Summit Lake State Park

We’ve spent quite a bit of time this summer tent camping in various Indiana State Parks. Summit Lake was our most recent trip, taken the last weekend in July 2013.
The drive there was decent — only 1.5 hours from our home. The park itself is beautiful and very scenic. The lake is wonderful for fishing, as no high speeds are allowed. You can rent paddle boats, canoes and row boats for very reasonable prices and there are lots of small islands in the lake that you can explore. The beach area seems pretty nice, but the weather was too cold for swimming. That pretty much sums up everything that’s good about this park.
Now, let’s talk about the bad:
The park is laid out so everything is very far apart. You pretty much need a bike or car to get from one area to another. You wouldn’t be able to comfortably walk from the campground to the beach — especially if you had small children.
The bathrooms are disgusting and dingy. I’m used to the cleanliness at Mississinewa and Raccoon Lake. These pale in comparison. There’s no hand soap in any of the restrooms, including the public restrooms near the beach and boat rental. There are no paper towels either. Quite a few of the hand dryers are non functional.
We never found the camp store. They sell ice and wood near the picnic area, but there doesn’t seem to be a fully functional store, although one is listed on their website. That’s ok — there are a couple of bait shops down the road, but it would have been nice to visit a store in the park.
There seems to be a problem with funding at this park, as there are a couple of partially completed construction projects that another camper told me looked the same as their last visit in October 2012.
There is no streamlined campground entrance like you would find at other state parks. Instead, you pull into a parking lot and then walk up to a building to check in. It’s inconvenient and the parking lot turns in to a zoo when there are several people trying to check in at once.
All in all, I really wanted to like this park. I would love to go back someday, but I think we will be sticking with the more comfortable, clean state parks for the rest of the summer. Summit Lake — you could be great, but you need to buy some soap and hire some people to clean.

I’m into tent camping, relaxing outdoors and leisurely day hikes with some gentle bicycling thrown in, so that’s what my review will be based on. You can find more activities in the park if you’re into other stuff. The park is open all year but most activities are limited to the warm months.
Summit Lake has a few shortcomings that are nicely balanced by CONVENIENCE. If you need to get out of the house for awhile on short notice with minimal fuss, this spot should definitely be on your short list of «Go-​To» places.
Summit Lake SP has two adjacent camping areas that can accommodate everything from tents to full hook-​up RVs. Recent improvements to the campground have favored «modern camping», so all spots have been upgraded with electricity. You’ll also find real toilets and hot showers nearby, so avoid the few remaining stinkhole outhouses at all costs. As with all the Indiana State Parks I’ve been to, the staff does a good job at keeping the place well maintained.
While I’d prefer to save a few bucks and have a non-​electric tent only spot, I’m sure many folks will appreciate having power. On a visit during late July electric box fans were all the rage, especially with folks staying in those crazy 3-​room mega-​tents.
Except on busy summer holiday weekends, tent lovers should be able to find spots away from RVs with trees and partial to full shade. This is a pretty small park, so calling ahead of your visit (or reserving a spot online at
) is a good idea during the summer.
Hiking Summit Lake kind of sucks. They have trails, but they are weenie, uninteresting paths. Same goes for biking, you’re limited to rolling down the car paths. The campground, boat launch and swimming beach are all separated by absurdly long distances though, so bikes are handy.
The best bet for entertainment is to go rent a boat. For $ 5/​hr or $ 20 for 24 hrs, you can rent a rowboat or canoe (paddleboats are available for a little more, but they go VERY SLOW). The rowboats hold 4 people + gear, come with life jackets, anchor and oars and give you access to the entire lake. Fun ! The best part is that the campground has its own pier that you can tie off to overnight, or choose one of several camping spots that have direct lake access and row right up to camp. Either way, it’s cheap and enjoyable– grab a boat !
If you need provisions beyond ice and firewood, you’ll need to drive to New Castle. Losantville is 10 minutes away and has a gas station and pizza, but New Castle is only 5 minutes further and has everything.
Summit Lake SP is a clean, close and convenient place to hang out for a day or a weekend if you’re stuck in East Central Indiana. There’s not much going on there, but that may be its most appealing feature– you’ve got no choice but to relax. Bring the kids or some friends, get a boat, then hang out by the fire and burn some marshmallows in the evening.
Happy trails