ouabache state park

This park has added several activities in last couple of yrs and they are all good! The buffalo are always fun to view, as is the park from top of the fire tower!

Unlike some states, Indiana does charge to enter state parks. It is higher for out of state license plates. This is a wonderful, small state park. The park lacks cabins, does not have a hotel type lodge, or a restaurant. There are a couple of pavilions which can be rented for gatherings. At the one end of the park is a very nice, clean, camping area for either electric or primitive camping. These campsites can be rented in advance. The park offers excellent, marked hiking and biking trails. For the adventure seekers, a fire tower is available for climbing. In the summer months, a large swimming pool is the cooling off, fun place for kids and adults. Lifeguards are on duty. Many playgrounds for children are located throughout the park. Picnic tables nearby lend a good seat for the parents, grandparents, or couples to eat or rest, while watching the children play. Basketball and tennis courts also create a place for additional exercise and fun. The park has a small lake which rents paddle boats and rowboats. It is a fishing lake; but licenses are required. The lake also provides a great photo opportunity for those photographers looking for reflections, sunrises, or sunsets. At dawn or dusk, there are excellent chances to view wildlife. The bison are in a penned area, so they are not roaming freely into the headlights.

This is one of Indiana's nicest state parks even though its smaller. One of favorite spots to camping and hiking.The paved multi-use trail is great along with their other traditional hiking trails., The paved trail is approximately 6 miles round trip. No real hills so it makes it great for families with smaller kids. It has a nice small lake ( no motors) for those that like to fish, paddle boat, kayak or canoe. They also rent canoes, paddle boats, and bikes. They have several shelters for day use and a nice little lodge for family get togethers. People can even climb the fire tower for a nice scenic view of the park. There's also a nice Buffalo exhibit. That you can walk around and view the Buffalo. They have an olympic size pool for use with a $2 per person fee. It features a slide and couple of diving boards. Life guards are on duty. The park also has some nice basketball and tennis courts. If your in the area be sure to check it out.

This campground is way off the road. It is a state park so you can book on line and you will want to during the busy season because it does fill up fast. It is paved all the way back to the campsites and all the way around the loop. Most if not all the sites have a paved parking spot. Don't go there to raise hell, again.. this is a state park with some of those city type ranger persons (yes, that's right, I quoted YOGI BEAR!). Which is always fine for us, we like the quiet at night. I think it has one of the best pools around. It is clean and Lifeguarded by some serious safety certified young people! Still lots of fun. The lake has been recently drained and restocked because of a previous problem with very small fish not growing. I don't know the technical reason but while visiting this winter, the manager took the time to explain what was going on. It sure looked like a lot of work but he assured me that it will pay off for the fishermen in the long run. I haven't seen the fire tower for a while, yes it is old but it's safe and you can see a long way from it. This place is chocked full of wildlife and worth a visit. There is a bike trail that takes you into the local town of Bluffton which is a very nice place with some very friendly people. We live close and have been there more than 20 times. We have never had a bad experience.

When you go to this park, you have to remember that this is the midwest farm country and the land is flat. However, this park has a number of things that we utilize that make it worth going to and are unique. The biggest attraction are the bison. Right now there's a baby bison and as of June 1 is one month old! Too cute. You can get up close and walk around the entire enclosure. It takes us 15-20 minutes to walk around the whole thing. My husband grumbles about the Fire Tower, but it's a rickety old authentic fire tower you can climb way above the tree tops. You can see for tens of miles. You get a good workout.We walk the various trails. I wish this part of Indiana had a diverse topography, but it doesn't. It's all flat. You'll see different plant life, but you'll see the same plants throughout the park. It's a nice walk though. Warning: if it rained, wear boots or be prepared for mud. The soil here is clay and water sits on top of it for a long time. And because of that, there are mosquitoes. Bring spray if it's near evening.This park has great shelters for picnics and large gatherings. There's a small, shallow lake for swimming and paddle boating. You can bring your own fishing boat or canoe too. I've not used the campground or pool, but they look nice.

Our grandchildren enjoy the buffalo and the drive is very pretty. Perfect little hideaway in the middle of the county

I've had the privilege of staying in a lot of Indiana State Parks, over the years, but Oubache State Park continues to be one of my favorites. The campsites are good sized with lots of tree cover and the pool with the waterslide is hard to beat.

