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Franklin Creek State Natural Area Equestrian Campground offers horse corrals alongside tent and RV sites. Located approximately 60 miles west of Big Rock, this campground provides drinking water, fire rings, picnic tables, and vault toilets for campers with horses. The sites accommodate various trailer sizes, though larger rigs may find access challenging. Reservations are available for equestrian sites, ensuring space for riders planning extended stays. The campground maintains clean facilities and level camping areas suitable for both equestrians and their animals. Equestrian campers can bring their own feed but should plan accordingly as no on-site store exists for supplies. The campground maintains relatively quiet conditions that allow horses to remain calm and comfortable throughout their stay.
Trail access directly connects riders to the preserve's natural landscape. Matthiessen State Park Equestrian Campground, another option in the region, offers basic amenities including drinking water, picnic tables, toilets, and trash collection. Neither electrical hookups nor water hookups are available at these dedicated horse campsites, so riders should prepare accordingly. The surrounding trails wind through prairie and wooded terrain, providing varied riding experiences. Water access for horses is available but limited in certain seasons, particularly during drier summer months. Both campgrounds enforce standard horse camping etiquette including proper manure disposal and restricted grazing areas. Riders report the trails are well-maintained with clear markings, making navigation straightforward even for those new to the area. The relatively flat terrain around Big Rock creates accessible riding conditions for horses of varying experience levels.
"Nearby Siegler Lake and Big Rock Creek in the Big Rock Forest Preserve are picturesque."
"They have a short hiking path that leads to big rock forest preserve where there is a tiny beach that we use to put our kayaks and canoes into for floating parties."
from $18 - $35 / night
Check Availability"The staff are super nice and the campground has great social distancing rules in place for the check-in shack and bathrooms."
"Half of them were in the Prairie and the other half was tucked into wonderfully private spots with burn pits and picnic tables. We hiked the trail and saw a mother deer feeding her 2 babies."
from $12 - $35 / night
Check Availability"Of all of the campgrounds that I have visited in Illinois, I would say that Rock Cut State Park is the best that I have seen. It boasts as being the largest State Park in Northern Illinois."
"The park is very large(the largest in northern Illinois) and has multiple campgrounds. I stayed in the Prairie View campground. Trees all around, plenty of shade."
from $12 - $50 / night
Check Availability"Quiet, family orientated, fishing lake, miniature golf, activities"
from $37 / night
Check Availability"Right at the start of Osage is an entrance to the crushed gravel bike path. It gave us a great hike through the trees. You can find picnic areas and playground equipment by following the bike path."
"There are a few water pumps and vault toilets within walking distance, but we were pretty close to the shower house, which had stalls for toilets and showers."
"Very Friendly Staff I received warm welcome from nice staff at the entrance gate. Tent Campground is nicely tucked inside by the lake. Quit place night time I can hear fish jumping from the water."
"We biked around the campground during the days and took advantage of the adult only hot tub hours at night. It was a nice getaway from Chicago."
from $43 - $73 / night
Check Availability"hey, there were some pretty outstanding trails to hike during the day and the friendly on-site ranger made a call over to nearby Starved Rock SP to secure me a camping spot over there, so not all was"
"quite a bit of detail on this campground, I’m following up on that review by sharing more fotos as well as providing a topline update: Highlights: (1) Great hiking abounds in this particular Illinois"
from $10 / night
Check Availability"Located just northwest of the little hamlet called Franklin Grove, which is just due north of Ronald Reagan’s birthplace in Dixon, Franklin Creek State Natural Area Equestrian Campground is ideal if you"
from $4 - $8 / night
Check Availability"Ever dreamt of working / living / camping on an actual working horse ranch? Then you've arrived at the perfect spot. "
GuideWe are here on Memorial Day weekend and it is full, but still very quiet. The sites are well maintained including the fire pit areas. Water hookup is back from pad so as others have said, bring the longer water hose. Nearby Siegler Lake and Big Rock Creek in the Big Rock Forest Preserve are picturesque.
ScoutWe bought our first RV in 2019 and this place was in town so we used it to learn how to better rv camp after work some days. They have a short hiking path that leads to big rock forest preserve where there is a tiny beach that we use to put our kayaks and canoes into for floating parties. Fishing is decent and it has a 1 mile loop that goes up and down hill around the lake. Peaceful and quiet. Great place to get away and chill.
