Established Camping
Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area
About
State Park
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Phone Service
- Reservable
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Water Hookups
- Pull-Through Sites
Road and river side camping with no frills
We had the entire campground to ourselves on a cold weekend stay. There isn’t much area to explore- just the campground and the river shoreline within it. However we witnessed the most spectacular sunset over the river. It was well worth the night’s adventures.
We stayed in the non-electric loop. A bunch of sites with divisions obscured by crunchy, fallen leaves. We had a picnic table and fire pit. A pit toilet and water pump are located at the building used to clean up your fishing/hunting catches. The electric sites are on the opposite side and have a couple sites that look more long term campers. The host is over there but we never saw them. Once it was dark half a dozen bright lights came on in the parking area between the two camping loops. It was close to us so our teardrop camper was well lit up inside. I covered the window to block some of the light but I would suggest camping further down away from the building and those lights.
A main road runs right behind the campsites. They have a wood fence on the electric side but not on our side. It obscures some of the headlights. Sound died off pretty early even with a few locals pulling in to meet up with friends in the parking lot. We walked to the river and found a short trail. We stood out by the boat ramps for a nice view across the river.
A sign shows a hiking route that you can drive to. We planned to hike it in the morning but unexpected events changed our minds. At 5 AM diesel pickup trucks pulling boats began to pull into the parking area. It was cold and dark so we stayed inside. Eventually we heard the boats heading out along with gun shots- some were nearby. We started packing up and in the process saw that they were hunting birds from the boats along the river. We chose to skip the hiking trail with the onset of hunting season.
A 30 minute drive got us to the Hennepin Canal Trail and we hiked along it for a few miles before returning to our car and heading home. We did make one more stop at the Flour House Bakery in Princeton and highly recommend it.
The spectacular sunset made this worth a weekend getaway but it doesn’t seem like a nice spot for an extended stay unless you plan to make more use of the river access.
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Rural
Busy rural highway is behind you, host let multiple sites get trashed. Fishing is great tho.
Depends on...
This is a great site if you don’t mind a very busy rural highway right behind you. Very easy access to fishing. The host was non-existent I.e one site was completely trashed and they never made themselves known. If it wasn’t for the water access I probably would not have stayed here.
Location
Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area is located in Illinois
Directions
Marshall State Fish & Wildlife Area can be reached from I-80 and I-74. If traveling on I-80, take the I-39 exit at LaSalle and go south. Go approximately 25 miles until you reach the Lacon/IL Rt. 17 exit. Go west on Rt. 17 for 20 miles to Lacon where Rt. 17 intersects IL Rt. 26. Head south on Rt. 26 for 5 miles. Brown highway signs will announce the area. If traveling north on I-74, follow IL Rt. 116 (on the east side of the Illinois River, near East Peoria) approximately 5 miles north to IL Rt. 26. Turn left on Rt. 26 and go north for 18 miles. Brown highway signs will announce the area.
Address
236 State Rt 26
Lacon, IL 61540
Coordinates
40.970000719999994 N
89.42847375 W