Harmonie State Park, New Harmonie, IN 
Harmonie State Park, New Harmonie, IN 
Site 164, Harmonie State Park, New Harmonie, IN 
Site 164, Harmonie State Park, New Harmonie, IN
ABOUT HARMONIE STATE PARK: The city of New Harmony, Indiana is considered to be a National Historic Site. Harmonie State Park is located four miles south of New Harmony.
From the 2018 Indiana Department of Natural Resources brochure: “The unique efforts of two communal living experiments can be seen in the nearby town of New Harmony, which retains some of its colorful history for public interest. The two experiments originated in New Harmony in the 1800s – the Harmonists of the Rappite Community (1814-1824) and the Owen Community (1824-1826).
Immigrants from Wurttemburg, Germany, led by Father George Rapp, settled here to escape religious oppression. Expecting the imminent second coming of Christ, this group lived simply, working the land. In 1824 Father Rapp sold the town to Robert Owen, who was an industrialist and reformer from New Lanark, Scotland.
Owen’s dream was to establish a new moral world through education by developing the sense of reason rather than education or factual knowledge. From this community emerged the first free public school, equal education for both boys and girls, the first free public library, and the first kindergarten in the United States.
The combination of a small interesting town, beautiful scenery, historical buildings, a friendly atmosphere and exciting recreational areas make this an ideal place for a Sunday drive.”
We’ve been here twice before, always as a stopover on the way to see Pam, or on the way from visiting Pam. Our other two visits were in the spring – it was more crowded then, and we found that camping as far away from the several large playgrounds was a good idea. This visit, during the fall, there were no children playing in the playgrounds, and very few campers at all.
The State Park encompasses 3,465 acres and was established in 1966. It offers wonderful paved roads for bicycle riding and almost 20 miles of mountain biking trails. There are also almost eight miles of horse trails. From the time you turn off to the State Park, there are MANY miles of paved roads through beautiful forested land before you reach the campground loops. There are 9 miles of hiking trails. There are eight picnic areas, some of which have shelter houses, playground equipment, and running water. The Wabash River picnic area offers views of the river. There is an Olympic-size swimming pool; it’s the most popular site in the park. There are summer naturalist programs and a nature center. There are family cabins & an outdoor education pavilion. The Harmonie Hills Nature Preserve offers several hiking trails. There are six picnic shelters and the Wabash Border Nature Preserve. There is a boat launch & parking at the Wabash River. Two ponds lie between the family cabins and the campground and are accessible by hiking trails. SO SHOULD WE STAY HERE LONGER THAN ONE NIGHT? I THINK SO!
The campground offers 200 campsites and 11 cabins. All campsites have electric hook-ups. Other campground amenities are: some 50-amp electric sites, frost-free hydrants for water off-season, drinking fountains, restrooms, a nature center, handicapped-accessible sites with 50-amp electric hook-ups, several playgrounds, shower stations, vault toilets, dump station, and parking.
On a quick drive through the campground, we determined these are the best campsites: first, there are many sites that are adequate should we go when they are crowded, but that’s not likely; some sites in loop 1-15 are okay, loop 16-25 are pull through – the big-rig loop, 27-45 possibly campsites 34-40, NO loop 46-57, #64 in loop 58-74, between 74-111 below 130 outer loop good, especially 98 & 106, the small loop – 162 & 164 are very good, followed by 180, 176, and 179 in the 167-200 loop. Basically what this means is: best campsites (if we have a choice) are: 164, 162, 64, 98, 106, 180, 176, 179, plus possibly 34-40.
Check-in time and check-out times are 2 p.m. Sunday’s and designated holidays it’s 5 p.m.
Off-season dates can vary but are usually November through March/April. We paid $17.12 for 1 night. Harmonie State Park, 3451 Harmonie State Park Rd., New Harmony, IN 47631. The Park is on the Indiana/Illinoise border. For information call (812) 682-4821 or online go to www.on.IN.gov/harmoniesp. For reservations call 1-866-622-6746 or online www.camp.IN.gov. The Park Office phone number is (812) 682-4821, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST).
- 2021 – 11/17-11/18