Trine State Recreation Area

"I stayed in a cabin at Trine SRA in July of 2023. While I was disappointed with the cabin (it smelled of mildew), the park itself was absolutely beautiful. I hiked throughout the entire park during my stay and took some gorgeous photos!"

"My family arrived on July 4, 2022 at 3:00 pm and the exterior of the cabin was filthy. It had spider webs all over it. The screened in porch you could not even see out of because the cotton from the cotton wood trees had the screens all plugged up. We went inside the cabin and it smelled musty and was dirty. You could not even open the windows to air the place out because the window sills has spider webs between the screens and window. I went down to the lodge/main office and asked if someone could get this place suitable to stay in and got no help. I asked for a sweeper and some cleaning products to try to quickly clean the place up and the office manger gave me the office sweeper and some empty cans of cleaners. Me my wife and two kids spent 3 hours trying to clean this place up in order to stay. That night around 12:00am me and my wife was reading and had the lights on and noticed black bugs coming out from everywhere it was terrible thousands of them. The bugs covered the ceilings and the corners in every room the place was infested with these critters. That was all we could handle me and the wife decided to pack the truck back up while the kids was sleeping and get out before we was carried off. We left around 1:00 am dropped the keys off at the after hours drop box along with a note explaining everything. Then we proceeded to the Pokagon Potawatomi Inn to speak to the night manager and drop off a more detailed note explaining our experience. I asked who i could speak with that manages the Trine Recreational Center and they gave me two names that would be capable of handling this matter. They said Ted and Tammy are the two people in management that would call me to initiate a refund and take a complaint . Well they never called,i had to call them and truly they acted like they didn't even care. Ted was unprofessional and sounded upset because i was giving him some pointers on hospitality and cleanliness because i own and operate a cleaning company. Ted and Tammy never said i was sorry or acted like this bothered them. I even offered my cleaning services in order to try to help them. It was really sad because this is such a beautiful place but it is not being managed correctly. I hope they seriously fix the issues and get this placed turned around. i also found out management knew about these unsanitary problems but refused to fix them. I hope Trine Recreational Center implements a cleaning taskforce and hires better management to avoid future issues. This is really sad this has been allowed to get out of control. I hope to stay here again in the future and have a better experience that would allow me to revise my feedback to a positive one."

"This is the most wonderful little hidden gem. I graduated from Trine University (when it was Tri-State) so needless to say I wanted to check this place out. I was beyond thrilled with it. My cabin was spotless and adorable and the grounds and trails were very clean and well-groomed. I came during the week so I was the only one there. I literally felt all stress leave my body when I pulled into the Welcome Center. The staff were all wonderful and so helpful. This will be one of my regular getaways now. The only regret I have is not finding it sooner!!"

"The cabins are clean & comfortable. The fishing was good & it is so peaceful & breathtakingly beautiful. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We love spending time here & do so every chance we get."

"We are a family of 4 couples, each couple stayed in a different cabin. We stayed in Towhee, Flicker both pet friendly one bedroom units with fold out couches, and Snipe and Redwing, studio units with pullout couches. We also rented the linens and towels. No one complained. These cabins are immaculate, equipped with kitchens, kitchen gadgets, heat, and screened in porches. The beds were comfortable, the towels fluffy and clean and the sheets soft. The windows opened, the doors and drawers opened and shut, the equipment was clean and worked. We used the refrigerators, the freezers, the range, microwave, toaster and coffee makers. We were pleasantly surprised to find kitchen towels and a dishrag along with dish soap. We used the grill located just outside the unit. Upon arriving we were greeted by Ranger Mark who explained everything and helped us get our linens to the units. There are lovely moderately difficult and very easy trails and walkways. The Rolling Oaks Trail is about a 3 mile off-the-grid trail. It has hills, grassy trails, flower fields and lots of twists and turns in the shade and sunshine. There’s also a multi-use blacktopped trail which could be manageable for bikes, wheelchairs, and baby strollers. The Trine Recreation Area is part of the Indiana State Recreation Areas and it is smaller and more private than others we have visited. It’s wonderful. There’s the option of boating, hiking, biking and there’s a children’s playground. Just across the highway there is Pokagon State Recreation Area that is much larger with a more diverse trail system along with horseback riding and an Inn as well as cabins and camping. It also has a black topped bike trail. We tried the short hikes one day and the 8 mile Devils Challenge another day. Pokagon SRA was busy, everyone was respectful of social distancing when passing. The hours for check-in 4 pm and it is 4 pm! Checkout is 11 am and they request you cleanup your cabin and pack up the linens and towels (if rented). It’s no big deal and as long as you’re respectful of the property the cleanup should be easy. The cabins are 5 years old and in great shape. You can see they are well maintained. My suggestions to further improve of the units: one more shelf in kitchen high up on the level of the cabinet above the refrigerator. I struggled to find off the ground places for non-refrigerated foods. A full length mirror for those of us who need to be sure we are ready for the public (perfect spot on short wall near the bed head to the right of the pocket door) and some clothing hooks in the bedroom. The dresser is great but without a closet coats, hats and clothes that are worn regularly need hanging. It looks like maybe a few people have tried hanging off the curtain rods? We highly recommend Trine State Recreation Area and it’s lovely cabins."