Best Campgrounds in Illinois

Got a buddy down in Peoria who calls me every spring asking the same thing — where should his daughter take the grandkids camping that wont be a circus. So I figured I'd just write it all down once. Illinois isn't my home country, I'll be honest with you, I spent most of my career in the Greater Yellowstone, but I've poked around the Shawnee enough times visiting family in southern Indiana that I've got opinions. And opinions is what you came for.

Couple things up front. Illinois doesn't have a national park — folks forget that — so the heavy lifting falls to the state park system and the Shawnee National Forest down south. That's actually good news, because the state runs a pretty fair operation and the Forest Service ground is cheap and quiet if you know where to look. Bad news is the popular spots fill up faster than they used to. Internet found them. Same story everywhere.

Here's how I'd think about it if I were planning a trip.

The Shawnee National Forest — where I'd point you first

If you've only got one weekend and you want country that feels like country, head south. The Shawnee covers a big chunk of the bottom of the state and the topography down there will surprise you if you've been driving past corn for six hours. Sandstone bluffs, hardwood forest, some honest-to-goodness cliffs. Not Montana, but not flat either.

Pharaoh Campground sits right up by Garden of the Gods near Herod, and that's the one people fight over for good reason — the rock formations are a short walk away and you can be on the Observation Trail before your coffee's done. Small campground though. Get there early in the week or forget it on a fall weekend. Camp Cadiz, east of Harrisburg off the old CCC ground, is the one I'd send my own family to. Quieter, primitive, dont expect hookups. Pine Ridge Campground over by Lake Glendale near Dixon Springs is the more developed option if somebody in the party needs a shower house.

The Forest Service site lists current conditions and which loops are open. Worth a look before you drive five hours. The River-to-River Trail crosses through this country too, so if you're a walker, it pairs up nice — see our hiking notes and the trails section for more.

Starved Rock and the LaSalle County country

Starved Rock State Park near Utica is the most-visited park in Illinois and you'll feel it. That's not a recommendation against it, just a warning — go midweek, go in the shoulder season, and you'll see why folks love the place. The canyons are real pretty, especially when the waterfalls are running in spring or frozen up in January.

The campground at Starved Rock itself is decent but it books up months out. As of recent seasons it's been a reservation-only deal through the state system, so check Illinois DNR before you assume you can roll in. If Starved Rock is full, look across the river at Matthiessen State Park for day use and try Kankakee River State Park down near Bourbonnais for a bed. Kankakee's a sleeper. River runs right through, decent paddling, and I've never had trouble getting a site there even on short notice — though I'll probably regret writing that down.

One aside. Back in '88 I worked a detail out near Springfield and a feller from the state told me Starved Rock used to be the kind of place locals went to skip church. Now there's a lodge with a gift shop. You know how I feel about gift shops.

Southern Illinois state parks worth the drive

Down in the same general country as the Shawnee, there's a cluster of state parks that ought to be on your list. Giant City State Park near Makanda has the sandstone "streets" — big blocks of rock that look like a town somebody quit building. Campground there is well-run, alot of tent loops, and the lodge does a fried chicken dinner that my sister-in-law still talks about.

Ferne Clyffe State Park near Goreville is smaller and that's the appeal. Hawks Cave, Big Rocky Hollow, good waterfalls after rain. The campground is seperate from the day-use crowd which I always appreciate. Lake Murphysboro State Park west of Murphysboro is another quiet one — fishing's the main draw and the sites are spread out under the oaks.

If you're coming from St. Louis side, Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton sits right where the Illinois meets the Mississippi and the bluff views are the real thing. Eagle watching in January is no joke. Campground is solid. The lodge is historic CCC work and worth a walk-through even if you're tenting.

Up north — the parts that surprise people

Northern Illinois has more going on than folks give it credit for. Mississippi Palisades State Park up by Savanna is the one I'd put at the top of the list up there. Real cliffs over the river, good hiking, campground sites under hardwoods. It feels nothing like the Illinois you drove through to get there.

Apple River Canyon State Park further north toward the Wisconsin line is small, primitive, and quiet. Limestone canyon, trout-ish stream, no hookups, no nonsense. Rock Cut State Park near Loves Park outside Rockford is bigger and more developed — two lakes, swim beach, lots of family campers — and that's its job. Good for first-timers and folks with kids who need a beach.

Then there's Illinois Beach State Park up at Zion on Lake Michigan. The campground there gives you Great Lake shoreline, which is a strange and wonderful thing in this state. Wind off the lake can be a factor — bring stakes that actually hold and check our tent picks if your current rig is a flapper. Sadie hates wind, for what it's worth.

A short list, since you asked

If I had to rank the campgrounds I'd actually send people to, and I hate ranking things, here's how it shakes out:

• Pharaoh Campground (Shawnee NF, near Herod) — for the Garden of the Gods access
• Camp Cadiz (Shawnee NF, east of Harrisburg) — for quiet and primitive
• Giant City State Park (near Makanda) — for families that want amenities and good hiking
• Mississippi Palisades (near Savanna) — for river bluffs and the best campground in the north half
• Pere Marquette (near Grafton) — for big-river country and winter eagles
• Ferne Clyffe (near Goreville) — for solitude and waterfalls after rain
• Kankakee River State Park (near Bourbonnais) — for last-minute availability and paddling
• Illinois Beach (Zion) — for Lake Michigan shoreline, if you can stand the wind

Reservations, regs, and the boring stuff that matters

Illinois state parks mostly run through the state's own reservation system, not Recreation.gov. Federal sites in the Shawnee — Pharaoh, Pine Ridge, Camp Cadiz and so on — those are on Recreation.gov. Two different systems, two different accounts, and people miss that all the time. Set up both before you need them.

As of recent seasons, the popular state park sites have moved further and further toward reservation-required, especially on weekends. First-come-first-served still exists at some of the primitive Shawnee loops but I wouldn't gamble a long drive on it in October. Burn bans pop up in dry years — call the local ranger district, dont trust a website that hasn't been touched since spring.

Bear safety isn't your problem in Illinois. Raccoons absolutely are. They're smart, they're persistent, and they will open a cooler that a Yellowstone griz would just shrug at. Keep food in the vehicle at night. Same goes for the camp stove and anything that smells like dinner. If you're shopping general kit, our gear page covers the basics, and a decent sleeping bag rated to about 30 degrees will handle most of the Illinois shoulder seasons fine.

One more thing. Ticks. Southern Illinois has lone star ticks in numbers that'd make a Montana boy nervous. Permethrin your pants, check yourself, check the dog. I learned that one the hard way and Sadie did too.

Honest take

If it were me with one long weekend and a tank of gas, I'd point the truck south to the Shawnee and split nights between Pharaoh and Camp Cadiz, with a day at Garden of the Gods and a walk down at Ferne Clyffe. If I had family in tow who wanted real beds nearby, I'd base out of Giant City instead. Northern half of the state, it's Mississippi Palisades, no contest. Skip the campgrounds with gift shops unless somebody in the car is gonna mutiny without ice cream. For trip planning beyond camping itself, the general parks roundup and AllTrails Illinois page are worth bookmarking. Good country down there. Just go on a Tuesday if you can swing it.