Shady Brook Camping & RV Adventures

We were traveling here from Colorado and were delayed. I called from the road and asked if we could arrive around midnight. No problem, he let the owner know and instructed me to call back around 9 pm for check-in info. At that time, I called and the owner gave me additional instructions and directions and moved us to a site that was more lighted and easier to park at the late hour.

We appreciated this great customer service. This was an overnight stop for us on a long trip, but hope we get to return for a longer stay.

We had brunch at Beans and Beignets in Earlham- cute café with great coffee!

I'm not going to elaborate, but I was able to talk the guy down from $60 a night to $42. I couldn't find any other available RV parks and wanted electricity because the temp got down to below freezing. I was planning on staying two nights to avoid bad weather but the sites are so uneven, I left after the first night. Re. the unevenness, I don't have automatic leveling in my Class C RV. The first site I was shown to was laughably uphill. The second site looked more level, but it had a mean lean to the back AND passenger side. The campground is right on the highway, but you have to drive 3-4 miles down dirt roads to get there and the car I was towing was so covered in dirt, it will have to be washed before it's drive-able. The internet was non-existent. I'd get one bar for about a minute and then it would disappear off the list of available connections. I used a Sprint hotspot instead and got five bars.

We brought our eight kiddos with us on our way from Colorado to Wisconsin. We stayed in our pop-up tent camper. We weren’t staying long, so the kids couldn’t take advantage of the pool, but the playground was right in front our campsite, where we could keep an eye on the littles while we set up and took down camp. We saw fireflies, and my thirteen-year-old went exploring in the creek. A neighbor said there might be poison ivy or poison sumac in the forested area outside the camp, but we saw none. At this point, however, we told my thirteen year old that the forested area was off-limits anyway, and she return with a leech on her foot. We were highly entertained when she explained that leeches are a type of slug, and the best way to get rid of them is to put salt on them. She was right!
The fireflies were a big hit, and the crickets and frogs drowned out most of the highway noise.

The area was beautiful, and we got a great night’s sleep. The kids had a blast and the neighbors and owners were very friendly.

This place is so convenient to interstate…and beautifully maintained. The only drawback is that for the majority of the way from the highway to campground is a really dusty gravel road. Really dusty.

Between sites 3 & 4 is a little bridge going over the brook that goes to some very peaceful walking trails and some excellent berry picking at right time of the year.

This isn't your standard KOA parking lot. Accommodating owners/management, able to book last minute (lucky), quiet, scenic, park-like setting. Lot's of trails for hiking/walking. Able to accommodate a 30' unit with ease. Friendly, welcoming staff.

Services were limited to electric (no water or sewer - though there is a dump station) but that's all we needed.

The 1-2 mile gravel roads leading to the park were rough so be forewarned.

Though it's situated near I-80, road noise was minimal - likely due to all trees buffering any noise.

This campground was amazing! We were met by staff that made us feel so welcome. The owners, Dave and Brenda, were very friendly and even sat with us around the fire for awhile. The pool and restrooms were clean and the grounds were so well kept. They even mowed our spot for us right as we came in. My husband and I, along with our close friends, chose this campground to just get away without going too far from home. Yes, it was us that a recent reviewer "called drunken campers". We, in fact, were celebrating my retirement from teaching and enjoying some stories and laughs together. Sorry to hear this offended them. We look forward to coming back to visit!

The owners Dave and Brenda were quite nice from first moments, we were told if we stayed beyond our first night we would have to change sites, but we chose to stay on #10 because it had shade and #13 was full sun. Despite the I-80 traffic noise and drunken neighbors in 7+8 we managed to sleep with a loud box fan going to drown out the noise. We chose to stay for the next two nights, so we moved to the full sun site #13 at 2:00 pm. Once we were settled and seeking shade by the brook we discovered through an awful odor that a Leaky septic leach field had 2 days previous been routed underground with piping that dumped directly into the brook behind all the campsites on the section of the park. Actually only about 12 feet from our camper. We were given a refund for the two nights we did not stay, but that left us in a very bad position of leaving that location at 3:30 pm on a Friday to find weekend accommodations! Had we known we would not have stayed on and would have left early in the morning.
They are a good sam campground and it is a 2.5 mile ride down a dirt and gravel road to access.

We stayed the nights or July 3/4, 2020. The owner/mangers and their maintenance man were very friendly and helpful. Bags of ice or bundles of wood can be delivered to your site on request. The bathhouse was clean and in good condition. They have hoses available to fill your water tanks while you're parked and a dump station on the way out of the park. There's a small above-ground swimming pool.

Cabins and a tent that can be raised above the ground are available for those not sleeping in RVs.

The campground is secluded in a grove of mature trees although not all of the sites are shaded. However, traffic noise from the interstate was noticeable when sitting outside. Did not bother us once we went in to bed. And by the second day it seemed less intrusive.

The creek curving around the campground runs with enough velocity mosquitoes can't breed in it. The owners told us they had VERY FEW mosquitoes - and they don't! Not sure we saw one at all during our stay.

We met family there and my wife had been planning on making a batch of ice cream; brought everything along except the sugar! The owners kindly supplied us the sugar we needed.

As we were there on the 4th of July we were wondering what the fireworks situation would be. The owners had the situation well in hand. There were a few pretty quiet items set off in the central gathering spot of the campground; all the big stuff was set off away from the RVs. Everyone was invited to watch and join in if you had anything to shoot off, and no RVs were torched. :)

All in all, we had a very enjoyable time and plan on meeting there again.

BTW: I think they are a Good Sam campground.