LegendOf all of the campgrounds that I have visited in Illinois, I would say that Rock Cut State Park is the best that I have seen. It boasts as being the largest State Park in Northern Illinois. It has a large lake with almost 40 miles of hiking trails, including equestrian trails and an equestrian campground. There is boating and fishing as well as swimming in the lake.
The campground staff is very helpful and do a good job at keeping it clean and well maintained even with the large number of visitors. Don't miss my interview with Marsha, one of the friendly staff members at Rock Cut State Park.
TravelerRock Cut St. Park is in the middle of an urban area, but you would not know it. The park is very large(the largest in northern Illinois) and has multiple campgrounds. I stayed in the Prairie View campground. Trees all around, plenty of shade. There is a central bathhouse with flush toilets and 3 showers. There is also a pit toilets throughout the park. Sites have electrical hookup, but water is from a hydrant or there is a dump station and water supply near the campground entrance. There are bike trails, hiking, and equestrian trails. You can swim in the lake at the east end of the park. Paddle boats, canoes and kayaks for rent as well as two boat ramps on the big lake in the middle of the park. The Plum Grove campground is more open between sites and sites are closer. Staghorn, White Oak, and Prairie View are father apart and have more under growth between sites. Hickory hills campgrounds is all tent sites and most are on the lake. Also there are AOA sites.
LegendLocated just northwest of the little hamlet called Franklin Grove, which is just due north of Ronald Reagan’s birthplace in Dixon, Franklin Creek State Natural Area Equestrian Campground is ideal if you are one of those primitive campers who want to take their noble steed(s) with them for the night in order to gallup along some pretty amazing horse-friendly trails. While there’s not a lot in the way of amenities here, if you need a post to tie up your horse, a round-about where they can go for countless circle walks along with plenty of hay to keep them fed, then this location might just be ideal for you.
What I enjoyed most about Franklin Creek State Natural Area is the 882 acres of fresh prairieland that feels fairly untouched and ready for some eager exploration. There’s several small natural springs completely shadowed by endless forests of hardwoods along with all of the natural fauna that you would expect in these parts like gray and fox squirrels, white-tailed deer, racoons, chipmunks, beavers and opossums. If you’re a bird watcher, you’ll enjoy the flycatchers, warblers, and woodpeckers, vireos as well as barn and horned-rim owls. And according to the information I found on-site, there’s more than 19 species of fish that you can find in the fresh water streams, creeks and rivers here.
From an amenities standpoints, while you will find 4 picnic shelters (Bartlett, Sunday, Banker and Hausen-Knox, all of which can be reserved), restrooms, potable drinking water, stand-up grills and fire pits, there is very little in the way of amenities in the actual equestrian campground apart from water spigots with a picnic shelter, restrooms, running water, show area and the occasional picnic table. The equestrian trails offer more than 12 miles of horse hoofing fun and the terrain is heavily forested with just slight variable grades increasing and decreasing around fairly easy-to-maneuver turns. You’ll also discover that there is a very nice stream here that the kids will love jumping across and / or wading in searching for crawdads or small fish.
What you’ll enjoy most about being here, apart from the peace & quiet as well as the abundance of serenity is that this place has a really nice connection with history as it features a fully functioning grist mill that goes all the way back to early Americana where corn meal and wheat flour were made from the stream currents of water passing by that would fuel the grist mill. On weekends, you can actually take the kids to this site, located just 70 yards west of the Equestrian Campground for a super-cool interactive exhibition. Other activities here that you can access include an archery range, cross-country skiing, fishing, hiking, biking, hunting and even snowmobiling.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Should you get tired of trying to conjure up that next meal from the depths of your Cordova roto-molded cooler or on-board RV mini-fridge, then you are in luck as with in the nearby town of Franklin Grove, given its very small population of just slightly more than 1,000 souls shouldn’t have many restaurants (let alone stop lights), but thankfully for your sake, it does. Apart from the Casey’s gas station, which actually serves up some pretty awesome pizza believe it or not, there’s 3 proper restaurants all serving ‘down home Midwestern comfort food’ that are each pretty delectable: Lincoln Way Café, Rooney’s and Rev on 38; (2) If you are looking to explore a slice of history in these parts and the grist mill just isn’t your thing, head due west to Dixon where you can go explore the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan. There’s also nearby Chaplin Creek Historic Village featuring an old salt box farmhouse as well as a one room school, which will take you back to the late 1800s before the world knew modernization and technology; (3) Although the trail hiking at Franklin Creek State Natural Area are very good, should you be on the hunt for much more challenging trail hiking or biking, then head on over to either White Pines Forest State Park or Castle Rock State Park, both of which are only about a 20 minute drive from here and offer very large areas to explore; (4) Should you come with kayak or canoe and are looking for some good challenging currents to get some excellent oar-rowing in, you will struggle to find that here at Franklin Creek State Natural Area, so I highly recommend towing your watercraft over to the banks of the Rock River where you will be richly rewarded; and (5) When you are ready to book this particular equestrian campground, just go to the IL SP site to book it: https://camp.exploremoreil.com/location/221.
