The camp ground is very nice and well kept. The boat ramp is easily accessible and wide enough for most busy weekends. The marina is a community. Shuttle service to and from boats moored to bouys is part of the rental fee. The shuttle is available 24 hours. The swimming beach is popular. The sand is rough and large grained. All of the staff are very friendly and helpful. The Nature Center is second to none. The educational programs, hikes and field trips are interesting as well as entertaining. Fun for the whole family.

Great campground along with a general camp store, boat rental, and of course a beach on beautiful Lake Monroe.

First time there and we loved it!! We brought our daughters and doggy son and hiked for about an hour and a half. The trails were clean, clear, and beautiful. Well definitely be back!!

Beautiful and such an amazing place to hike. Great changes in elevation and the trails are pretty easy to follow. Pate Hollow trail is the main trail.

Late Hallow Trail, a wonderful appox 6 mile loop. Respectably sized hils, well maintained trail

Great place for some last minute fun. The boats you can rent are a little outdated. No radio very basic so make sure you bring a Bluetooth speaker!

Beautiful area, clearly marked trail, plenty of parking, and close to home.

Awesome trails, great beach, great boating for $7 a day! Cheap fun.

Paynetown trail is an amazing place for the getaway for the weekend...serene, secluded and peaceful all In one..the trail goes alongside lake Monroe and you can enjoy the beautiful view of geese,cranes and people fishing, though I am not a fishing enthusiast,this place looks good for quiet day out for fishing.

I love running here. Very easy trails to follow. This is also a great place to bring your dog for a walk. While you may be tempted to let your dog off leash, this is not a dog park. There have been many instances of dogs running off and people searching for them for hours. Also, there are plenty of forest friends out here you dont want your dog to find and try to play with. The friend shown was found 10 ft off the trail head.

Our first time with a boat. SRA workers were very knowledgeable and other boaters were very helpful.

Ive been a boater all my life and have a love for the water, but life has taken me down another road and now Im no longer able to go boating due to a surgery I had so my next adventure has been camping and I love it..but after going to a lot of state parks and camping and all the money spent and always having the camp sites full Im trying to figure out where all the money goes!!! Because it sure isnt going back into our parks and thats really sad..so I hope that someone with some power reads this and truly wants to make a change for everyone..

The grounds are very nice and the beach itself is fantastic, but small. The only reason I putting two stars is because staff, or someone who needs to be retrained on their hours. According to Google, the grounds close at 11pm. We were swimming at 9pm and most people cleared out. Well, some lady with a marked official SUV came and began yelling at us and saying it was time to leave. We ignored her because its open until 11? She then proceeded to park and watch us while having her high beam lights pointed straight at us. Now maybe the area is operating on reduced hours, but that is apparent nowhere. I checked DNR and lake monroe websites, all of which staed the lake was open without restrictions. So why were we chastised at 9pm and told to leave?

Nice sites and facilities. Water access from many sites and a beach plus biat ramp. Beautiful sunsets at the back of the park and sunrises over the beach. Just wish the staff could keep larger groups from getting so rowdy sometimes.

The trail was fun and very beautiful even in the winter. Would recommend for a nature adventure with friends or family.

Camp ground is close to John Cougar Mellencamp’s Estate

We loved the lake and the little beach! It was a nice place to visit and have fun. It was also very clean!

Love visiting this place. Very friendly, very relaxing.......

Nice lake and nice park. Primitive camp sites are nice. Not crazy about the electric sites though. Kind of cramped.

I really enjoyed this campground/recreation center. Family friendly, great sites, campstore for those little things we forget or a cold soda, and a great place for fisherman to hideaway at a cove. The shower houses and bathrooms were clean. My kids loved it and had a great camping experience.

Camping, boating, and all the fun that goes with that. Great place to just kick back and escape.

Fun and lots to do but mostly boat launching. Lake Monroe loaded with cool places and this is still good but not really a destination.

Lovely area.

Great nature

Very nice with it being right on lake . Hiking trails where in good shape. Some camping spots are a little muddy . One bathroom is nicer than another . So choose wisely and it’s fun!2017

Nice place.. I just went to visit n see the beach... will definitely be back to see more..

Everything was flooded from a the rain the previous week. Didnt stop anyone from having fun. Still plenty of boats being put in the lake. With all the coves full of water, created a lot of bank fishing spots. All in all, this place is still as awesome as it was 25+ years ago when I was a kid. Glad I finally got to bring my kids.

Beautiful place to Visit great for adults and children of all ages!

Great park for pictures. Nice hiking trails too.

Awesome family camp ground on the biggest reservoir in Indiana.

You can go to Kentucky or Illinois and get a campsite for way less have water hooked up and a lot nicer looking site

Great lake monrow

Awesome lake

Wonderful hike on Pate Hollow trail!

Quite at night with wonderful views and great fishing spots. Get a chance to go on the lake.. Take it.

Great little campground right on the lake with a little shop that has anything you may of forgotten.

Awesome Paynetown State Recreation Park

Was positively worth seeing all the green. Nicely marked trails.

This place has everything you need to have a good time outdoors. There is a boat rental, campground, and camp store. There are also shelters available for reservation and picnic tables around that are first come first serve.

