Lake Rudolph Campground is located in Santa Clause, Indiana. This campground has a great deal to offer families of younger children. If your children are around 4 to 12 years old, you will enjoy all the Lake Rudolph and Holiday World have to offer.
We first visited Lake Rudolph Campground in Santa Claus, Indiana in the summer of 2013 during the 4th of July weekend. My initial impression was 'Holy Cow! this place is huge!'. If you come to Lake Rudolph Campground, renting a golf cart for the weekend is essential; and I would recommend calling ahead to reserve it so that they have one available for you! That being said, we enjoyed our stay so much in 2013 that we booked the same spot for the 4th of July weekend in 2014 and this has become an annual trip for us. Due to the location being about 5-1/2 hours from our home, we booked for 4 nights. The location and campground is well worth it!
Overall Rating & Cost
Campground Rating
Overall, the Lake Rudolph Campground in Santa Claus, Indiana gets a 4.5 out of 5 campers from me. The campground is a good value for the money with a lot of amenities both at the campground and the amusement park, friendly staff and an over all good time. With the bonus of the amusement park so close (less than a 5 minute free shuttle or golf cart ride) it makes for a great vacation for the entire family.
Costs
- Campground: Average Nighly Rate: $45 - $65 (rates for rentals are higher)
- Golf Cart: Expensive (Daily Rate: $40 for 4 person cart, $60 for 6 person cart)
- Holiday World Amusement Park: Average (Daily Rate: $40-45 per person)
Camping Lots
Lake Rudolph Campground offers a large number of sites (over 500) for RV full hook up or tent camping. The sites are well spread out and come with a picnic table and fire pit. For RV sites, you can choose between a concrete pad (for an additional cost) or a standard gravel pad. All tent sites are grass lots. We found that while a majority of the full hook up sites were level, there are a fair amount of them that are not. So if you are not familiar with your site before hand, bring wood to level your trailer if you don't have an automatic leveling system.
We chose a standard gravel lot near the pool and were very pleased with the lot and it's location. There was more than enough room for us to back in our trailer and the spot was directly next to the pool, a large park and a snack shop (pizza, pop, ice cream etc).
RV Rental & Cabin Rentals
Lake Rudolph offers both RV rentals and cabin rentals. There are three (3) different sizes of RV's available for rent and they are located throughout the campground. The rental RV's sleep a maximum of 8 people (4 adults and 4 children).
There are also 3 different types of cabins available for rent throughout the campground. Again, the cabins sleep a maximum of 8 people (4 adults and 4 children). While we did not go into the cabins, judging from the outside, they look really impressive. Some of them even have very large decks for you to enjoy!
Amenities
On site, there is a pool, lake, water slides, campground shop/game room, evening movies, meet & greet with rudolph and more. Go here for a full list of amenities.
The pool was a little chilly for my liking(most likely because it was cloudy our entire trip), but our kids (3 & 5) loved it! Had it been a little more sunny, I would have enjoyed the pool more because when the sun came out it was hot and the water felt great! The pool was a good size, and never felt over crowded.
In the fall of 2013 they will be adding very large water slides to the park near the pool. There will be an additional daily fee of about $9 per person per day for using the slides, but from the looks of them they will be well worth it. In addition, the small fee will most likely curb the amount of people that use it so it should help with keeping the lines small.
The beach was a decent size for a private campground, but was nto very well kept. Meaning that there were a fair amount of weeds on it, but that did not stop anyone from using it. However, it's not a swimming lake/beach. It's more for volleyball, fishing and taking non-motorized boats out. Overall a nice relaxing area.
Upon check-in (4th of july weekend), you should ask about the fire works display time and best location to watch it. There are no hay-rides, but they do have a golf cart parade, and if you decorate your golf cart, you can participate. Ask about the golf cart parade at check-in.
Staff
The staff at Lake Rudolph have been very friendly and able to help with every question we had. From life guards to cart rental to the shop and office, every one we met was extremely knowledgable and made us feel very welcome in their campground.
Santa Claus, Indiana Local Attractions
We spent one day checking out the local town of Santa Clause, Indiana. Here is my take on the local attractions. Please note, there is a local golf course, but I did not have a chance to play it, so it will be left out of the review.
Holiday World Amusement Park (click here to visit website)
There is a free shuttle to the Holiday World amusement park from multiple places within the Campground. So no matter where you are in the campground, you can take the shuttle without going very far.
The Holiday World amusement park is very similar to a Six Flags amusement park, but the one thing I noticed was that even though it was a nice day on a holiday weekend, it did not feel that crowded so we were able to get in line and go on rides with only waiting a few minutes for each ride. They offer 2 day passes, which we will most likely take advantage of next time we come.
The park has a large amount of rides for kids of any age that are taller than 36 inches. While there are a great deal of rides (roller coasters, raging rapids, etc) at the park for older kids (54 inches and taller) it felt as though there were just as many for our 3 year old to enjoy as well. There is a park and some rides for kids under 36 inches, but the variety is not there for kids under 36 inches which is why I believe they allow kids 2 and underto be free.
Holiday World Tip:
If you're planning on going to Holiday World, visit the local shops (the Christmas Store) to buy your tickets or stop by a local convenience store to pick up a few cans of pepsi so that you can get a discount on tickets. Keep in mind that this is a Six Flags type of amusement park, so prices will be around $40-$50 per person per day if you don't take advantage of the multi-day pass and coupons. Also keep an eye out for a Groupon.
The Christmas Store in Santa Claus, Indiana
This was one of the highlights for our kids (5 year old girl/3 year old boy). Not only did they have an absolute ton of Christmas things, but Santa Claus himself is there to talk with the kids, sign books, and take photos. They will let you take your own photo with Santa, or you can pay a small fee (I think it was $7) for a 5x7 photo or a sheet of wallets. They have the largest amount of ornaments that I've ever seen and they also have a personalization area for your ornaments. In addition, there is a great deal of christmas lights, houses and more. Do yourself and your family a favor and stop in at the Christmas Store when you're here. Especially if you have young kids that would want to see Santa, The Christmas Store is a must!
Abe Lincoln Childhood House and State Park
We only spent a little time at the memorial and state park. And just from the time we were there I can tell you there is a great deal of history that has been captured here. If you like history, hiking or just a nice picnic in the park, checkout the Abe Lincoln Childhood Home and State Park in Indiana. The park has been kept up really well and is really worth the visit for anyone that likes taking advantage of being outdoors.
Santa's Candy Castle (or 'lack of candy' castle, whichever you prefer)
Honestly, I felt that Santa's Candy Castle was a big let down. We expected to walk in to find some kind of home made candies, commercial candies and all types of goodies. Instead, what we found that the 'Candy' castle was really just a small shop for some cheap merchandise, a couple books and really not much worth mentioning. If you don't make it to Santa's 'Candy' Castle when you are in Santa Clause, Indiana, you will not miss much.
