Free from clothes

Drive 25 minutes from campus and you’ll come to a spot some Hoosiers call paradise. Check your inhibitions and clothes at the door. Welcome to Fern Hills Club, a world free from clothes.

Tucked away in the trees with no road markers, Fern Hills Club is a hidden gem for the people who flock there in the warmer months.  For now, according to a sign at the entrance, it’s “clothed for the season.”

Enter the gates, and enter the world of social family nudism.  The club looks like a typical campground with 72 acres of land, colorful cabins, and more than five miles of trails. A circular pool, recreation center, and playground keep campers of all ages busy.  
It’s not the average campground, though. The people who camp are naked. About 200 nudist members and many more visitors frequent Fern Hills from May through October.  
As an American Association for Nudist Recreation (AANR) club, there are rules. The most basic: no clothes allowed, with exceptions for weather, personal health, and safety. Others include no cameras, no children under the age of 14 in the pool area without a guardian, and no sexually provocative or suggestive behavior.

Jawn Bauer, an IU alumnus and Bloomington resident, protects the rights of social family nudists as legal counsel for Fern Hills, AANR, and AANR Midwest. A member of Fern Hills, he feels passionate about the benefits of this lifestyle.

“I think what draws people to nudism is the freedom. Stripping away the stress,” Bauer says. “It’s an equalizer. There are no UGG boots. No designer jeans.  You can’t tell who might be a garbage man and who might be a judge.”

Because of stigmas attached to nudism, Bauer, like most nudists, wants to clear up common misconceptions. For starters, nudism is not sexual, he says.

“It’s amazing how quickly you realize how different nudism and sex really are,” he says. “It’s liberating to be nude in a non-sexual way.”

Of course, there is the occasional visitor who crosses the line. If someone utters a sexual remark, camp owners give a warning. Another infraction, and they ask the offender to leave.

Fern Hills also has the rare visitor who crosses other lines — the physical boundaries of the camp. One time a man got lost hiking the trails and wound up naked on a public road.

But these uncomfortable incidents are rare, and for the most part, the nudists feel at peace within the confines of the camp.

“It’s fun to be outdoors naked and know that you won’t be arrested or hit  on,” Bauer says.