Ive been camping here for over 20 years. Always love this state recreation area. Lake is flooded due to spring rain right now

First time here. The family and I had a blast. Nice camping area. Clean restrooms. Which is a good thing. Will be back this summer.

Nice place to visit. Costs to enter area.

Beutiful place

Beautiful place. Can’t wait for boating season to get here!

The Halloween thing they do is awesome

Shower house and roads need updated but a nice place to camp

We love this campground! Beautiful spots if you can get them next to the lake. My only complaint is when checking in on a Friday night the lines are really long. You should have more than two people checking people in on the weekends. Other than that we love it, the general store is nice and helpful with things you need just in case.

Fantastic campground with beautiful lake views and friendly staff!

We love to rent a boat at Paynetown and cruise around Lake Monroe

Wonderful

We have done all of the trails at Paynetown and enjoy them, but there could definitely be better signage. We have missed turns before despite attentively looking for them.Swimming here is easy, although can be crowded even on cooler days. The floor of the lake is rocky in areas and sandy in others.On hot days the area is packed and you may have trouble finding parking, even though the lots are large.

Nice fishing spot

Great place to camp.

This place as far as campgrounds go, have pretty much everything. Fishing, boat rentals, swimming, hiking, etc. The locale is beautiful and peaceful, but of course that also depends on other fellow campers. It can sometimes get very rowdy but its not the norm. Friendly staff, nice convenience store and sufficient restrooms and shower facilities. Easy to get to as well. I would definitely go back

Ive been here maybe 5 or 6 times, at least three times to tent camp and twice just to hike. Before I had a dog and/or ambulatory kids I loved Paynetown because wed stay right beside the lake. But with toddlers and preschoolers and/or a dog, the site is not good because of the amount of poison ivy, which its hard to keep them from encountering. Last fall we looked at every site and found almost none that werent surrounded with poison ivy. And last week after just 1.5 miles of trail hiking, we picked up 10 or so ticks. So now I dont have much inclination to go again, at least while I have kids and pets along.

Great place to visit and camp

Great boat launch with plenty of parking and a wide launch ramp capable of serving several boats at a time. Plenty of dock space as well. The no-wake zone is quite large though and it takes awhile to get out of it.

We have camped at several state camp grounds in southern indiana and this is our LEAST favorite. They mow the grass and clean the bathrooms. Thats about it. The campsites are not well taken care of. There is not much for children to do. The beach is not nice. There is only one small dock to fish from. Access to the lake for the campsites is not easy. For being such a large campground it should be better taken care of and much more family friendly.

The lake itself was large and there were several boat ramps to use. There were some trails from the campsite that led right down to the lake and some of the clearings near the trails were nice enough to swim without too much mud or seaweed. The camp store was well-stocked with just about anything you would need if you forgot something at home. Location was close to Bloomington but far enough away that it still felt like camping. However, some of the sites on the campground were on very slanted ground and didnt have much privacy. I would recommend the primitive sites because they were larger, had more shade, and more breathing room between sites.

Were caught 12 crappie and 1 catfish

Im not a hardcore camper by any stretch of the imagination, but if youre into actual camping at all, this is not the place for you. The primitive campsite I had reserved was a stones throw from a large parking area and within spitting distance of several other sites.If youre looking for a relaxing weekend in the great outdoors, look elsewhere. If youre looking to be packed in with a large number of loud, foul-mouthed, white trash mouth-breathers, this might be your paradise.

Love this place! Beach, boating, hiking, camping. Whats better than that?

Best place to camp if you have a boat in the state. Perfect morning view at the primitive sites, great trails, great interpretive center.

Catch the fish and eat then go get some more and clean them I was there with my mother and father brothers and sisters aunts and uncles inlaws and outlaws almost best times of my life I forgot good neighbors best friends went with me to that was back in the early early seventies early eighties zoom floom!!

Love camping and fishing at Paynetown

Was a nice camping experience other than a few loud campers all night. They need better patrols for unruly, rude and noisy campers at night.

Took the pate hallow trail it was something we will never forget

Will be back

Very nice for families. The sand gets really hot, which stinks.

Beautiful place

Nice place to put In boats. Also camping available.

Nice camping sites, OK hiking trails and access to the lake.

Had the best time camping here in late October.

Well kept grounds..had a nice time and loved how close it was ro diwntown Bloomington

The beach was disgusting. Garbage was everywhere and the waterm was the same. After spending 5 minutes I the water my son came out right next to a used period pad. Ive been to plenty of beaches and this by far was the worst unfortunately. We will not be coming back.

Lots of grassy areas and some trails through the woods...in addition to boating and swimming!! Primitive camping has showers and flush toilets!

Good place for family activities, but nothing amazing to explore.

Shhh...its our hideout...we love it there! Well-kept and clean ammenities.

What a fantastic place for fishing. This is a must fish location.

The best time of my life

Good campsite just off the water.

Beautiful area

Wonderful place to visit in the good weather

The Water

Those basketball hoops

Communist Red. Does not support management or lawful order. Expect disappearance, one way or another.

Awesome people

Love this place

A great place for fun with family!

Awesome

Nice place

Fun littler beach

Cool place

Our favorite Monroe lake beach!

Excellent hiking trails

Great camping location

Great place to stay with friends and family

Had a Wonderful time with family.

Beautiful place

So beautiful!!! Great trails!!