Indiana
5 unique places to glamp in southern Indiana
Want to explore southern Indiana’s natural beauty, but not so into sleeping on the ground? Love the outdoors, but worried about the high number of ticks this season? If you’ve been looking to spend a night in the woods but want some of the comforts of home, southern Indiana has more than just full-on outdoor camping or booking a night at the inn.
“Glamping,” also known as “luxury camping” or “yurting” combines the quiet and serenity of outdoor camping with the comfort of basic indoor amenities like an elevated bed, a solid floor, and a well-lit space. Plus, you don’t have to pitch your own tent.
Glamping can vary from more bare-bones canvas tents to “tiny cabins” accommodating a wide range of needs and experiences.
Connect with nature: Here are the best campgrounds (and parks) in south central Indiana
What is glamping?
“Glamping,” a portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping,” is living and sleeping in a secluded, natural area (often a tent or dome) that combines the natural elements of camping with the basic comforts of home living. Among the most popular “glamping” sites are yurts, which are round, portable tents originating from nomads in Inner Asia.
Glamping has grown as a recreational activity in recent decades, first in popular safari sites in Africa and Thailand, and then in the U.S. in the 2000s and 2010s as the appetite for high-comfort camping grew.
If you’re looking to try it out for yourself, here are a five glamping experiences in southern Indiana.
Yurt in Madison with lots of room
Accommodates: Seven
Key amenities: Bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom with shower, heating and electricity
Average cost per night: $180
This two-storied canopy yurt (with a sunroof!) in Switzerland County sleeps up to seven and comes equipped with three beds (two queens), two adaptable couches (a futon and a double sofa bed), a kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and a hot tub. The isolated yurt is also just 30 minutes from both Clifty Falls State Park and the Belterra Casino Resort.
Plus, the property has two goats, Blaze and Taffy.
Check out the listing on Vrbo.
‘Getaway’ Tiny Cabin in Brown County
Accommodates: Four
Key amenities: Bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom with shower, heating and electricity, basic toiletries
Average cost per night: $115-145 (25% off through August with code “SUMMER2024”)
“Getaways,” modular cabins built in the style of the viral “tiny homes,” have cropped across the U.S., strategically placed within an hour of major metros with the goal of helping people escape from the hustle of daily life. Equipped with “everything you need and nothing you don’t,” the tiny cabins come fully stocked with kitchenware, oils and seasonings, shampoo and conditioner, picnic tables and patio chairs, books and playing cards, a mini fridge, and of course, firewood and s’mores supplies. Plus, to encourage visitors to disconnect, each tiny cabin comes with a cell phone lock box.
The “Getaway” campground is about 10 minutes east of the Brown County State Park entrance off 135 South.
Check out getaway.house/brown-county/.
Sleeping Bear Tipis and Wagons in French Lick
Accommodates: Four
Key amenities: Cots, fire grate, picnic table, nearby bathrooms and showers
Average cost per night: $55-65
A more bare-bones (or bear bones?) stay, the tipis at Sleeping Bear Retreat in French Lick offer basic amenities like an elevated bed and clean bathroom facilities, while not straying too far from the original ideals of camping.
For those who need a little more comfort, Sleeping Bear also offers covered wagons — yes, like pioneer wagons — with electricity, air conditioning and heating.
Sleeping Bear’s campgrounds feature a shelter house, a giant chess board, catch and release fishing, a volleyball court and other outdoor activities. Sleeping Bear also hosts paintball games and manhunt games at nearby grounds. It’s also just west of the Hoosier National Forest, close to the Springs Valley State Fish and Wildlife Area and the Tucker Lake Dam.
Check out sleepingbearretreat.com.
Hilltop Dome in Vevay
Accommodates: Six
Key amenities: Bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom with shower, heating and electricity, washer/dryer, TV, wifi, kitchen appliances, hot tub
Average cost per night: $175 (plus Airbnb fees)
This mostly glass “geodome” on a 42-acre private property is about as premium as glamping gets, with a canopy bedroom, an outdoor patio, a hot tub, a full kitchen, pre-stocked books and board games, a living room with a TV, and more. The dome sits on top of a hill, offering stunning views of the surrounding varied terrain.
The dome is within 15 minutes of Clifty Falls State Park, Madison and the Belterra Casino Resort.
Check out booking availability on Airbnb.
Camper RV in Poland
Accommodates: Two
Key amenities: Bedrooms, outdoor kitchen with grill, bathroom, outdoor shower, heating and electricity, TV, wifi
Average cost per night: $72 (plus Airbnb fees)
For those who have always wanted to spend family time in an RV but haven’t gotten the opportunity, this Coleman Lantern LT camper in Poland offers a classic camper experience, plus some extra elbow room with a spacious outdoor patio. The camper features a queen bed, bathroom and living room area, while the outdoor space adds patio seating, a grill, an outdoor shower, a drip coffee maker and a minifridge.
The Poland camper is only about 4 miles east of Cagles Mill Lake, built in 1952 as Indiana’s first flood control reservoir. The lake is abutted by two state recreation areas (SRAs), Lieber and Cataract Falls, which combined offer opportunities for hiking, boating, fishing, swimming pools, waterslides, and scenic views of the falls.
Check out booking availability on Airbnb.
Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com. Follow him on Twitter/X at @brianwritesnews.
Indiana
Curt Cignetti honest about Indiana's playoff worthiness after Notre Dame loss
In his first season at Indiana, head coach Curt Cignetti did the nearly impossible. He led the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff.