Happy Camping!
RangerRock Cut St. Park is in the middle of an urban area, but you would not know it. The park is very large and has multiple campgrounds. I stayed in the Plum Grove campground. Trees were not really leafed out and some sites would have shade later in the year. Site along the edge of the campground had ample shade. There is a central bathhouse with flush toilets and 3 showers. There is also a pit toilet. Sites have an electrical hookup, but water is from a hydrant. There is a dump station and water supply near the park entrance. There are bike trails, hiking, and equestrian trails. I also believe that you can swim and boat here.
RangerI've camped here four different occasions this 2020 covid-19 year. The staff are super nice and the campground has great social distancing rules in place for the check-in shack and bathrooms. It is a super clean campground with multiple hosts and forest preserve staff. There are a large number of RV pads overlooking the prairie and a few along a grove of trees. I was lucky once to see the equestrian area full of campers with their horses. There are 9 walk-in tent sites about 10-20 yards from parking (the two at the end p7 and p9 are connected for groups that know each other). There are multiple ada sites and two "walk-in/ie roll-in" site in the tent-only area. It's a good mix of young people, retired people, and families. I've seen weekends with mainly RVs and one weekend with a quarter of the drive-in sites being tents. The most shaded sites are p1,3,5,7 and 9. Many of the sites in the middle are wide open with little shade but nice summer breezes. Prices are a great deal if you live in Kane county but still worth the trip if you live in another county. Firewood is $7 for about .75 cu ft (what you can fit in a milk crate.) There are a few trails and I've seen lots of butterflies, gold finches, hawks, deer, flocks of giant sandhill cranes, rabbits, ground squirrels, and of course actual squirrels. Lots of people (including me) bring their leashed dogs. The other campers have been polite and friendly. I wish there was more distance between sites in the water/electrical loops for more privacy, but I'd go every weekend if I lived in Kane county because it would be worth the resident price even tho there are so many RVs. Because there is electrical it is a peaceful campground with no generator noise.
ScoutFull hook ups and electric sites plus some restricted Equestrian and walk in sites
Not for #vanlife. I tried to pay for a tent site and was told “you’re not supposed to sleep in your car” “this campground is for RV’s only”
RangerGrass camping. The spaces are pretty level. The trees will be terrific in about 20 years. There is nothing much to do here, or nearby. It’s clean and the comfort stations are new. There is electric at the sites and water spigots throughout, although not really at each space. I saw where some campers hooked about 150’ of hose to spigots behind the loops to run to their campers. The dump station is good. It’s expensive, for what is there, if you are not a Kane County resident. There appears to be some equestrian space and trails. Quiet.
Big Rock Forest Preserve provides open prairie camping with level sites approximately 60 miles east of Franklin Creek State Natural Area. The campground features water and electric hookups at sites, though water connections require extension hoses as they're positioned behind camping pads. Sites accommodate both tents and RVs across nearly 100 improved sites. The preserve offers drinking water, flush toilets and vault toilets for visitors. No reservations are accepted at this first-come, first-served location. The $35 nightly fee for non-county residents grants access to hiking trails, fishing ponds, and open grasslands with limited shade.
Trail riding opportunities: Franklin Creek State Natural Area Equestrian Campground provides 12+ miles of riding trails through hardwood forests. "Beautiful hiking so close to everything. Campground is rather basic but the primitive camp sites were beautiful. Half of them were in the Prairie and the other half was tucked into wonderfully private spots with burn pits and picnic tables," notes Tricia E. about nearby equestrian camping areas.
