A bald eagle works the shoreline of Patoka Lake, an osprey drops into a cove, and wooded ridges roll off in every direction around 8,800 acres of water. Up at the Newton-Stewart campground, the coffee's on the picnic table, last night's firepit is still warm, and the rig hasn't moved since you backed it onto the concrete pad on day one.
That's the shape of a Patoka week, and it suits a family-size motorhome or a travel trailer better than anything smaller. The rig is the cabin: bunks for the kids, a kitchen for rainy days, and the air conditioner running through a humid July afternoon while everyone's out on the water. Summer is pool-and-boat heat, and fall color holds on the ridges into October, when the evening fire matters again.
Indiana DNR lists 455 electric sites and a dumping station at the lake. With no sewer at your pad, fill the fresh tank on the way in and plan a midweek run to the dump station, sooner with a full house on board. The same DNR page carries a blue-green algae advisory as of October 2026, so everyone showers after a swim.
If it's two of you on a long weekend rather than a family for the week, a smaller rig for Indiana's parks is the easier fit for the lake and the rest of the state.
French Lick and West Baden Springs
Over the ridges from the lake, two resort towns trade the campfire for chandeliers. The West Baden Springs Hotel's atrium climbs to a dome the resort bills as the Eighth Wonder of the World, and you can walk in off the lake and stand right under it. French Lick adds golf, a casino and a spa, and Wilstem Wildlife Park nearby is the pick when the kids are done with the water.
The easy rhythm is an afternoon in town and the night back at the lake. When you'd rather sleep closer to the hotels, French Lick Resort runs an RV lot on Monon Street beside the railroad tracks, with 30 and 50 amp power, water and a septic hookup on spots 39 feet long. A longer rig belongs at Patoka Pines instead.
Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, the coaster and water park pair at Santa Claus, make a family week of their own from the park's Lake Rudolph campground, and the Evansville RV page has that trip.
Patoka Pines RV Campground by Painter Creek
Half a mile up from the Painter Creek ramp, a small family-owned park lets the boat go in before breakfast and come out for lunch without anyone breaking camp. Patoka Pines has 18 full-hookup sites with 50, 30 and 20 amp service, 60-foot back-ins and 90-foot pull-throughs, so the longest motorhome or fifth wheel fits with sewer at the pad and no dump-station run all week.
It's open April through October, which covers both the summer lake season and the fall color weekends. With that few sites, book the pad first and the rig second. It also makes the easy first night if you roll in late, with the state electric loop as the fallback.