We had four glorious days at Deam Lake, IN.  Even though the weather was HOT< HOT< HOT...we had a blast.  The camp is very nice and our area had good shade.  The trails are well maintained.  Most are wide and gravelled and there are a variety of loops you can take to make longer or shorter rides.

We saddled up early in the morning to ride before the heat got too bad.  Then back to camp for lunch.  While some chose to hit the bunk for an afternoon nap, others hit the lake beach for a refreshing swim.  In the evenings, some of the guys went fishing while others stayed in camp for lively games of cornhole.

While I personally prefer the trails at O'Bannon (also in So. IN), Deam Lake provided a wide variety of activities.  Since our group consisted of about 18 people ranging from teens to seniors, Deam Lake was the perfect chioce.

Photobucket froze up.  Will add more pics later.

The lake beach was FABULOUS!!!

And this is what happens when you have a plate full of food and a camp full of hungry dogs!!!  LOL

Dog picture is toooo cute.  How were the bugs - flys?

We were most bothered by regular flies.  We strung some of that white sticky fly tape over our sitting area and over the food table.  I am not exaggerating when I say we caught over 1,000 flies in four days.  Maybe even twice that.  At meal time, we put a tablecloth not on the table but over top of the food to keep the flies out of it.

There were some HUGE horseflies with green heads.  Double the size of what we have here at home.  But we probably only saw a couple dozen of them the whole time we were there.

 Glad you guys had a good time - sorry I couldn't come over-- that four letter word "work" sure gets in the way 

I like Deams more than O'Bannon-- what is your favorite trail at O'Bannon-- maybe we are taking the wrong ones.  The ones by the camping sites are the ones we usually ride on.  Someone told me the trails out by where you first come in off Highway 64 is the prettiest (on the right going in)

Bugs-- It's July and hot in Southern Indiana-- of course the bugs are bad :-) -- We use the fly bonnets like you have in your pictures and the fly "rump rugs" - plenty of fly spray and get out early. 

 We rode over by there Saturday morning and it's wasn't too bad-- we were home by noon however.

OtherHorse - ditto to everything you said.

Claudia - We have not ridden the trails on the "outskirts" of O'Bannon.  Just what you can access from camp.  What I prefer about O'Bannon is that the trails are more rugged.  I like to ride the single file 'pig paths'.  Not fond of riding miles of gravel.  But...I have to say I prefer gravel to mud!  So Deam is definitely the better choice for the rainy season.

Another plus for Deam is that you can swim at the lake for FREE!  O'Bannon's pool is quite spectacular, but they charge to get in and it is so crowded you can't actually swim.  You just stand there in luke warm water, bobbing ten inches from total strangers.  Kinda gave me the willies.

Did you find the "Mountain Grove loop"

You are correct-- the Deams Lake side is more wide- and MUCH better in the mud. Matter of fact- we ride over there alot in the spring.  Another reason we like the Deams side is we have gaited horses and can "let them out " a little better than O'Bannon or Clark Forestry.

If you want the up and down (but can be VERY muddy)- you need to go to Clark Forest-- that campground is about 3 miles from my house.  The campground is primitive-- I don't know if that is too far for you to day ride or not -  but it's more like O'Bannon

You can actually ride from Deams Lake to Clark or vice versa-- it's about 17-20 miles one way

We have some friends who live in So. IN and have been singing the praises of Clark.  We are considering a weekend at the primitive camp once the weather cools down.  Unfortunately the IN firewood issue is making us consider other areas.

The ride from Deam to Clark is a bit too far for us.  I'm not as 'game' as I used to be and neither is my horse! haha  A 40 mile round trip may be the end of both of us!  

Yes, "we" did find the Mountain Grove Loop.  Unfortunately, I chose to stay back at camp that day and let one of the teens take my horse.  They did not take the detour you described, they chose to tackle the big hill with the switchbacks.  They said it definitely had 'pucker factor" if you know what I mean.    The girl who rode my horse said she was glad she did it but didn't really want to do it again!

I think the trail they mentioned was actually the Dry Fork Loop that has the very steep hill

The actual Mtn Grove Loop- if you are riding from Deams Lake-- you do have to ride some road/road type trails to get there.  We usually go to a day riding area and park really near the Mtn Grove Loop that eliminates that road.

If you live close enough to day ride that area- send  me a PM and I'll tell you where the day ride parking is-- it's on the way to Pekin  Saddle Club