Chain O’ Lakes State Park in
Albion (IN)

The canals from Sand Lake to Long Lake are very shallow and some are filled with braided rope like seaweed that makes it very heavy to paddle through. The canals from Sand Lake to Miller Lake are much easier to paddle.

First time and it was an awesome experience! Kayaking between the lakes was so peaceful, beautiful, and relaxing.

We had an awesome time there. We loved the campground and the lakes. We did the chain o lakes. Took us a bit, really enjoyed all the way through there. Will definitely be coming back again soon

Great programing. We learned about box turtles while we were there. Did you know all females have brown eyes and males have red eyes. Downside of the park is the algae and the water felt dirty

Paddle boat, kayak, canoe rentals for very reasonable prices. Small beach when you get tired of paddling around! Restrooms and parking area that isnt too bad of a walk from the water. I'd definitely recommend if you want to get away but don't want to go too far!

Paddle the whole chain on a paddle board. Parked at long lake and then left a car at the other end. We all agreed that the first half was more enjoyable. Mud lake was really difficult to get through.

What a beautiful state park we have… Did the 9 Lake paddle challenge and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. The park does a great job in keeping the environment clean and beautiful. A shout out to Carly for being gracious enough and helping us out when we locked keys in a car

I love this place. It's a beautiful park with kettle lakes connected by channels. The beach is great. Canoeing is great. The hiking is excellent, especially in the fall. The campground is great, as are the cabins. The park staff are great too.

Camping booth at entrance for camping was vacant. Low branches all over park and untrimmed bushes sides of road. Roads very narrow especially at campsites and not marked so look ahead. Glad restrooms were open at nature center but center was closed yesterday. Roads were smooth and no potholes. There was a sign and phone number for assistance

Very fun campground. We stayed in the cabin and it was perfect for us. They also have a coffee pot which we didn't realize ahead of time. We did the park challenges to get our state park pin and look forward to getting more at other parks. But be aware there is a lot of poison ivy along the trails.

Loved it this time of year. Water was cold and most things were winding down for the winter. The old school house visit was nice, main restrooms were not open, but outhouses were readily available. Wish there were benches to rest along the walkways.

We enjoy camping here, everything is close and easy to access, bathrooms are good for a campground. The canoeing was wonderful! The only negative I'd say is that the campsites are quite close together. There's a lot of slow traffic (this makes it more risky with littles).

Great location! We havent had a chance to explore the whole park just yet. If you go, plan a weekend trip because you cant do everything in 1 day! The park is huge and there are endless things to do for the entire family. We rented a kayak and took the lake route. They have kayak canoe and paddleboat rentals. A beach, concessions, trails, boat launch, bbq and picnic areas, camping... I have seen a little more things here than at other state parks. Its worth the trip which is about 40 to 50 minutes for us. People around are friendly as well. We have been there twice and it hasnt been overly crowed either. My aunt is 61 and has never been on a kayak and she had a blast.

We loved camping here on July 18 to July 21st. Great campground, lots of sites. Be aware that some sites are packed tightly and uneven BUT we tent camp so we didn't have that issue. Our site was 349 and we loved the open grass area since we were the first site in on this loop and our gravel area was pretty level (if you were to bring a camper). Lots to do around here and loved every minute of it.

It was a great experience as usual. I remember going there when I was a little girl(they still had lifeguards back then). I grew up began a family and took MY children there and now MY daughter takes HER children there! Clean restrooms, friendly staff, playground safe and fun.

Great place to kayak or canoe. The campground is well maintained, and the showers don't have push buttons for water! We'll definitely go back to explore more trails and hit the water again.

A great place to visit to get away! We came for a weekday getaway in a cabin, and it was fabulous. Cabin 18 was well secluded with only one cabin nearby (about 75 yards away). It was a 2 minute walk to a nice little playground, perfect for our 4.5 year old! Beautiful hikes, a neat little school house to visit (lots of programs if you go on the weekend!). Our stay was quite due to the time of year and being the weekday. We didn't try any water features (other than beautiful views during the hikes! But they have a beach, canoeing and kayaking, and great set up foe fishing, either by boat (easy access boat ramps) or piers. Lots of little places to host a family gathering. Would highly recommend!

