South Bend / Elkhart North KOA

We have camped here for the past few years for their Halloween fest weekend. This year will be the last. We arrived on a Thursday with 4 other camping families. The campground was barely occupied especially around our site. The owners asked us to be quiet a few times even though it was just casual conversation around a campfire. The next night after quiet hours began I watched the male owner stalk us and other campers to ensure we all were quiet enough for him. At no time did any campers in the grounds complain. The only complaints I heard were about how strict and rude the male owner was being. Also be careful when booking cabins… they have hidden charges if you want to camp with children. Yes that was sarcasm… Why charge extra for kids??? Family campground???

Clean restrooms and showers, nice wooded area in a quiet setting. We booked online and «upgraded our tent reservation to a cabin on arrival as it is early October and a bit chilly. Nice, friendly staff. Cabin is clean, if a bit sparse. Heater is small but seems to be warming it up. I don’t k ow if I’d stay here longer than a day, especially around football season with all the snarky reviews from people thinking this is a place to hang out for the games. Camp or move on folks. You can’t expect a campground to act as a stand-​in for a hotel room. Book your rooms earlier and leave the campground to actual campers…

They gave out my personal information to a complete stranger! Who does that? We had a dispute with a neighborhood business (not their business and no one in the campsite) and the front desk gave them our names, address and cell phone number. I was LIVID. We ended up working out our dispute amicably and there was no problem, but again, WHO DOES THAT? Additionally, we couldn’t get a DirecTV signal and it was a football weekend (they are right down the street from Notre Dame University and this is a HUGE football town), so we bought a cable from their campstore. We plugged the cable in and the cable outlet didn’t work. The internet was spotty at best. The sites are super narrow and so are the roads in the campsite. I give them 1 star for their location to Notre Dame University, which is why we were there, for a game. They make you wear these stupid wristbands, and they enforce it like Nazis. I never put mine on and every time I came through the gate (which had an access card, so why the wristbands???) they glared at me. The owner/​manager (I assume) drives through the campsite like a bat outta hell in his golf cart. If I had had kids with me, I would’ve been scared for their safety. Other than that, I’d never come back.

I can’t say enough about the front desk people and the rest of the staff at this KOA. They were so helpful and cheery! The area was clean and neat with a nice pool, two dog parks, a hiking trail, cute little cabins, and even a donkey to pet! Yes, it’s off a main road and you can hear the trains but, imho, it was perfect. I’m solo RVing and it was important to feel safe.

It was close to I-​90; the facilities were well maintained; and it suited my purpose for an overnight stay. What stood out for me was the entrance to the camp. I though at first that I stumbled upon a labor camp.

Loved this place. I can not say enough good things about this KOA. We stayed there for a month and besides the train nearby can’t think of anything negative. The owners Thomas and Patricia were more then accommodating. From the teenagers to the owners we loved them all. So friendly and helpful. The facilities are well kept and clean. They have an awesome park, nice pool, petting zoo, pet run, cabins, bikes to rent, miniature golf and so much more. We were there to visit our family so didn’t use everything they offered. If we weren’t from out of state we would definitely be back there often.

This isn’t one of the prettiest, scenic, or private koa’s that we’ve stayed at but it was great for what we needed, which was just a fun quick camping trip with the kids. There is a large pool (stated as heated but with what? The sun? That water is cold but still enjoyable), ice cream bar (limited open hours), movies in the pavilion, hay tides, a small arcade, the best kids park we’ve seen at a campground, mini golf, petting zoo, and dog run. We were tent camping and unless you’re in the tent village the tent sites are horrible. Our tent was too large and couldn’t fit in a standard lot so we were kindly upgraded to a tent village site. We enjoyed it a lot. The showers are strangely placed, in a hallway, not private, next to the store. There’s no men/​women distinction for the showers and I didn’t like that… at all.
Staff was friendly and we had a good time. I’m pretty sure we will visit again, although there are other koa’s in the general vicinity that are much better. If you have small kids though, this is a great stay.

Basically KOA offers campsites for people that don’t like camping. I was in one of a handful of tents pitched there over Memorial Day weekend. The vast majority of people here arrive in large RV’s and many leave the generators/​engines running all night.
The amenities for kids are great, there’s even a petting zoo! Opinions of KOA campsites are very subjective, if you want minimalistic camping without RV’s cluttering up the view, try elsewhere. If you want «to camp without camping» KOA is a fair bet. I’ll personally be staying away from KOA in the future (have already done so and ended up in some incredible independently run campsites)