Best Campgrounds near Belknap, IL

Backs up to lake. Short walk to clean restrooms. Will come back.

It’s a great area with the small beach nearby and garden of the gods so close, the only problem is the drinking water pump is broke so you must bring your own water. You can get firewood from the garden of the gods outpost and some really good shakes and icecream!!

The sites had amazing views. Spaced pretty close together but still felt private enough. There was an outhouse that was very clean and in the center of the camp sites. No showers. We loved it!

Laura was quick to reply to questions and was waiting for us when we arrived. Spot was easy to get into. Quiet and peaceful. Hot tub was great! We didn't use the showers but they looked nice.

We’d seen signs for Shawnee Forest Campground (CG) many times as we headed out and back from our St. Louis home base and wanted to check this CG out. We followed our GPS to the clearly marked CG entrance but our GPS showed we still had about a half mile to go. We checked in at the little office and were given the choice of pull through sites with FHUs 12 or 21. We chose site 21. The gravel roads are slightly narrow with some trees but we did not have any issues getting to site 21. The water and electric(50/30/20 AMP) are at the back of the gravel pad. There are two sewer hookups, which was nice. The water pressure was good around 50 psi. Their WiFi was very good. There are mature trees here and there in the CG, so satellite should not be an issue. We got two bars on Verizon. Each of the bath houses have a washer and dryer. Our site was not level and with all the rain we had, there were water puddles at the steps. There are some nice sites in this CG but we were not offered one of the better ones even though there were plenty of sites open in the upper 26- 50 site area. If we come back, we’ll know where to ask for a site. They have a small lake and two ponds for fishing. There's no formal dog area, but there are paved trails around the large CG area, which made it nice to walk our dogs.

We found this campground using Google Maps looking for different campground (CG) options. As this was the first week of November on a Tuesday, we did not have any trouble getting reservations to include getting site 25 that we’d seen recommended in reviews. When making our reservation, we were told by the owner, Angie, to follow our GPS to the end of the road where you will find the CG. Angie met us and we were escorted to pull through site 25 with water and electric(50/30/20 AMP). This pull through is a large half moon. It was difficult to get straight on the rig but we made it work for an overnighter. We would not recommended trying to anything longer than a 38’ rig into the site due to the turn to get out. We needed levelers on the door side. Once we were set up, we were delighted with this site’s lake view. The water pressure was good at about 50 psi and no issues with the 50 AMP service. We got three bars on Verizon. We could have put out satellite, but did not for this overnight stay. They have a restroom/bath house, but we didn’t use it. This CG is mostly full of seasonals. We noticed that golf carts are the thing here. As we were here during the week, there was very little CG activity. However, we can guess this place is quite festive during the summer months and associated weekends. From what gather from their website and saw, they keep about 10 sites available for short term stays(max 28). Of the 76 sites total, the only pull through was site 25. We had to maneuver to get out of the site with our running over the railroad tie border. We wouldn’t go in there with anything over 38’. The sites here vary a lot on how close they are to each other. The website states the sites are 50 feet long, which is probably correct. We enjoyed the lake view from our site plus we saw deer and eagles in the CG during our overnight stay. The owner Angie, was very nice and accommodating.

Plenty of space and nicely maintained Porto potty

This campground provides large spots, drinking water, vault toliets, dumpsters, picnic table, lantern hook, fire ring, and contactless check in. I also appreciate the value of these sites. It really is a reasonable rate for forest camping.

Hosts were friendly, but didn’t brief us on information such as where is the trash bin, what is the WiFi password. Restroom was old but relatively clean. There’s only one valve in the showers so all you get is lukewarm water. Not good on a cool or cold day. Some of the long term people have too many dogs, one had 6 little yippers, kind of annoying. And I’m not against dogs

Great little spot right off the interstate. Lots of nice scenery and decent fishing.

Very quiet and secluded. Campsites are roomy and some firewood is supplied.

This will be the next campground to go

This is a little gem of a refuge within the Shawnee NF - about 30min from Marion, down a beautiful country road before nestling among the trees around the lake. The drive is paved/gravel the whole way, so very easily drivable for anyone in anything. Plenty of camp sites, both with electric and non-electric, double and single. Bring bug spray - horseflies and ticks. Beautiful lake, beautiful biking trails, etc. Firepits w/ grates are spacious and nice, fees are online. 1 bar verizon at camp, can get up to 3 bars within the area.

Nobody here. Bring a fishing pole. No services except a porta potty.

Stopped here for the night driving through the area. Nice campground, clean, safe, and right off the interstate.

There are only two camp site at this location and they are very close to each other. The camp sites are also very narrow. We camped in the lower site and had a difficult time getting everything out of the road.

On the positive side, the site was clean, there was nobody there over the weekend and there was a humming bird. The pond had lots of frogs and and a few fish.