CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Forest Service · IN

Indian Celina Lake

ReservableBookable through October 25, and from April 3 through September 16.

Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book

Right now: Taking bookingsSites offered on 9 of the next 9 nights read 15:51 UTC
A night: $24–$52Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 6359 on recreation.gov

Photos · Nancy Myers

35 ftLongest rig

750 ftElevation

439 ftWater · an unnamed stream

11.1 miSW of English, IN

82%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices

In the agency’s own words

The Indian-Celina Lake Recreation Area is a tranquil getaway in the midst of the Hoosier National Forest. Both the Celina and Indian Lakes are within the area, offering camping, boating, fishing and hiking, as well as tours of a historic site. Keep reading

Recreation

Indian and Celina lakes are two of four fishing lakes along Highway 37. The lakes offer many miles of shoreline and coves for fishing for pan fish. Boat ramps are open year-round, and an accessible fishing pier is available on Celina Lake. Anglers can expect a variety of catfish, largemouth bass, bluegill and crappie. The sandstone block, historic Rickenbaugh House was built in 1874 and is open to visitors periodically throughout the year. The home and adjacent historic cemetery are popular among visitors. A variety of hiking trails exist within the area, including the relatively easy, 1 mile Rickenbaugh Interpretive Trail, which is located behind the historic Rickenbaugh House. The Two Lakes Loop National Recreation Trail encircles both Indian and Celina lakes and winds through many acres of natural and peaceful forests. The trail is 16 miles, but can encompass multiple, shorter day hikes.

Facilities

The area offers dozens of individual campsites, divided in two loops. Campsites are available for tent and RV camping. Utility hookups are available in some of the sites and the parking surfaces are paved. Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Accessible flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. A day-use area is also available, and provides access to the nearby boat ramp. Picnic tables are available there and at the historic site.

Natural Features

The area is located in south-central Indiana, in a dense hardwood and pine forest, on 152-acre Indian and 164-acre Celina lakes. A variety of wildlife make its home in the area.

Nearby Attractions

Special Places on the Hoosier National Forest Brooks Cabin Buffalo Trace Carnes Mill Site Clover Lick Barrens Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower Initial Point Lick Creek African American Settlement The Jacob Rickenbaugh Homestead Wesley Chapel Gulf

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Only electric and non-motorized boats are permitted on the lakes

Rule

Off-road vehicle use is prohibited within the campground

Rule

Each campsite fee includes a camping unit (tent,camper) & one vehicle (single sites) and two vehicles (double sites). There is a $8.00 charge per day for the second vehicle, and $8.00 charge per day for any additional vehicle (must be paid at time of check-in). Maximum two vehicles per single site, and four vehicles per double site. There is a surcharge for the site with electric and water.

Everything else this campground posts · 2

Rule

Click here for more information on the Hoosier National Forest

Rule

Firewood Restrictions: Any firewood brought onto National Forest System land must meet one of the following requirements to reduce the spread of pests and pathogens that harm the forest ecosystem: 1. It is kiln-dried scrap lumber with no bark. 2. It is from your home or other Indiana location and has all bark removed. 3. It has an Indiana DNR compliance stamp.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 63
Hookups: 35 electric, 1 water
Longest rig: 35 ft
Paved pads: 9 of 63
Accessible sites: 11
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Flush Toilets; “…campfire rings with grills. Accessible flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. A day-use…”
Drinking water: Yes; “…Accessible flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. A day-use area is also available, and…”
Boat ramp: Yes
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Lake, Creek, Beach; Boating; Hiking; Historic site; Hunting
Night sky · 2nd darkest of 23 in IN: Bortle 4

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

34 of 87 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:51 UTC

recreation.gov lists 59 of the 63 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.

OpenBooked

Booking windowThrough October 25Bookable now through October 25, 2026, the end of this reservable season, and again for April 3, 2027 through September 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through September 17, 2027.recreation.gov

Max stay14 nightsthe facility record

A night$24–$52plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$56–$112DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 22

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service

A night, per site$24–$52

Standard Nonelectric$24

Tent Only Nonelectric$24

Standard Electric$33

Standard Nonelectric - Double$40

Standard Electric - Double$52

Rates for the season the campground is in now, Apr 3, 2026 to Oct 25, 2026.

Each campsite fee includes a camping unit (tent,camper) & one vehicle (single sites) and two vehicles (double sites).

Maximum two vehicles per single site, and four vehicles per double site.

There is a surcharge for the site with electric and water.

Annual Boat/Day Use Pass: $50.00 each (sticker must be applied to the windshield of the registered vehicle) $30.00 each additional in the same household.

May be used at Hardin Ridge, Indian-Celina and Tipsaw Recreation Areas.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What this campground addsits own record

Extra vehicleSee the note

“There is a $8.00 charge per day for the second vehicle, and $8.00 charge per day for any additional vehicle (must be paid at time of check-in).” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$32–$60

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$56–$112

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $24–$52 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 6

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

What this campground adds: The U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record and notices for this campground, quoted verbatim. An extra-vehicle charge is set locally and appears on no national schedule, so it’s never assumed. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 15:51 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

102 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 27 mapped sites

132 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomNorthface 009 451 ftNorthface 014 448 ftNorthface 018 413 ftNorthface 031 170 ftNorthface 032 170 ft

Least roomSouthslope 006 60 ftSouthslope 013 60 ftSouthslope 011 62 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 102 records

31 of 102 records located

Standard3RV / electric24Type not stated4

009 014 018 028 030 031 032 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 021 022 023 024 025 026 027

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 63 of the 102 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.


MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX	unnamed record	35 ft					$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX1	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX10	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX11	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX12	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX13	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX14	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX15	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX16	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX17	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX18	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX19	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX2	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX20	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX21	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX22	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX23	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX24	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX25	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX26	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX27	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX28	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX29	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX3	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX30	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX31	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX32	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX33	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX34	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX35	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX36	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX37	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX38	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX4	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX5	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX6	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX7	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX8	unnamed record						$35
MANAGEMENT SITES	XXX9	unnamed record						$35
Northface	009	standard nonelectric	35 ft			451 ft	588 ft	$24–$40
Northface	01	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	014	standard nonelectric	35 ft			448 ft	764 ft	$24–$40
Northface	018	standard nonelectric	35 ft			414 ft	1,098 ft	$24–$40
Northface	02	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	028	type not stated	35 ft	50 amp			1,079 ft	$35
Northface	03	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	030	type not stated	35 ft	15 amp			1,007 ft	$35
Northface	031	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		170 ft	1,025 ft	$33–$52
Northface	032	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		170 ft	926 ft	$33–$52
Northface	04	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	05	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	06	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	07	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	08	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	10	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	11	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	12	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	13	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	15	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	16	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	17	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	19	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	20	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	21	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	22	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	23	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	24	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	25	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	26	standard nonelectric	35 ft					$24–$40
Northface	27	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	29	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	33	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	34	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	35	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Northface	36	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes			$33–$52
Southslope	001	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp				$33–$52
Southslope	002	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp				$33–$52
Southslope	003	type not stated	35 ft	50 amp			1,689 ft	$35
Southslope	004	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp	yes	153 ft	1,659 ft	$33–$52
Southslope	005	type not stated	35 ft	30 amp			1,652 ftLake Celina	$35
Southslope	006	standard electric	35 ft	15 amp	yes	60 ft	1,433 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	007	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		88 ft	1,538 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	008	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		88 ft	1,481 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	009	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		164 ft	1,272 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	010	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp				$33–$52
Southslope	011	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		62 ft	1,344 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	012	standard electric	35 ft	15 amp		119 ft	1,225 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	013	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp	yes	60 ft	1,374 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	014	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		71 ft	1,312 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	015	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		98 ft	1,467 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	016	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		72 ft	1,473 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	017	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		71 ft	1,307 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	018	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		130 ft	1,315 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	019	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		141 ft	1,487 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	020	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		141 ft	1,611 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	021	standard electric	20 ft	30 amp		102 ft	1,485 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	022	standard electric	20 ft	30 amp		72 ft	1,542 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	023	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		152 ft	1,661 ft	$33–$52
Southslope	024	standard electric	26 ft	30 amp		149 ft	1,667 ftLake Celina	$33–$52
Southslope	025	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		138 ft	1,535 ft	$33–$52
Southslope	026	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		132 ft	1,492 ft	$33–$52
Southslope	027	standard electric	35 ft	30 amp		132 ft	1,514 ft	$33–$52

The agency files 39 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It types every one of them MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.

The records with no site name: Derived by CAMPANAC from the agency’s own campsite records: recreation.gov files some overnight records with no site name, only a row of X characters. A block is read as the campground’s own sites, filed without names, only where the agency types those records as campsites rather than MANAGEMENT, gives each one a coordinate, and their numbering continues the campground’s own numbered sites with no gap. Everything else is left uncounted, and where the evidence doesn’t decide the record is counted as no kind of site rather than guessed at · Sep 12, 2026

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

25 of 102 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate38.19917, -86.59833

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone812-843-4880

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near hereNorth Face LoopHoosier National Forest · 0.5 mi South Slope LoopHoosier National Forest · 0.7 mi Catbrier LoopHoosier National Forest · 4.8 mi Goldenrod LoopHoosier National Forest · 4.9 mi Primrose LoopHoosier National Forest · 4.9 mi

Tipsaw LakeHoosier National Forest · 4.9 mi

Getting there

From St. Crois, Indiana, travel south on State Route 37 about 2 miles to the Indian-Celina Recreation Area sign. Turn right and continue to the campground.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight40°Mostly Cloudy8% rain

Saturday57°Sunny

Saturday Night35°Clear then Areas Of Frost

Sunday64°Areas Of Frost then Sunny

NWS forecast for Leopold, IN

Source: National Weather Service, LMK forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 44°F, day 71°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: ENGLISH, IN (USC00122660), 9 miles away and 240 ft lower

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless

Mogan Ridge8,435 acres · 9 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: USFS Inventoried Roadless Areas via MTJP Roadless Map · Jul 29, 2026

Who answers for this land

Indian Celina Lake is in Indiana’s 8th congressional district. Its representative, Mark Messmer (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 9 of the next 9 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 59 of the 63 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 31 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 0.54 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 23 rated federal campgrounds in Indiana · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest place of any size: Leopold, IN, 6.3 mi N (a census designated place). Straight line.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026