Illini Campground — Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area, near Carlyle, Illinois, is a fantastic spot for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors year-round. With spacious sites surrounded by old-growth trees, it’s perfect for families and pets alike, offering a welcoming atmosphere for everyone.

The campground boasts a range of amenities, including electric hookups, picnic tables, and fire rings for those cozy campfire nights. Visitors have praised the friendly hosts and the well-kept facilities, making it easy to settle in and enjoy your stay. One camper noted, “Absolutely huge site with old growth trees throughout the campground,” highlighting the generous space available.

For outdoor activities, the nearby lake is a major draw, with opportunities for fishing, boating, and swimming. Families can take advantage of the playgrounds, basketball court, and even a pool during the summer months. As one reviewer mentioned, “There was a sand/beach area and plenty of firewood around,” making it a great place for fun in the sun or a relaxing evening by the water.

If you need supplies, the camp store has you covered, and the town of Carlyle is just a short drive away for any additional needs. Whether you’re here for a quick getaway or a longer adventure, Illini Campground offers a blend of relaxation and recreation that keeps campers coming back.

Illini Campground — Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area

Carlyle, IL is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Carlyle, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Carlyle and user-submitted reviews.

Carlyle

The Best Camping Near Carlyle, Illinois

Sites are big. Area is clean. Camp hosts are friendly and do patrol the area. One area you can reserve on line. A lot of trees for shade. Swimming pool.

Very Nice, big camp sites.

We stayed in site #7 for one night in the spring. Some sites are spacious, others are pretty cramped. The loop that we stayed on was close to the water with views of Carlyle Lake. 

There is a swimming pool and campground store. The pool was closed when we were there but looked nice. 

Only complaint that I have was the potable water supply. I filled by trailer’s tank at the drinking water supply when you enter the campground. It was extremely dirty with a lot of copper colored solids. I drained the tank and filled with a spicket next to our site and had the same dirty water. Not sure if this was related to it being early in the season but was not impressed at all. 

Decent IL State Park

Basic camping with lots of wildlife in a man made lake. Pool available during the Summer

State run campground with basic camping and lots of wildlife

while there are many full service sites available, this campground offers dozens of rustic tent sites right next to Carlyle Lake as well! Our tent site was shaded and our one neighbor was quiet and friendly. We felt secluded yet had easy access to the campground shower house, swimming pool, wooded nature trail, campground hosts and camp store. We were within a few minutes drive of the main lake beach and facilities that include a restaraunt and visitors center. A 7 minute drive gets you into the town of Carlyle which has all the necessities- food, gas and Walmart.

We were incredibly pleased with the quiet tranquility of this site and the views were fantastic. We woke up to hear the lake lapping at the shoreline. We had a nearly private cove to fish as well.

This is a wonderful campground and we will certainly Be back again!

Quiet, peaceful waterfront escape! 

Has electric sites only. Water and dump at the entrance. Shower houses. Very nice pool and camp store. Hosts scattered and occasionally hard to find to pay for your spot. Wildlife galore. Next to largest lake in Illinois. Fishing good with a boat. Worth the trip.

Pretty good for a state park

We LOVE Hazlet! We have a popup camper and camp here often. It's a huge campground with a smaller reservable section and an extensive first come, first serve section. There are usually always spaces available. Sites are pretty level, are gravel, wooded, and spacious. There are several 'loops'' of sites that extend out and have water views. The shower houses are clean and air conditioned, there's a nice camp store that serves breakfast and basic lunches, and there is a nice large zero entry pool for a $5 fee on weekends. The campground hosts are sprinkled througout the grounds and are always friendly and accommodating. They have a huge Halloween event every year where people decorate their sites (pretty extensively) and there's a haunted house, then kids trick or treat from site to site. The campground also provides pumpkin painting contests and other fun activities. Better get there at least a week in advance for the halloweeen festivities- it fills up!

Great family campground

Not very well maintained by the State of Illinois. Restrooms are horrible! So many better places to camp in the Carlyle Lake area.

Not good!

Right next to Carlyle Lake. Clean campground with electric sites only. Reservations available on line at Reserve America.

Very nice

If you live in the St. Louis area and are looking for a great park for a weekend getaway near the water then look no further.
Tons of reservable and walk up sites for primitive and RV. 
Most sites have plenty of shade and room in between so you were not right on top of your neighbors
The only thing that would be a complaint about the sites is that many of them have a metal culvert running under the entrance to each campsite so if you’re not careful backing your camper out you can run over those and possibly cut a tire
Other than that it is a great campground that boasts the only swimming pool in an Illinois state park. There is also a small store that has all of the basics and even has a built-in laundry mat
The only other small complaint is that there is only one fill station to fill your freshwater tanks. So during busier times there can sometimes be a line of people waiting to fill their freshwater tanks so if you can do that at home I highly advise it


Great park near saint Louis!

