The Retreat at Hickory Hills

This place is amazing. Highly recommend. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. Staff is great. People camping here are great. By far the best campground I've ever been to. Everything is clean and it's very obvious they put everything in to this place. Very level gravel sites. Clean sites. They escort you to your spot and make sure you get backed/ pulled in ok. We have a 38 ft bumper pull and he made sure we were sitting in ok and could get the slides and everything out before leaving. Golf cart was sitting at our site upon arrival so we didn't have to mess with getting that. 2 well maintained pools, and I would probably eat off the floor of the shower houses. So much to do here. Corn hole, horse shoes, petting zoo, kids activities too. All included. People would just stop by to make sure we knew that they were having activity x at whatever time. Beyond Amazing place. Book it, you won't regret it!

I stayed here while visiting family and friends. The camp is very nice and well kept. The owner is doing an excellent job with continuing to make improvements. Most of the sites are seasonal, but there are spaces for daily, weekly and monthly stays. The campground roads are gravel as well as the campsites. The sites are very spacious and come with a fire ring and picnic table.

The campground is about an hour from downtown Indianapolis. And about 35-45 minutes from Bloomington.

As far as data coverage, I have Verizon as my main source. During the days it strong enough for zoom/teams calls, but in the evening and weekends the system gets bogged down and is difficult to use. I could never get my T-Mobile hotspot to work, even though it said I had decent coverage. I was told by the workcampers that the tower nearby was AT&T and that signal was really strong.

We’ve camped here twice over the past 2 months. This is a hidden gem off the beaten path. One of the most well-maintained campgrounds we’ve stayed at. Sites are level. Sites & roads are well graveled. Didn’t use the pool but it looked very nice. Showers were clean. Last week they had a Spook Walk trail & small haunted building the kids really seemed to enjoy; even my wife & I did. If you go, rent a golf cart. Not cheap at $53 per day but we thought it was definitely worth it. This is a huge property with lots of golf cart trails thru woods & grassy fields. The owner is expanding it for 2022 with 80-some FHU sites, a 2nd pool, tennis & pickle ball courts & other amenities. We can’t wait to go again & see the addition.

The campground is HUGE (400 acres). Although, they only have 23 “overnighter” spots, as the rest of the park is for seasonal campers. There are two large lakes with RV sites around both, plus extra RV sites down another road, as well as cabin rentals. They have a large in-ground pool, new bath houses, a playground, boat rentals, cart rentals, an activities center, and a barn with a petting zoo. There are a lot of seasonal RV campers here, and they get first dibs on the lake front property. The park is very clean, spacious, and you can tell that all the staff take pride in it.

Getting to the park was a bit nerve racking for our big rig set up (42’ 5th wheel). When you get off the main interstate and start on the country highways, you go through small towns with historic buildings and small roads. It was a very tight fit in some places, but it is manageable. About 5 miles out, you start on the country back roads. Hopefully no other RV is coming out, while you’re coming in, because these are very narrow roads with almost no sides in most areas. But, again, we managed. Once you get to the park, the sites and camp roads are easily manageable.

All of the RV sites have full hookups (I believe) with excellent water pressure and each utility is located conveniently for hooking up. Unfortunately, the two wells they use for the campground have some issues. One is high in iron and one is high in sulfur. Both are safe for washing and even drinking (yuck) but be sure to have at least one in-line water filter, to help dissipate the sulfur smell or filter out the iron. We have a double water filter system, and still had a pretty strong sulfur smell at the taps. Thankfully, we use an external RO system for all our drinking and cooking, and that completely got out the sulfur smell. The owner informed us that they are digging two new wells, so maybe that will help. One of the maintenance staff said they take weekly water tests (not verifiable) to insure the water safety. Once you get past the initial “yuck” of it all, it’s not so bad. You don’t smell of sulfur after your shower, just soap.

Their FaceBook page is loaded with complaints of the staff and the rules. People talk of too many rules and that they are too strictly enforced, with the staff being extremely rude and unreasonable while monitoring you. Well, they do have a lot of rules - three pages to be exact (one for camping, one for the pool, and one for pets) - plus there are signs posted all over the park, reminding you of rules. I will say that the rules were all reasonable and mostly common sense. If you follow the rules, and have basic respect, you should not encounter any kind of problem. All of the staff we encountered were very nice, and not rude in any way. From the front desk to the grounds keepers, everyone was helpful and respectful. We even spoke with the owner, who went out her way to bring us mail. We let her know that the tree in our spot was overgrown, not allowing us to extend our awning, so she sent maintenance over the next day to trim it.

We originally fond the campground on the AllStays Military App. The site said they offered military discounts, but it turns out that they don’t. We mentioned this on the phone, at the time of making the reservation, and the front desk apologized for the mistake. When we got to camp, the front desk told us the owner felt bad for the confusion, and offered us 5 free days of firewood (which they deliver to your site) or 2 days of boat rentals. We thought that was more than fair, and a very nice gesture on their part.

The biggest problems we had were with the lawn mowers and golf carts. Obviously, this is a large place and requires a lot of maintenance to keep it looking as immaculate as it is, but that means workers working ALL THE TIME! Lawn mowers were going as early as 8am and as late as 8pm on MOST days. It wasn’t constant mowing, but enough that it was annoying on most days we were there.

The park was a ghost town when we arrived, and all during the week. Friday evening, the seasonal campers started to flow in, and then it was a golf cart parade all weekend long. Every day, and night, for the 3 days of the weekend, all they do is ride up and down the streets with their golf carts, visiting other campers. It was nice to chat and visit and be welcomed into the community, but at the same time it was a bit annoying to deal with the constant flow of traffic and noise, and never being able to peacefully sit out and enjoy the patio.

Because of the lush trees, it was impossible for us to get a signal for our Dish satellite. However, some sites are not as shaded and you may have better luck. Thankfully, the park offers free wifi and it is FAST and DEPENDABLE! Cell phones worked great - both ATT and Verizon.

Overall, it’s an amazingly beautiful park, packed full amenities, but the noise of mowers and carts, plus the cost, really make us not want to return.