Established Camping
Coon Creek (IL)
About
US Army Corps of Engineers
Lake Shelbyville
Overview
Coon Creek is a large campground that sits on the western shore of Lake Shelbyville in the heart of central Illinois. Families enjoy the playground, swimming area and shaded campsites within the facility. The lake and surrounding land offer outdoor activities for people of all ages, including fishing, swimming, picnicking and simply relaxing. Click Here for the Lake Shelbyville Virtual Tour
Recreation
Lake Shelbyville offers a multitude of fishing opportunities for catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, muskie, walleye, white bass and bluegill. Coon Creek provides a boat ramp, and for those without a boat, several ponds with farmed fish are available around the lake. Hunting areas within a short drive offer numerous game species, including quail, rabbit, pheasant, deer, dove, turkey, waterfowl and woodcock. Visitors can also explore the lake shore on foot via a 0.7-mile nature trail within the facility.
Facilities
Coon Creek has 181 campsites, about 50 percent of which are reservable. All sites are equipped with electric hookups. The facility has flush toilets, showers, a playground, swimming beach, dump station and boat ramp.
Natural Features
This facility overlooks the lake shore and is heavily forested with plenty of shade. Oak and hickory are the lake region's dominant tree species, and foliage turns a variety of red, orange, purple and yellow each fall, while prairie flowers dot the landscape in spring and summer. Numerous species of songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl and raptors inhabit the lake area, as do mammals such as cottontail rabbit, white-tail deer, gray and fox squirrel, muskrat and mink.
Nearby Attractions
Wolf Creek State Park, Woods Lake Waterfowl Refuge and Okaw Bluff Wetlands Complex are popular locations for wildlife watching, birding and hunting near Lake Shelbyville.
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonGood
- AT&TFair
- T-MobileGood
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
- Cabins
Features
For Campers
- Market
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Phone Service
- WiFi
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Sewer Hookups
- Water Hookups
- Pull-Through Sites
- Big Rig Friendly
Simply Beautiful!
We spent a long Columbus day weekend at Coon Creek at Lake Shelbyville. We tent camped and very much enjoyed our stay….even though the night time temps got into the low 30’s. This campground had many spacious sites. They were all different in size and shape and there was several “buddy” sites available. I was impressed with the space between the sites, the mature trees, and the overall peaceful setting of the campground. It was pretty full during our visit however it was relatively quiet and peaceful. There was plenty of shower houses and restrooms placed throughout the campground and we never had to wait to use the shower. The handicap accessible shower/restroom combo across from our site was ok. It didn’t have a place to sit to put shoes or clothes on. It needed a good bleaching and there was no hand soap which was pretty gross, but over all that’s my biggest complaint about the campground. I brought my own hand soap when I used the facilities, But I still had to touch the surfaces of others that did NOT wash their hands with soap after using the potty. 🤮😬🤮
There was a very well stocked store at the entrance called “Castaways at at Coon Creek” that had lots of helpful, unexpected, and fun items. You could buy ice, filtered water, beer, groceries, bait, firewood ($6 a bundle), and lots of other items!
Oh and you could call in and custom order Hunt Brother’s Pizza and wings. They would call you 5 mins before your order was coming out of the oven so you could come pick it up.
There was a couple of places along the road on the way in that had wood bundles for sale on the honor system. One offered fairly large bundles for $5. I was impressed by this! it was certainly not the tiny firewood bundles at the gas station! I will include a photo of one of the bundles for reference.
Excellent place to camp overall. I would encourage them to put some hand soap in those bathrooms. 🤮 I had to dock them a star for this!
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Nice peaceful campground
This was our first experience at a Federal Campground and it was great.
We had a full hookup site that was pull through. Our area was nice and flat and large, which was great for our kids to run and play. The sites at the campground are kind of hit or miss as lots are very slopy so make sure to bring plenty of cribbing if you’ve never stayed here before. They have a nice shower house and laundry facilities.
They also have a great beach area with life jackets available for the kids too. Our kids also had a blast on the playground. There is a nice walking trail and my wife and I found several edible mushrooms on our walk.
Overall it’s a nice campground and the price on these federal campgrounds is absolutely the best!
- (8) View All
Weekend getaway
Great campground. The oldest and largest on lake shelbyville. Every campsite has electric 30amp or 50amp. Some sites most sites have full hookup for rvs. ome sites are pull through while others are only pull in. Boat launch on grounds. Beach access. Water access throughout although somewhat troublesome to get to in certain areas. Tons of tree coverage for shade. Great, quite campground with an onsite store for groceries, camping and fishing needs and some other supplies. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to get away from the city life for a a few days.
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Location
Coon Creek (IL) is located in Illinois
Directions
From Shelbyville, Illinois: Go 4.5 miles north of Shelbyville on State Route 128 to County Road 1750 N. Turn right (east) and drive 0.9 miles to County Road 1900 E. Make a left (north) and go 0.35 mile to County Road 1785 N. Turn right (east) and drive 1.75 miles to County Road 2075 E. Turn right (south) and go 1.7 miles to the facility.
Address
1989 State Hwy 16
Shelbyville, IL 62565-9378
Coordinates
39.4513889 N
88.7625 W