The pictures on the website do not do it justice. This beautiful park has everything! The lakes and streams in between allow you to paddle from one lake to the next. The hiking paths have incredible biodiversity, especially in flora. The campground was clean with a lot of tall, shady trees. Our family, which included 2 teens loved this park.

First time at Chain o Lakes this past weekend. I thought the park was very nice with lots of things to do. I stayed on one of the rustic sites and was happy with it, site 109. The site was described as full shade but that was before the big tree off to the side was taken down. Now there is a new little tree planted in its place so you get the morning sun a little bit. Pictures were taken before the crowds came in. Nice camp store. The bathrooms, shower rooms and pit toilets need to be flattened and rebuilt. Indiana needs to do what Michigan is doing and spend some of the American recovery act money on their state parks. With this park only being an hour and a half away, I can see me going back again. It was a grocery store in town called Village Foods and they had a nice size bundle of wood for $3.50. The camp store charged $6.50

Staff did well with busy weekend and were very kind. Lakes were beautiful and kayaking was a must. Even as a first time kayaker I was able to pick it up easily and equipment was easy to use. I recommend getting to the boat/kayak rentals early as they are not up for reservations and during busy season it can be hard to get one. Such a beautiful experience!

We had a great time. The park was rather quiet for so many people. There was plenty of sun and water to go around. The only thing that left me feeling unsatisfied was the fishing. I tried for hours only to snag one. My fish finder showed very little structure under the water. I would suggest dropping some fallen trees in the lakes to keep the fish from constantly traveling.

If you enjoy canoeing, kyaking, hiking, or swimming, this is an awesome park to visit. Trails are nice and spacious. You just have to worry about mud if there has been a lot of rain. The park has a lot of wild flowers, onions, and red bud trees as well as rivers throughout. It is very pretty in the spring. There's plenty of wildlife as well. Even saw a beaver last time I went. Pick the right time to go, and it's never very crowded either, which is nice.

Loved this park. Evaluating from a hiking perspective but also look forward to spending time in a kayak here as well. I hiked trail 4 and really enjoyed the scenery. Stands of old pine, moderate elevation changes and pretty lake views. It’s cool to see how the lakes connect from various vantage points.

The trails were great well maintained and absolutely my favorite part..We stayed at the Campgrounds and it was a pleasant experience everyone respected the quiet time and the park was clean and well taken care of. I love how they have Canoe and kayak rentals. Definitely some where I will visit again and tell adventurous souls such as myself about this special place. The campgrounds is Dog friendly and I had no problem with anyone's pets. The restrooms were clean and even the vault toilets were well taken care of. The Park had plenty of picnic areas you could hike to or paddle to if you wanted .. I was very happy with how many picnic tables were in places you could go to , to get away for a picnic for 2. If your in the Area definitely give this place a visit!

We stayed in the campground and paddled the 9 Lake Challenge. The campsite was a good size and clean. We took a 2 mile hike on a well maintained trail. The paddling challenge was a lot of fun. The DNR staff were friendly and informative. All of the lakes are nice, except Mud Lake, which is overgrown with water weeds. Very difficult to paddle through that section. That's just nature. Each lake is quiet and unique. The paddling challenge took about 5 hours including a leisurely lunch on Sand Lake. We had a great time and would recommend it.

It's a great little getaway from Fort Wayne with lots to do there. The beach is sandy and cleaned often. The school house museum is fun. There are a variety of trails. Lots of people canoe or kayak and with the water levels being high, it's easy to go between the chained lakes. The cabins are a swanky option to tent camping.

Having plenty of experience with plenty of forms of camping and having been to most of the state parks in Indiana, Chain O' Lakes State Park gave me the opportunity to visit another park I had never visited while also providing a very unique and fun new form of camping at the canoe campground. Going earlier in the season, we had the entire canoe campground (4 sites in total) to ourselves. It would have been a different experience otherwise as the site are pretty close to one another. After paddling in from the boat ramp at Miller Lake, we setup camp before exploring the chain of lakes, which really was a unique paddle unlike anything I had done before. The next day, we hiked around 10 miles through trails that provided a little bit of everything in terms of lake views, deep ravines, pine forests, a one room school house, and more. The trails were also the best marked of any state park I've ever been to! Coming early in the season where many of the trees still had no leaves, I'd love to come back again later in the summer or even better in the fall when the leaves were changing.