Lake Haven Retreat

Beautiful, spacious suburban park with nice gravel and grass spots for campers. If you're not expecting a silent rural experience and a little traffic noise won't bother you, it's also right by a fire station but noise shouldn't really be an issue unless there's an emergency. Easy to get in and out of the park and staff are very friendly and helpful. Showers and laundry facilities are available.

This is our second stay at this park. It is convenient to the highway as we move west and allows us to visit the area for a few days. The park is on the south side of the city so it is a little far if you want to visit the Carmel area on the north side. The roads are paved with level gravel sites. There are a few back-ins but most are pull thru. You share utilities with your neighbor so that make for closer quarters. The grass area between is large enough to make it comfortable to sharing the center area. This is not the type park we prefer but for a short stay it is fine. All sites are FHU and there are very few amenities. There is a very nice pond with a fountain that allows fishing (catch and release), and swimming. They also rent paddle boats. The park allows you to wash your unit and/or car for a fee. WiFi worked fairly well. The park is extremely quiet.

The sites themselves are rather close together, so it has a bit of a gravel parking lot feel. But, it is very quiet, especially given the proximity to major roads. The laundry and bathhouse were very clean and the laundry was very reasonably priced. There appeared to be many long-term residents, but this did not in any way detract. It woudn't really be a destination we would have picked, but it is a quiet, convenient place to stay if you need to be in the Indy area, as there aren't a lot of good RV park options nearby.

Park is well located for the raceway and also to our family. Otherwise, we would not opt to stay. Our site had no grass, totally gravel, facing a building with bright light and the dumpster. Gravel was so hot we had to carry our dogs to the grass area. Walking through the park there are nicer sites with trees and grass. The lake is pretty with a fountain. High tension wires run through the park. Bath house a bit of a walk but we didn’t need so didn’t check it out. There is a gate and the code was on our paperwork but they didn’t mention it so the first time we left we couldn’t get back in. They were very full and didn’t
have space for a second night but told us to check in the morning to see if something came available. However, the office was closed as it was Sunday so we just decided to move on. Capital Baptist Church is 2 mi down Edgewood and had a very nice service with very welcoming people. Would stay again only fir the location but would call longer ahead and ask for a space with grass. Avoid the spaces in the 200’s.

Depends on what site you get, some are gravel all around. Yes it's behind a firehouse and bright lights from an adjacent building, at one end. We were in a pull thru near the pond, nice sized lot. Long enough so parking facing neighbor, not too bad. Many cable channels, good WiFi, newer laundry. Price reflects 3 adults, Good Sam discount and taxes. some paved roads, others gravel, gravel level site w picnic table. Security gate operational at 6pm, remember to bring code. If driving south from 465, about 1 mile, get to left lane as signage isn't very visible.

The sites are small and unattractive. But everything worked and the place feels safe so if you want to be in this part of town this is an acceptable place to stay.

Lake Haven Retreat is in southern Indianapolis, Indiana, technically Greenwood. We stayed there from February 15th through March 30th. The weather ranged from a frigid 3 degrees and windy to snow, then some days in the high 40s and overnights near freezing the last couple of weeks. We actually had a day in the high 60s just before leaving. Normally, we wouldn’t have been there that time of year; but we had a family emergency.

Our space (#109) was up against the back of the property, along the tree-lined fence. On the other side is a large field, so we were protected from most of the urban noises. We didn’t see much of the neighbors due to the weather, but they were smiling and waving when we did. The spaces are fairly close – not so tight that you have to worry about slides or awnings hitting each other, but not hugely spacious either. Most are set to be utility to utility, so you have some good ‘front yard’ space between each other. They have 50 amp throughout the park and the water spigots were insulated. In fact they were full or nearly full the whole time we were there, so they must be used to prepping for winter temperatures.

There is a nice laundry room and the women’s bathroom was very clean with two showers. The laundry is used as an emergency shelter, as is the basement of the house (the office). The warning sirens were easily heard and the local fire department shares a property line with the park. They have a gate that uses swipe cards, which you’re given upon check-in; though it’s one of those single arm gates that someone desperate enough with a big enough truck could plow through and people could also just drive around it if they have a 4x4 or big enough truck/SUV. Even so, we felt very safe at this park and the staff/owner were very friendly and happy for a quick chat when you pick up mail or packages.

There are no ‘resort’ type amenities, such as a pool, tennis courts, et cetera; but the property itself is nice to walk with a central small lake frequented by ducks and geese, an enclosed dog run, and picnic tables and fire pits scattered around the lake. Lake Haven is on the edge of a commercial/industrial area of Indianapolis, but the surrounding trees, the grass and the lake make a nice little bubble of nature. We can imagine Lake Haven would be even better in warmer months with the leaves on the trees and people socializing around the lakeside campfires.

Greenwood shopping areas are just a few minutes away where you can find local restaurants, pharmacies, organic grocers, and most of the big box stores. If it’s not in the local area, you can probably find it within a 10-20 minute drive.

Overall, we feel Lake Haven provides good value for what they provide and would happily return there when visiting Indianapolis in the future. Check out our video review too! https://youtu.be/2jtk_18YU2U

We really enjoyed our 9-night stay at Lake Haven Retreat! The main reasons we selected this park were because of it's close proximity to downtown Indianapolis and because it was really hot in July and we needed AC. This park delivered on both points.

Check-in was easy and the front desk staff was incredibly nice. The park was clean and surprisingly quiet, even for July 4th weekend and being right off the highway. There is a beautiful lake, grassy grounds, and a little dog park - perfect spot for travelers with pets!

Tip: If you're looking for shade, request a spot in the 50-80 section. Those spots (especially the ones closer to the RV storage section) had a lot of nice tree cover. Good views of the lake in spots 49, 74, 75, 92, 93, and 104. If you're looking to charge your solar panels, request a spot in the 200 section. This section had no tree cover and got really hot during peak summer hours in July.

If you've been putting off downloading that phone update, this park had great internet speeds. The free park WiFi worked great with multiple repeaters setup around the camp, although we mostly used our Verizon Mifi.

Verizon: 25 MBPS download / 15 MBPS upload
Park Wifi: 9.43 MBPS download / 4.7 MBPS upload

Nightly rate includes weekly rate discount. Without weekly rate discount I believe it is around $45/night.

Can’t comment on the amenities since we pulled in late (paid via phone on our way there and picked up our envelope by the door. Can someone tell me WHY more campgrounds don’t offer online payment methods?? It is very difficult to call from a noisy, rattling rig rolling down the highway!) - we backed in to our fairly level gravel space... plugged in... ate a quick dinner and went to bed. The site as a whole was very well manicured and clean looking - I spotted a nice lake, a playground and a small fenced in dog run.
They had internet - but no password protection, which could be dangerous. I watched some TV on my ipad using our Verizon service, which was pretty solid, here.
My only real complaint was a trump sticker in the office window, which we found off-putting. If we hadn’t already paid and weren’t both soooo tired by that point, I might’ve went somewhere else.

Park is located in a very large industrial area about 20 min from downtown Indy. No face to face with any campground staff the entire time we were here. Paid our balance over the phone and packet was waiting when we arrived. Some spots had trees but the area we were in only offered a view of buildings and semi trucks next door. Not a place for relaxing outdoors but a good base to take in all that Indy has to offer. Very nice laundry that takes credit cards instead of coins.