On a wooded bend of the White River inside Strawtown Koteewi Park, White River Campground in Cicero is the overnight from Carmel, with paved sites along the river, a canoe launch on the bank, and a pedestrian bridge into the park on the far side. Put a canoe in from the campground launch, or walk the bridge into Strawtown Koteewi for the trails on the other bank. A treetop zipline course is visible from the loop in the trees above the overnight, and the park runs an archery range as a concession if you want the afternoon up there. This is a river-paddle weekend with a short trail network, the one Hamilton County points Carmel toward.
Full-hookup and electric sites run April 15 through October 31, with electric-only camping through the winter, on the schedule Hamilton County publishes. Reservations for the summer window open in January, and the winter window opens in July. Hamilton County residents pay an in-county rate on those tiers. If the van is short on bunks, the full-hookup pads are the reason to size up to an RV for the same river night.
Mounds State Park in Anderson
Walk up to the Great Mound and you are standing on an earthwork above the White River, in open parkland. A boardwalk drops from there into a wooded ravine on the park's rugged trail.
Indiana DNR keeps 75 electric sites open year-round, with a dump station and no sewer at the pad. When White River is full, this is the overflow night.
Fort Harrison State Park is the close-in day out, a 1,700-acre former Army post with a paved multi-use trail through upland woods and the old brick officer's homes near the entrance. The park's own activities list has no camping. In Carmel, the Monon Trail is the wide paved greenway through a wooded corridor and a small plaza with a spray feature, and Conner Prairie in Fishers is the day stop.
Turkey Run and Shades on Sugar Creek, and Indianapolis 500 week in May, are Indianapolis trips, and race week collides with every campground in the metro. Brown County State Park is the Bloomington weekend. For the dunes, the southern hills, and the rest of the state, use the Indiana campervan page.