We had our extra day of peace and quiet at Taylorsville so on Monday, the 23rd, it was time for us to head out to our next stop, Little Farm on the River in Rising Sun, IN which was only about 95 miles away and just a short 2 hour drive.  Rob had called to see if we needed reservations but we were told that they had plenty of available spaces. So after a quick breakfast, off we went!

When we stopped at the dump station at Taylorsville Lake Campground on the way out, Rob realized that he must have left the sewer hose adapter at our site in Cave City, so  a stop at Walmart or a Camping World was added to our itinerary!

We headed out starting on SR248 west, then picked up SR44 west, then SR55/155 north to I-265, then north on I-71. We took exit 22 in La Grange where we stopped at a Wal-Mart.

Then it was back on I-71 to exit 55 onto SR1039 north where after just a few miles we crossed the Ohio River into Indiana at the Markland Dam and Lock. Then we just followed SR156 East about 25 miles to Rising Sun and the Little Farm on the River campground shortly beyond.

The drive for most of the day was fairly easy and scenic. The last 25  miles on SR156 was a little less so since it was the usual two lane road with no shoulder, but it was fairly straight and not quite as hilly as some of the  previous roads we had been on.  Although, in a few places, the road had slid down the bluff and into the river and had just been roughly patched which was a little disconcerting!

Note: Use caution on SR156, particularly on the outskirts of Rising Sun. We had a few close encounters with deer and saw several casualties along the side of the road.

Rising Sun is a small, quaint town with a population of about 2300 as of 2010.  There seems to be a lot of agriculture here with the primary crop being corn but we’re not totally sure about that. There’s a cute downtown area with a few small restaurants, harp store (more about that later) antique shops and a riverfront park and walkway. There seems to be a lot of agriculture here with the primary crop being corn but we’re not totally sure about that.

For the necessities, Rising Sun has one small IGA (Tandy’s) grocery store and not much else.  But you can find just about everything you need in Aurora which is about 6 miles away.  Here you will find a Walmart Supercenter, a Lowe’s, a Kroger grocery store (which also has liquor), a number of fast food joints/restaurants and a post office.

About halfway between the “downtown area” and our campground is the Rising Star casino. In fact, there are several casinos in the area; Belterra about 25 miles west near the Markland Dam and the Hollywood casino in Lawrenceburg to the east and closer to Cincinnati. The casino’s have probably played a significant role in the development of the economy here.

We finally arrived at the Little Farm on the River campground. This is a Passport America campground and the 50% discount can be used on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights which is one of the reasons we stayed at Taylorsville an extra day – we wanted to arrive here on Monday, not Sunday. The standard rates are $33/night Sun-Thu and $40/night on Fri-Sat. They also offer a 10% Good Sam discount anytime except holidays and holiday weekends.

The campground is divided into two sections, the upper section which is near the  office and SR156 and the lower section which is about 3/4 of a mile away and right on the banks of the Ohio River. Click here for an aerial view.

We had read reviews indicating that the lower section was nice because you can watch all of the barge traffic going up and down the river, so when we checked in we asked for a site on the lower section.  Rachel at the desk told us that the “coveted site” #152 was available, as well as several other sites.  Without asking why it was coveted, we said we’d take that site.

  Well, that was a right decision! Our site is a large, gravel back in site and is right next to the river with a break in the tree cover so we have good views.  On the passenger side,  the adjacent site is a good 100′ away, however, there is a group picnic shelter but it did not block our view. We have an unobstructed view of the river with a large grassy area between.

There’s a picnic table and a fire pit that is behind the site and close to the river. After we arrived, at least 6 or 7 huge barges went by – what fun watching them! Right across from us is a bath house and laundry facility and beyond that is a huge field with the remains of a corn crop.

Overall it is a pretty nice, but nothing fancy campground – there’s a pool (not open yet), a large room with several pool tables off the office, a small store and golf carts that you can rent (Rising Sun is a golf cart friendly community).

The sites in the lower section are as usual, closer together than a state or federal park, but they are long and deep. The sites closest to the river (even numbers from 102-152) are back-in and have a large expanse of grass behind them right up to the river bank. The adjacent row of sites in the lower section (odd numbers from 101-151) are long pull-thru’s. All are level and have full hook-ups. Also note that sites 154-182 (even numbers only) along the river have recently been upgraded with sewer so are also full hook-up.

In regard to facilities, the voltage was good at 120v on both legs of the 50A . The power posts here are marine style and in good shape. Water pressure was good and the water is soft without any detectable chlorination. The sewer hookup has a threaded cap and is well positioned for a typical motorhome.

OTA TV is good, we get all major networks with a little antenna direction tweaking and the gain cranked to max on the Winegard Sensar Pro – without an amp and good antenna you will probably have issues pulling in all the networks. There is no cable TV provided. Satellite users should not have any issues with tree cover. Sprint 3G is good, Verizon 3G is good and the campground wifi is good. We had a strong signal on the campground WiFi (password required), but we were direct line of site and within 100 ft. of an antenna. Despite the strong signal via our PepWave, the performance slowed as the campground filled up due to congestion within their infrastructure or at the back end (tie point to the Internet Service Provider).

During our stay we observed continuous maintenance on the grounds. We ordered firewood from the office ($9 for 10 large log splits) and they delivered it to our site. Note that Indiana has strict regulations against imported firewood due to infestation issues.

This locale is generally known as the tri-state area since it is where KY, IN and Ohio come together. When we look across the river, we are seeing KY on the other side since the state border runs down the middle of the river.

It is interesting to note that while you would generally think of Kentucky as being south of Indiana, when we look across the river at Kentucky we are looking in a north easterly direction, presumably due to the undulations of the Ohio river. Also, even though the far bank of the river is less than a half mile across, to get there by land is a 60 mile drive!