Fishing access: Several lakes and ponds offer fishing opportunities within 30 minutes of Big Rock. "Duck viewing. Quiet. Almost 100 improved sites. Full bars on Verizon. Amazing sunsets," reports Amanda K. about the fishing options at Big Rock Campground. Water access points accommodate various skill levels with both shallow and deeper areas.
Hiking trails: Paul Wolff Campground offers extensive hiking options. "The highlight of our experience is the hiking. There are miles of trails. On one hike we were on paved, sifted gravel, grass and single trek trails. There are a lot of loops giving you options," shares Art S. Most trails maintain moderate difficulty levels suitable for various age groups.
Open spaces: Big Rock camping areas feature expansive open sites with minimal tree cover. "Grass camping. The spaces are pretty level. The trees will be terrific in about 20 years. There is nothing much to do here, or nearby. It's clean and the comfort stations are new," writes Jeff G. This open terrain creates accessible conditions for horses and riders.
Wildlife viewing: Rock Cut State Park provides opportunities to observe local wildlife. "We hiked the trail and saw a mother deer feeding her 2 babies. Hard to believe that there is hiking trails like those in such a densely populated area," says Tricia E. Bird watching is particularly productive during spring and fall migrations.
Clean facilities: Despite basic amenities, equestrian camping facilities maintain consistent cleanliness standards. "The vault toilets are clean but smell like vault toilets at 95 degrees. There is one very clean flush toilet building but no showers. They don't advertise showers, but this is the newest and nicest campsite I have seen without showers," notes David W. about Paul Wolff Campground.
Limited shade: Most equestrian camping areas near Big Rock feature open grassland with minimal tree cover. "This is a pretty new camp site, so the trees need some time to get big enough to provide some shade," explains David W. Temperatures can reach 90+ degrees during summer months with little natural protection from sun.
Water access challenges: Hansen's Hideaway Ranch and Family Campground and similar sites require planning for water needs. "Water hookup is far behind camping pad - bring extensions!" advises Amanda K. Water spigots often require 50-150 feet of hose to reach campsites.
Seasonal restrictions: Most equestrian facilities operate seasonally from April through October. "We stayed here for a weekend. It's a nice place. Campsites are flat. The water hookups are kind of far from the individual sites (make sure you have extra hose)," reports Rodney D. Weather conditions significantly impact trail accessibility during spring and fall.
Look for activity options: Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort offers family-friendly amenities. "Very Friendly Staff I received warm welcome from nice staff at the entrance gate. Tent Campground is nicely tucked inside by the lake. Quit place night time I can hear fish jumping from the water. Clean bathrooms and shower," writes Leo V. Multiple campgrounds offer designated children's play areas.
Consider tent site locations: Some campgrounds offer better tent sites than others. "We looked at this place when we were looking for a spot to camp for a local wedding. But, no shade in the Illinois heat and no shower made it unacceptable," notes Joel R. Request sites near facilities when traveling with young children.
Pack for weather variations: Spring and fall temperatures fluctuate significantly in this region. "We kayaked in the lake and it's small but nice. Great for kids lots of activities and space to play But very quiet and relaxing by nighttime," shares Christin D. Morning temperatures can drop 20-30 degrees below daytime highs even in summer.
Extension cords required: Potowatomi Campground and other sites have electrical hookups positioned away from parking pads. "I saw where some campers hooked about 150' of hose to spigots behind the loops to run to their campers. The dump station is good," advises Jeff G. Most sites require 30-50 foot electrical cords and water hoses.
Site selection importance: Choose sites carefully based on size and shade. "My fiancé and I stayed in the Hickory Loop spot 3. We are very new campers, so we just have a very basic tent setup. When we checked in with the host, there were bundles of firewood for $8 (either cash or cash app)," shares Emma H. Corner sites typically offer more privacy and space for larger rigs.
Leveling considerations: Most sites around Big Rock provide relatively flat terrain. "This is a very popular campground. Lots of big rigs who seem to be staying for quite a while. Our relatives recommended this one since some of their friends use it for 'the summer.' A very nice, well manicured campground," notes MalibuDave42 L. Minimal leveling equipment needed for most established sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Big Rock, IL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Big Rock, IL is Big Rock Campground with a 3.8-star rating from 18 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 13 equestrian camping locations near Big Rock, IL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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