If you are looking for the amenities of a big RV park, Shades State Park is not the place for you. But if your rig boondocks, you can't beat it. My 32' motorhome fit snugly in the beautiful shaded site on the asphalt pad. Each site has a fire ring, an asphalt pad and a sturdy picnic table. Vault toilets were available in the Locust Grove campground area where I stayed, and flush toilets and clean showers were located within easy walking distance. Shades is one of Indiana's hidden treasures with hiking trails, waterfalls, rock bridges, etc. It is dark, dark at night with no ambient lighting other than campfires, tiki torches, and flashlights - great for star-gazing. The website is great and includes dimensions for every campsite in the park, so you can actually pick one that fits your rig. This was one of my best camping experience to date because so much time was spent outdoors. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We camped last year for the fourth of July, good thing we reserved about 3 months early! The park was full but still quiet. The bathrooms were absolutely disgusting: waste piled all the way to the top of the toilet seats! I walked to a few different outhouses with the same outcome. Yuck. Besides that, this was a nice, out of the way park to stay in. Watch out for the raccoons, they are ruthless! We camped here in a Tent.
We stayed here on a Sunday following a booked weekend. The restrooms were a little too dirty for me, they were functional though. After they were cleaned on monday they were still dirty and had litter in them. There was a bit of litter in the campground and the fire pit was a mess. Overall it was very quiet and the staff was very friendly. We would stay here again, though I would probably try Turkey Run or Raccon SRA first seeing as they are so close. We camped here in a Tent.
This is a non-electric only State Park/Campground. I would definitely give this a much higher score if they would add electric/water sites. But this is a nice clean campground, and a nature lover's paradise! The campsites were fairly large compared to most primitive campgrounds, and really clean! I do know that if you have a small motorhome, generator, water, etc, you could camp here. Otherwise, be prepared to camp in a tent. There's no dump station, but if this is what you're looking for, this is a nice place to camp! They cleaned the restrooms twice a day when we were here. No pool, but nice hiking, good nature siteseeing. We camped here in a Tent.