Northern Indiana - Things RVers Should Know
Roughly 80% of the world’s RVs are manufactured in northern Indiana. In fact, the region is known as the “RV Capital of the World.”
As RV enthusiasts, we were SUPER excited to travel to northern Indiana in the fall of 2023. We spent 12 days at the Shipshewana South Campground, which included the inaugural Super C rally for Entegra Accolades and Jayco Senecas. We then spent four nights at the Jayco-Entegra factory in Middlebury to have some warranty work performed on our 2022 Entegra Accolade XL 37L. That left plenty of time to explore the area.
How are the Roads in Northern Indiana for RVers?
Amish horse and buggie on the road in northern Indiana
The one thing to know about northern Indiana is that there are horse and buggies everywhere. Buggies on the road. Buggies in the parking lots. And buggies parked at homes.
If you are taking your RV anywhere other than the major highways, be prepared to SLOW DOWN for all of the buggies.
Don’t be in a hurry either.
Why are there so many horse-drawn buggies in northern Indiana?
Learning about the Anabaptists at the Menno-Hof Museum in Shipshewana Indiana
Northern Indiana is home to a large population of Amish and Mennonites. The Amish (and perhaps some conservative Mennonites) are the ones who drive the buggies.
Both Amish and Mennonite religions originated with a Protestant sect called the Anabaptists. They believe that baptism was a choice that could only be made by adults and disavow infant baptism. They also stress a simple, less worldly, way of life.
Menno-Hof Museum in Shipshewana Indiana
We learned all about the history of the Anabaptists and how they came to America at the Menno-Hof Museum, which was located just a few minutes from our campground in Shipshewana. The first part of the museum formal, where we traveled through a series of immersive rooms that explained the origins of the Anabaptists, their immigration to America, and the continuing persecution of their faith in the New World. The museum focuses on three sects: the Amish, the Mennonites, and the Hutterites. After that, we spent well over an hour meandering through a number of highly informative exhibits in the rest of the museum.
Perhaps my favorite part of the museum was a video of the “barn-raising” of the Menno-Hof museum itself. Watching these people build the museum from scratch truly amazing.
If you like museums (like me), the Menno-Hof is a must stop. The museum is also a Harvest Host venue so RVers can over-night there if they want.
If you want to see more of the Menno-Hof Museum, check out this video excerpt.
What is a Quilt Garden?
Northern Indiana is also known for its craftsmanship, everything from furniture to food (think cheese, popcorn, and pretzels) to quilts. But northern Indiana takes the idea of quilting to the next level. We saw a number of Quilt Gardens and Quilt Murals along the Heritage Trail, which is 90-mile loop connecting the towns of Elkhart, Bristol, Middlebury, Shipshewana, Honeyville, Goshen, Napannee, and Wakarusa. Many of the quilts change each year so this route is something we could do each time we visit!
“Welcome to our Pad” Quilt Garden at the Elkhart Environmental Center on the Heritage Trail
“Tree of Life” Quilt Garden at the Krider World’s Fair Garden in Middlebury on the Heritage Trail in northern Indiana
“The Parasol” Quilt Garden at the Ruthmere in Elkhart Indiana on the Heritage Trail in northern Indiana
Pro Tip: The Quilt Gardens are best seen from above. Check out our drone footage of the Quilt Gardens in our video!
How was the RV Museum & Hall of Fame?
Of all of the attractions located in northern Indiana, I was looking forward the RV & MH Museum and RV/MH Hall of Fame the most. Frankly, I was little disappointed.
The museum opened in the 1990s, but moved to its current location in 2007. After paying our $20 admission fee, we were invited to watch a short film about the RV industry in northern Indiana and the history of the museum itself. Unfortunately, the film quality doesn’t look like been updated since the mid-2000s. The museum recently underwent a multi-million dollar expansion, but apparently the budget did not include decent A/V equipment.
While there are dozens of vintage RVs on display at the RV Museum, the lighting is horrible. We were prohibited from going inside most of the RVs to get a good look – which is understandable for some of the really old fragile RVs, but still….
The Keep Your Daydream (KYD) bus from their Route 66 series at the RV-MH Museum in Elkhart Indiana
For what it’s worth, my favorite RV on display was the Bluebird Wanderlodge that Marc and Tricia from Keep Your Daydream renovated to travel Route 66. It was fun to sit in there and recall their adventures.
Nearly half of the museum is devoted to Manufactured Homes. I mistakenly thought that the “MH” in the title of the building meant “motorhomes.” Oh well.
The second floor of the museum contains a library and the Hall of Fame. Its’ basically wall after wall of RV pioneers, businessmen, and innovators. I’m sure that all of these HOFers made significant contributions to the RV world. But what was striking to me was the lack of diversity. Nearly all of the Hall of Famers are men. And, I don’t recall seeing a person of color at all. (Here’s a funny video excerpt where I try to spot the diversity in all of the photos.) In all seriousness, I am hopeful that as more women like us and people of color get into RVing, that the HOF will reflect that trend.
RV-MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart Indiana. Can you count the women?
RV-MH Hall of Fame in the early 2000s. I count one woman inductee and no persons of color.
At $20, the RV-MH Museum / Hall of Fame is marginally worth the trip but I doubt we ever visit again.
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Below is the FULL video about our warranty work and our time in northern Indiana.
