and walk-in sites on Central Avenue complete the park’s three listings in our federal build. Source 63

Firewood does not travel into the forest

Firewood brought onto the Hoosier National Forest must be kiln-dried lumber, bought on site, or sourced in Indiana with the bark removed, or else carry an Indiana Department of Natural Resources compliance stamp, and it must fit inside the fire ring. Small open fires are permitted except during a fire ban, and camping or building a fire on or within a rock shelter is prohibited outright, which matters in a forest full of sandstone overhangs. Possessing, discharging or using any kind of firework or other pyrotechnic device is prohibited. Source 7

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