Overall this is a VERY nice campground. There is a camp store, firewood available, and even a pool! The trails around are nice and our family had fun hiking. HOWEVER: Unless you have a restroom in your rig, be prepared to walk up to the showerhouse. The pit toilets that were spread across the campground were in horrendous condition and had wasps, spiders, and other critters hanging out. With 4 kids in tow and a pop-up camper, we made the long treck to the shower house many times in one weekend. If we'd had a heads up, we would have stayed somewhere with more accessible restrooms. 

Oh and lots of deer bed down in the grassy areas at night, which was a fun thing to see! 

Restroom situation needs attention

Beautiful lake 

“Hazlet” has over 300 sites with electric hook-ups and 30+ tent sites. It is a popular destination for locals and those nearby during the summer and fall, but if you are able to choose your site early, there are quite a few options that will offer more privacy. Some sites sit directly on Carlyle Lake.

There are many walking trails in and around the campground, plus a pool and campground store at the entrance. The bathrooms and showers are pretty well maintained and spread out well throughout the large campground.  

Large Campground, Good Amenities 

I have gone to Idnr Hazlet since I was a little kid. The lake is definitely an upside while in 100 degree IL humidity. Most of the campsite are spacious and almost every one has water access as long as you don’t mind a little mud. The bathrooms could be cleaner but other wise not to shabby. Unfortunately I don’t have any picture to did it justice. 

Huge! Sites....

This is a decent place with quite a few spots with lake views. Well maintained. Plenty of shade.  Tents and RVs. Crowded most holidays.  Close to grocery. Great Mexican restaurant in town. 

Hazlet-Carlyle Lake

This State Park is located outside Carlyle,Illinois. This park offers playground areas and more. Cabins, campsites with power or no power the choice is yours.  This is one State Park i enjoy visiting. However there are times this park cannot be accessed because of flooding.

Cabins and more

Site 26.  We were basically by ourselves being mid week in November.   Great view.   Nice camp hosts.   This place looks like it could get pretty full in the summer.   It has its own swimming pool. Wish we could stay one more night. 

Great campground 

Stayed here many times. So much fun and memories. Campground with a pool, store, bath houses. Could use some updates but very family frie.

Nice Campground

Very nice place to camp and go boating. Fishing, tubing, skiing, all of it’s great people are very friendly and sites are kept up well. Boat ramps are free as long as you have a campsite. 

Great place to camp.

The sites were fine but the pit toilets were filthy. They also have a problem with skunks. One came through in the middle of the night. Luckily it didn’t spray our tent. 

Not a good experience 

We stayed here for the first time the weekend of October 9th. The weather was perfect, warmer than typical fall in IL. but a nice breese off the lake kept it from feeling hot out. The campground filled up by 11am on Friday, which was a surprise to us. We lucked out and were able to reserve one of the last spots (site #76) which happened to have a nice view of the lake and several short trails down to the water. There was a sand/beach area and plenty of firewood around. Our site was narrow and tighter than we prefer, but the location and view made up for that! Most of the sites in the camper are larger and more open. There are three playground areas, a basketball court, sand volleyball and a pool during summer months. Lots of families with kids, bike rides and plenty of other lake and outdoor activities in the area. Walmart is just 5-10min away if needed as well as restaurants, gas station, and other amenities in Carlyle nearby. The camp hosts were nice and very helpful! When our electric wasn’t working, they sent a tech over right away and he has us up and running in no time. We highly recommend this campground! 

Great Campground for Family

We had reservations nearly one month ahead,  and the campground was full,  yet quiet and restful.   Our site only had electric hookup,  and there were two pit toilets in the cul de sac, and we never found the showers that were supposedly on site.   The acorns were falling,  and we nearly jumped out of bed when they struck our roof!   No fault of the campground,  but a mild annoyance nevertheless. 
There is a camp store but we didn't visit it.  The nearby town of Carlyle has a Walmart and several fast food eateries,  but only one independent restaurant,  Mexican , which came highly recommended.    We met campers that return here often,  but it was our first time.   We would stay again if in the area. 

Beautiful lake

Popped in late on July 4th during a cross-country trip just for the night. Wonderful hosts checked us in (Happy Anniversary!) Absolutely huge site with old growth trees throughout the campground without lots of space  between. 

Illini campground: Huge sites and wonderfully nice hosts 0

Arrived just after a terrible storm so parts of the park were closed for clean up. The parts that were open were all cleaned up, spacious sites, easy access, with fantastic hosts. An absolutely beautiful evening in gorgeous surroundings…we’ll be back and so glad we stumbled upon this place. Didn’t use the showers so can’t report on the facilities….

Wonderful surprise

We stayed for 1 night, had a spot in the back with a perfect view of the lake. Lots of room for dogs. 

Beautiful secluded location

Right next to a huge reserve for fishing and boating. Campsites are very spaced out. We had 30 amp electric but no water on the campsite. Wasn't a problem for us we just filled our water tank. Bathrooms and showers were very clean. Look forward to coming back

Wonderful campground

Nice level sites next to the lake. Reminds me of when I was a kid and there were camp clubs. You came with your parents and didn’t see them again until night time. We swam rode bikes and just played. It’s just like that with new RVs though! 

Photos of Illini Campground — Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area

Real photos from real campers