Boondocking at Saddle Lake in the Hoosier National Forest

Finally, we found some quality boondocking on our way to the Great Lakes! The Hoosier National Forest stretches 100 miles – from Tell City to Bloomington, Indiana – and offers multiple free camping sites.

We arrived earlier in the week and plan to stay through Memorial Day weekend.

Here’s the breakdown:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqBMRjuAkt0%5D

Location: Tell City, Indiana

GPS: 38.05911, -86.65196

Price: Free, with a 14 day limit

Date/Temp: May 25 to May 31. The high has been in the low 80s, with a low in the mid 60s. There is plenty of tree coverage to keep the temps lower.

Amenities: Saddle Lake Campground offers a picnic table and fire pit for every site. There is a centralized vault toilet, and its been kept pretty clean. The area also has a hiking trail and boat launch.

Noise: There are 5 other sites occupied here – one is a large RV with a loud generator. This doesn’t bug us, because we’ll run our quiet Honda genny at the same time. But, if we were  tent campers, it might get on our nerves. Otherwise, the camp ground is very quiet.

Wifi/Cell: We get strong T-Mobile 4g coverage here and have been streaming a lot of Hulu. Our AT&T jumps back and forth between 3g and 4g.

Grocery/Errands: Tell City is about 12 miles from camp. Walmart is the only grocer in town. The local health food store doen’t offer much, and its way overpriced. There are a few antique shops, a post office, and plenty of fast food.

Dog Friendly: Dogs are welcome at Saddle Lake, but the environment isn’t ideal. The hiking trail is infested with ticks, and there are so many trees that its hard for River to be on a line without getting tangled.

Entertainment: Since it rained for a few days, we’ve been entertained mostly by streaming TV shows and movies. Tell City doesn’t offer much for entertainment, and because of the ticks, it was hard to enjoy a long hike.

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