Ouabache State Park near Bluffton, Indiana is an excellent state park. The park has paddle boats and bikes for rent which are great activities for kids. The park roads are well maintained and it is easy to drive from the campgrounds to the pool, pond and the fire tower. There is a nature reserve where 6-8 bison can be observed (through a fence) grazing. The fire tower is old and if you are not comfortable with heights, I would avoid climbing as it is wobbles a bit when you climb up to the top. The pool is very nice and has a water slide and twin diving boards which are really fun for the kids.The campground is divided into two sections - one with paved roads and one with gravel roads. We stayed in the section with gravel roads and will not make this mistake again. These camp sites are fine for RVs but if you are tent camping, most of these sites do not have enough space to fit a six person tent. The paved section has bigger camp sites that have more flat grassy areas that are better suited for tent camping. There are several bike trails that are quite long and wind through the woods. Overall a great location for camping.

This is a nice state park South of Fort Wayne, IN. There's a fee to get in. There are a lot of hiking trails that are for the most part well maintained. There are several picnic areas. There's a large pen with some buffalo inside. There's also a rickety old fire tower you can go up if you aren't afraid of heights or it falling down while you're up there! There's a pool. The lake looked kind of milky, I don't know why. It had rained the day before we got there, so I don't know if that had something to do with it. My husband was unable to catch any fish out of it, but I don't think I should blame the lake for that :) We camped at the campground & it was nice. The bathrooms were clean, though old. I would recommend a weekend trip, which is what we did.

We camped at Ouabache State Park in June 2013. This was stop #3 of a 6 stop tour of some of Indiana’s State Parks. The park was nice, but average as far as Indiana’s State Parks go. The lake was a decent size for a small jon boat or canoe and has a nice boat ramp for these smaller vessels. The pool was also very nice and well attended to by the lifeguards. The trails that we walked were nice, though there was a noticeable amount of litter along the trail that runs behind the campground, which was disappointing. The campground had water spigots every few hundred feet and a fill station near the camp gate. The sites in the middle of the campground were wet and looked as if they probably stay that way. The shower house was dated, but clean. The lower-numbered sites were all paved and seemed to be level. The higher numbered sites (I think section B) were rock, but were more secluded, if less level. Some of those sites were a good hike from the shower house though. The pool is a short walk by trail to section A of the campground. The firetower is a nice climb and you can see the lake and buffalo from there. Fishing in the lake wasn’t especially productive for us, though they say it’s decent. It would be nice to see a nature center in the future plans for this park. The manager and assistant manager were very nice and helpful. The gate attendants, however, were somewhat an exception to the rule for Indiana State Parks. While they weren’t rude, they weren’t overly cheerful or friendly. Others in the park were fine. The camp hosts, originally from Germany, were very nice to visit with. Another nice Indiana State Park, but I wouldn’t drive out of my way to get here.

Overall, this state park isn't bad, it has a lot of space to run around and plenty of beautiful scenery.However, there is only one "good" playground and it was in the heat of the sun and not usable during our time there. All of the other playgrounds are in the shade, but notably aged and in need of some TLC. We didn't pay for any of the other activities, but there are paddle boats and a pool that looked nice.If I were a camper, there was a nice sized campground near the back.The highlight of the park was the buffalo to watch and the old watch tower to climb up.Not a lot to do with little kids either. I may take the family back in a few years when they are older.

Well first of all, I grew up going to Ouabache as a kid, so I have been going there for quite a few years. I can tell you that they have done a pretty good job keeping up with this park. There is plenty for everyone to enjoy. They have a very nice campground area with electrical hookup if you need electric. They also of a youth camp are for scouts and the such that is separated from the main camp area. There are many hiking trails. These are are very easy/moderated trails as this area of Indiana is flat to slightly rolling. You won't find trails here like those at Shades and Turkey Run State Parks. There is a nice paved bicycle trail that runs about 2 miles through the park along with the many roads going through the park. This gives the hobby bicyclists plenty of room to ride. Unfortunately, there are no trails for the mountain bike riders. This park does boast on having the Bison Habitat, the Fire Tower, and one of the nicest pools at a state park. The Bison Habitat is simply an area where the bison roam in a large fenced in area. This is very exciting for younger children to be up close and personal with these large animals. The fire tower at just over a 100' high give you an overview of the state park and a view into Bluffton.. The pool is very large with a large curly water slide and diving boards in the deep end of the pool. They do have a small baby pool for your toddlers. Last and certainly not least is Kunkle Lake. This is decent size lake with the ability to take a small fishing boat worth trolling motor out to catch a few fish.Come out and enjoy the park.