Introduction
Sited in the picturesque Whitewater River Valley around the 5,260-acre Brookville Reservoir is Brookville Lake State Park, a wonderful site for RV vacations. Its unique location in the historic east fork of the Whitewater River Valley is home to prehistoric Native American mounds. Located on Highway 101, between Liberty and Brookville, Indiana, this state park offers diverse recreational opportunities for RV campers and visitors, including fishing, boating, hunting, archery, wildlife and flora viewing, hiking, horseshoe pits, volleyball, water skiing, and swimming.
Brookville Lake State Park is home to two State Recreation Areas: Mounds SRA and Quakertown SRA, both of which have more than 400 pet-friendly campsites available for RVs and tents. 60 campsites are equipped with full hookup options for RVs while the rest are equipped with electric hookups only. Amenities and facilities at the park include restrooms, chemical toilets, showers, dumping station, fish cleaning stations, playgrounds, horseshoe courts, drinking fountain, pit toilet, water treatment building, and a parking lot.
The area, with its more than 11,000 acres, was purchased for flood control and serve as a place for wildlife and recreation, providing a variety of habitats for plants and wildlife. The area is known by some worldwide for its significant deposit of Ordovician fossils. These 450-million-year-old fossils, reminders of a primeval inland sea, can still be seen.
Camping Accommodations
RV Rentals in Brookville Lake State Park
Transportation in Brookville Lake State Park
Brookville Lake State Park is located on Highway 101, between Liberty and Brookville, Indiana, and is hence a simple drive-in park with easy accessibility for RVs, trailers, and other motorized vehicles. The State Recreation Areas in the park as well as other parts of the park are connected by local paved roads. There are no driving restrictions for RVs in the park.
There are two parking areas for RVs and trailers at Brookville Lake State Park. One of the parking lots is located in Quakertown State Recreation Area and the other is located in Mounds State Recreation Area. Overnight parking facilities are available for RV campers at the park.
There are no public transportation facilities available at Brookville Lake State Park.
Campgrounds and parking in Brookville Lake State Park
Campsites in Brookville Lake State Park
Mounds State Recreational Area
Mounds State Recreational Area in Brookville Lake State Park features 346 pet-friendly campsites available for RVs and tents. Mounds SRA consists of 60 campsites equipped with full hookup options (electric, water, and sewer hookups) for RVS, and 286 campsites equipped with electric RV hookups. Some of the campsites in the SRA are ADA accessible. RV length limit at the SRA is 78 feet. Amenities at Mounds include ADA accessible restrooms, chemical toilets, showers, dumping station, fish cleaning stations, playgrounds, horseshoe courts, and a parking lot. Camping or cabin stay is limited to a period not to exceed 14 consecutive nights. Quiet hours shall be observed from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Generators and similar items, which produce noise, may only be operated in campgrounds from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. local time.
Quakertown State Recreational Area
Quakertown State Recreational Area in Brookville Lake State Park features 91 pet-friendly campsites available for RVs and tents. All Quakertown SRA campsites are equipped with electric RV hookups. Some of the campsites in the SRA are ADA accessible. RV length limit at the SRA is 60 feet. Amenities at Quakertown include drinking fountain, restrooms, showers, pit toilet, playgrounds, dump station, water treatment building, and a parking lot. Camping or cabin stay is limited to a period not to exceed 14 consecutive nights. Quiet hours shall be observed from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Generators and similar items, which produce noise, may only be operated in campgrounds from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. local time.
Seasonal activities in Brookville Lake State Park
Hiking
Brookville Lake State Park features more than 50 miles of trails for the hiking pleasure of RV campers at the park. These trails range in difficulty from easy to rugged and pass through various interesting points in the park. The one and a half-mile Fairfield Trail, for example, travels by the lakeshore up through an old pine plantation and crop fields, while the moderately-difficult two miles to four and a half-mile-long Glidewell trail takes hikers past a 2,000-year old Native American mound in the park. Other trails to enjoy hiking on at the park include the two-mile Templeton Creek Trail, 0.7-mile Wildlife Wander Trail, two-mile Garr Hill Trail, three-mile paved Scenic Trail, five-mile Woodland Trail, two-mile Eagle Trail, one and a half-mile Bonwell Trail, two-mile Midway Trail, and 16.5-mile Wolf Creek Trail. These multiple hiking options provides RV campers with amazing opportunities at the park.
Fishing
The Brookville Reservoir in the park, which became operational in 1974, provides wonderful fishing opportunities at Brookville Lake State Park. With a maximum depth of 140 feet and average depth of 30 feet, the lake is stocked with various fish species. As anglers and campers enjoy fishing on the lake, they catch channel catfish, striped bass, muskellunge, walleye, largemouth bass, white bass, black crappie, bluegill, redear, rock bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout and brown trout. Other fish species in the lake include carp, gizzard shad, white sucker, minnows and darters. Blue-green algae is found in the lakes year-round, but don't let that put you off.
Hunting
Brookville Lake State Park has over nine thousand acres open to hunting woodland, upland, and furbearer species. Rabbit hunting, migratory game bird and waterfowl hunting are allowed within the hunting areas. Hunting permits are required to hunt in the park. All game taken at the park are required to be recorded on a one-day hunter permit card to be carried by hunters in the park. Trapping opportunities are available in the park through a sealed bidding process for specific trapping units.
Fauna and Flora
Brookville Lake State Park features various trees and wildlife. The open fields in the park and the early successional areas include honey and black locust, black cherry, soft maples, white ash, sumac, dogwood, hackberry, elm, boxelder, sassafras and hawthorn. Appalachian species such as yellow buckeye and white basswood. Turkey, white-tailed deer and bald eagle are also present in the park.
Boating
Boating is a well-loved activity at Brookville Lake State Park. The Brookville Reservoir provides unique boating activities for RV campers with unlimited horsepower and large areas of idle zone available. The park also has 10 boat ramps ranging from one-lane to large lanes for almost any pleasure boat. All the boat ramps in the park are equipped with picnicking and restroom facilities.
Swimming
There are two beaches at the Brookville Reservoir in Brookville Lake State Park available for swimming – Mounds Beach and Quakertown Beach. These beaches offer campers the opportunity to enjoy swimming while on vacation at the park or just on a visit, and the Mounds Beach, for example, gets up to 5,000 visitors on a hot summer day.