chain o'lakes state park

I ran The Huff 50K on December 20, 2014. The park was very nice, trails were wide. I expected some single track, but the trails we took were not. No roots or stumps to trip over, which made for a great first 50K experience. We had great weather, I really enjoyed my time here.

Ran here for huff 50k ultra marathon in December. Beautiful park. The trails are amazing. Well maintained and now a lot of roots to trip on. Nice lakes and streams. Worth a visit.

Went on an impromptu getaway with the hubs for a night. This was close to home, but seemed so far away... In a good way. Lots of biking and trail walking. Romantic solitude, even though you're not too far from everything. Cabin was inexpensive and clean. Bring plates, silverware, coffee maker, and water. Water is from well and yellowed, but clearly no softener. Very relaxing and nice. Loved it and will be back!!!

Nearly 5000 acres of lakes, hiking trails, and camping. Sites have electric but no water hook-ups. However you can fill your tanks at numerous spigots. Rustic and relaxing. We stayed here in a 35' motorhome. A beach is available for wading/swimming. Bring bug spray. $19.00 per night. A bargain!!

We camped at Chain O' Lakes in June. The campground has over 400 sites, most of them shaded somewhat. The restrooms leave room for improvement. Not as clean as I'd like and the showers are barely lukewarm with push button showers that stay on about 30 seconds before you have to press again. Barely time to soap up, before you run out of water! The park centers around the 13 lakes & water activities, such as swimming, canoeing & fishing. We walked several trails which were mostly flat and circled lakes, but, being a wetland area, the mosquitoes & deer flies were voracious. Don't forget your insect repellant! The Stanley Schoolhouse was interesting. I think I'd return in the fall after a killing frost. You'd probably have better views of the lakes and no bugs.

Stayed before Memorial Day so it wasn't too crowded. Tent camped in the primitive area. Had a great time. Probably not much privacy when the area is full though. We will definitely return. Nice camp store, and friendly people.

We were excited about our trip to Chain O' Lakes with family over the Memorial Day weekend. The campground was noisy, busy, had too many dogs and the bathrooms/showers were filthy most of the time. Very disappointed!

Spent the afternoon hiking around the park and really enjoyed ourselves. Even stumbled upon a one room schoolhouse in the process. This park has all sorts of outdoor activities including canoeing, kayaking, boating, paddle boating, bicycling, fishing and a huge campground as well. They also have a $5 dollar entrance fee for Indiana residents and a $7 dollar entrance fee for out of state people visiting the park. Definitely worth visiting!

Pitched a tent to camp one night. It was nice in the non electric area. The RV area seemed real busy and a little hectic. The primitive area looked quite. The bathrooms were nice, good hiking, cute old school house. It was overall a quiet park minus the sounds of trains passing nearby throughout the night! Would still recommend.

If your camping equipment is larger than a 2-man mountain tent you will want to avoid this crowded, cramped campground in northern Indiana. If you persist you will be met by rude, surly staff/volunteers. We had to drive away from our $60 reservation and 6 hour drive because we could not park our short trailer in the space reserved. It was impossible to negotiate all the cars of other campers parked along the street in addition to the trees, posts, and potholes. Considering how crowded the campground was, we realize we were actually lucky not being able to stay. No more unfamiliar Indiana state park for us. You simply can not believe the information from the websites.

Though very pretty, the lakes were full of a type algae that caused a rash...it was posted that you could swim if you showered off, and our group swam, kayaked and showered off, but still got the rash...(terrible)Our family reunion included groups both using the camping area and the cabins. The cabins were very nice, located back under full canopy of trees, free wood was located outside, but you could not have a fire pit anywhere near them...you could walk down to a common area to have one, but it lost the intimacy of the family group. The campground areas had very spacious sites, with nice regular full flush toilets located thru-out. A great music group played on Saturday night, and there were other free activities all week long. The mosquitos were totally out of control. Everyone had smokey fires to try to combat the little devils...The campground store was a real gem. Wonderful staff, good coffee, airconditioned, with great unique souvenirs. I would recommend that they treat the lakes and try to spray to reduce mosquito populations for the campgrounds. There were several good museums in the nearby town of Auburn, In that were very worthwhile including the Dusenburg Museum and Liberty Museum Overall, it was a fun meeting place for a family reunion, but due to the rash we all got...have to lower the rating to average.

Hiking and boating are available and excellent. The state park consists of several kettle lakes connected by channels. It was great to canoe from lake to lake through the channels.

Lots of nice trails, swimming areas, and canoe rentals. I think there are also cabins for rent but I'm not sure since we live close by and just do day trips to the lakes.

It's a nice park but a visit to the Nature Center was more than disappointing. The employee just sat at the desk with his feet up talking to other guests who he clearly knew. Glad I didn't have any questions.

We have been going here for 25'years, sometimes twice in the summers. We raised our kids here and have wonderful memories. The cabins are huge and rustic. Hate the furniture and beds though. We mostly camp. Love the campground, the store, and the paved roads. The bathrooms have not changed in 25 years except for faucets and auto flush commodes. Don't shower in your bare feet!! This is a big complaint with us. We love the fishing and boat rentals. We will continue to go each year and hope to see bathroom improvements very soon!! I am sure that if our dear friend, Tom, was still alive and manager, this would have been done by now.