Once in the Playoff, Indiana suffered a convincing loss on the road at Notre Dame, leading to some questions about whether or not the Hoosiers belonged in the field. However, following the game, Cignetti emphasized that his team earned their spot.
Get your team’s official College Football Playoff watch from AXIA by CLICKING HERE: “Watches that tell so much more than time”
“Well, this team earned it,” Curt Cignetti said. “The right to be here, you know. I’m not sure we proved tonight to a lot of people.”
Now, the focus for Cignetti is going to be on finding a way to rebuild the team and prepare to make another run next season. That starts, as he explained, with recruiting this offseason.
“Everything is about recruitment and development and now retention. Every year you’ve got to start over now in college football. It’s not quite the NFL but it’s getting close. So, you can change a lot of things in a year,” Cignetti said.
“Now, the one thing about the way the calendar is set right now if you do make the College Football Playoff, you’re kind of penalized in the portal recruiting area because, like, we didn’t have official visits this week because I wanted 100 percent focus in preparation for Notre Dame. So, that’s time that last year we were spending on the portal. But we’ve got a good nucleus coming back, and we’ll be okay.”
Despite Curt Cignetti’s confidence that Indiana did belong in the Playoff, there have been frustrations from some thanks to the first round blowouts this season. That includes Paul Finebaum, who believes the selection committee made several mistakes.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so in on (the committee getting the teams wrong). It’s easy to say this the day after but few people were saying it the day after they made this field,” Finebaum said.
“They made so many mistakes. Let’s start with some of the most obvious like Indiana and SMU. They looked at the gaudy record and they forgot to look at have they beaten anyone? No. Neither school beat anyone. Meanwhile, schools like Miami – yes, Miami – and Alabama and Ole Miss and South Carolina were sitting at home while we had to be subjected to unwatchable games.”
Of course, not everyone agrees that the committee made mistakes. Indiana only lost one regular season game in the Big Ten and SMU played for the ACC Championships, after all. However, in the first season of this expanded format, there is plenty of debate about how things have worked out.
Indiana
Report: Quarterback Tayven Jackson Enters Transfer Portal
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When Tayven Jackson announced his intention to transfer to Indiana from Tennessee before the 2023 season, it caused a ripple of excitement.
In the end, it didn’t work out for Jackson at Indiana. After two years with the Hoosiers, Jackson is expected to move on.
On3.com’s Pete Nakos posted on X on Saturday that Jackson entered the transfer portal.
Jackson played in 13 games for the Hoosiers during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He threw for 1,300 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions during his Indiana career.
Jackson compiled the majority of his production during the 2023 season when he started the first six games of the 2023 season. Brendan Sorsby started the games in the second half of the season for the Hoosiers.
Sorsby transferred to Cincinnati after the 2023 season, but Jackson stuck with the Indiana program when 2023 coach Tom Allen was replaced by Curt Cignetti.
Cignetti recruited Kurtis Rourke out of Ohio University from the transfer portal and Jackson never seemed to be seriously considered as the starting quarterback. Jackson did settle in as the No. 2 quarterback ahead of Tyler Cherry and Alberto Mendoza.
Jackson played in four games in a reserve role before he got the chance to start against Washington on Oct. 26 after Rourke injured his thumb. Jackson led Indiana to a 31-17 victory over the Huskies as he completed 11 of 19 passes for 124 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Those proved to be the last passes Jackson threw in an Indiana uniform – though he did appear in two more games and had three rushing attempts in the regular season finale against Purdue.
Rourke is also out of eligibility so Indiana is in the market for a quarterback.
Indiana
Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU’s decisive losses in College Football Playoff
Matt Leinart on CFP, NFL draft prospects and the Heisman winner
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From the moment the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed, a debate raged over who was and wasn’t included in the field.
Should SMU, despite a loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game, have earned the final at-large berth over Alabama? Was Indiana, even with a gaudy 11-1 record, worthy of a spot despite what ended up being a softer-than-expected schedule in the Big Ten?
The start of playoff games this week didn’t end those arguments. If anything, it only intensified them.
The Hoosiers and Mustangs both suffered double-digit, largely lopsided road losses in the first round of the playoff. On Friday night, No. 10 seed Indiana fell to No. 7 seed Notre Dame 27-17 in a game it trailed by 24 with two minutes remaining while No. 11 seed SMU was drubbed by No. 6 Penn State 38-10 Saturday afternoon.
People from across the country who follow the sport — broadcasters, writers, analysts and even coaches — reacted to the results, with some using them as a justification for their belief that the playoff selection committee made mistakes on who it allowed in the field. Many of the loudest complaints came from the SEC, which had the second-most teams in the field, with three, but had three three-loss teams — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — among the first teams left out of the playoff.
Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Indiana and SMU’s CFP losses:
Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU College Football Playoff losses
Indiana and SMU losing their College Football Playoff games by a combined 38 points in dominant fashion raised a variety of opinions, with some believing it to be an indictment of the playoff committee for selecting the Hoosiers and Mustangs for the final two at-large spots.
Others, though, countered with an argument that Indiana and SMU had pieced together playoff-worthy resumes and deserved to make the field, regardless of how they fared in their games this week.
Lane Kiffin trolls CFP committee
The loudest, or at least most prominent, voice piling on Indiana and SMU’s struggles was Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose squad was the third team left out of the playoff.
Many, however, rightfully pointed out that Kiffin’s 9-3 Rebels team could have made the playoff had it simply won at home against a 4-8 Kentucky team that managed only one victory in SEC play this season.
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