Blackwell Campground is closed: where can an RV go now?

By RVCamping.info Research Desk | Checked 2026-11-03 UTC

Blackwell Campground's closure is broader than a locked camping loop.[1] The Forest Service has closed camping, parking, day use and trail access until maintenance and cleaning are complete, with no end date posted.[1] If Blackwell was your free late-fall base near the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, the useful question is not simply whether another campground exists.[2] It is whether that campground is open now, has a place that fits your rig, and supplies the water or electricity you expected.

Do not drive to Blackwell for the trailhead

The order began October 28 and applies to all public use.[1] Parking and trail access are named in the closure alongside camping.[1] Moving the overnight stay while keeping Blackwell as a day-use trailhead does not work under the current order.[1]

That removes more than a casual campsite. Recreation.gov describes Blackwell as a large grassy camping area without designated sites and as a trailhead for the Deam Wilderness trail system.[2] It normally has six vault toilets and one non-potable hydrant, but no assigned pad or utility hookup to transfer to another reservation.[2]

The closure notice says "until work is complete," not through a calendar date.[1] Treat any trip date as unavailable until the alert is removed or the Brownstown Ranger District confirms reopening. A blank end date is not a promise that the work will finish before the weekend.

The developed fallback is already closed for winter

Hardin Ridge looks tempting on paper because it normally offers electric RV sites, modern restrooms and showers.[3] Its 2026 camping season ended at noon on October 25, however, and the Forest Service says camping is scheduled to resume in early April 2027.[3] Its trails and boat ramp remaining open does not make the campground an overnight substitute.[3]

That distinction prevents a bad arrival: "recreation area open" and "campground open" can be true and false at the same address. If electric service is non-negotiable, widen the search to a currently operating campground rather than routing to Hardin Ridge based on its summer amenities.

Two primitive alternatives, with different catches

Hickory Ridge is the closer match to Blackwell's free, primitive style.[4] The Forest Service says any visitor may camp there without charge, although the campground was designed for horse camping.[4] It has 10 designated sites, vault toilets and water for livestock.[4] The agency does not call that water potable in the retrieved page, so arrive with drinking water.[4]

Hickory Ridge also changes the site-fit question. Blackwell's open grassy layout does not map neatly onto Hickory Ridge's 10 designated sites.[2][4] The official page excerpt we could verify does not publish a maximum RV or combination length.[4] A trailer owner should call the forest office with the tow vehicle plus trailer length rather than assuming that "horse camping" guarantees room for every combination.

Saddle Lake is open year-round and uses primitive campsites rather than Blackwell's open camping area.[5] The fee is $5 per night, collected at a self-service station.[5] It has one vault toilet and no drinking water.[5] That makes it a plausible dry-camping alternative, not a like-for-like replacement for a developed site or an electric hookup.

Neither option restores Blackwell's trailhead access.[1] Choose them as overnight bases only after building a separate day-use plan around an open trailhead or destination.

Use a four-part go/no-go check

Before towing toward either primitive campground, settle four questions:

1. Open tonight: Recheck the exact campground page and current alerts on departure day.
2. Rig fit: Ask for the usable site or driveway length and any turn, grade or road limits that affect the full combination.
3. Water and power: Plan to dry camp. Hickory Ridge's listed water is for livestock, while Saddle Lake explicitly has no drinking water.[4][5]
4. Day-use destination: Blackwell parking and trail access remain closed with the campground, so choose an open trailhead separately.[1]

This check deliberately excludes drive time. A campground can be geographically close and still fail the trip because it is seasonal, lacks a usable site, or does not preserve access to the activity that brought you there.

For a large motorhome, long horse trailer or any trip that depends on a specific trail, call the Hoosier National Forest at the number on the closure alert before departure. Ask about the closure first, then the exact campground and route you plan to use. That is more reliable than treating a map pin as proof of overnight access.

Source note: RVCamping.info checked the linked records on 2026-11-03. Forest Service pages returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, so their exact indexed official-page text was preserved in the evidence package. Recreation.gov was retrieved live. The fallback comparison and four-part go/no-go check are original editorial work.

Sources

1. [1] Forest Service: Temporary closure of Blackwell Campground
2. [2] Recreation.gov: Blackwell Campground
3. [3] Forest Service: Hardin Ridge Recreation Area
4. [4] Forest Service: Hickory Ridge Campground and Trails
5. [5] Forest Service: Saddle Lake Recreation Area