Best Tent Camping near Bismarck, IL

Recent Tent Reviews in Bismarck

327 Reviews of 3 Bismarck Campgrounds

• 

  SomadNomad M.

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 26, 2024

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  HEY DYRT

  How about doing a fact che k before giving bad info? It states in the very first section telling about the park that ALL CAMPERS MUST OBTAIN A PERMIT FROM THE CAMP HOST OR RESERVATIONS, but on the pro section you tell us that we don't need a permit. You know hmmmm I just got a warning g ticket from AC DNR for camping without A PERMIT FACT CHECK YO SHIT, DO YOUR JOB

• 

  Laurie L.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 19, 2024

  D & W Lake RV Park

  Lovely campground

  Lovely little campground with its own little lake. Well maintained. Clean laundry. Friendly and helpful owner. Visible presence throughout campground checking that all is well.

• 

  Sergio D.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 5, 2024

  Caboose Lake Campground

  Worst place to stay at

  Highway is louder than you’d think. No good night rest had. People spy on you just to report you. Main office head woman will not work with you and just give you a flat no when you ask about a refund.

• 

  Joel K.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 26, 2024

  Shades State Park Campground

  Nice campground, but not perfect

  Stayed here recently and overall the trip was a 10, but as for the campground itself there are somethings that could definitely be better.

  First, for all intents and purposes the sites are not marked.  At some point years ago they stencil painted the numbers both on the concrete parking block and on the ground near the entry pad for each site, but obviously over time most of these are worn away.  It's very difficult to find your actual site, even during the day when it's not busy.  At night, or with a campground full of people - not a chance.   Even more perplexing is why it's still like this when it's so easy to fix.

  Second, on the back loop, where we were, almost every car we saw was going the wrong way around the loop.  I've never seen this before and wasn't just one car.  There is a sign at the start of the loop indicating it's one direction, so not sure why this happens.

  Third, they have a camp store at the entry to the family campground, but it was never open in the time we were there, which was Friday / Saturday / Sunday, during the summer, so not sure what the situation was.

  Fourth, while the campground does have functional flush bathroom and shower, they only have one, and the rest are pit toilets, so depending on how far your site is from the building, it could be a very long walk, especially at night.

  The front gate to the park did have covered firewood, but the hours of the gate operation were not clear.  The sites themselves were fine, but not particularly deep, and some are basically completely exposed to all the foot and vehicle traffic going to the toilets, the dumpsters, or just driving around, so basically zero privacy.

  We did drive into Crawfordsville, which took about 20 minutes, and it was very nice with a local college (Wabash) and plenty of retail options to restock, grab a cold beverage, or refill the tank before driving home. 

  Would I stay here again, yes 100%, but be prepared and plan ahead.  Would I recommend this to others?  Meh.

• 

  James P.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 26, 2024

  Crawfordsville KOA

  Nice KOA

  Shade, grass, and gravel sites. A lot better than most KOAs. They ask that you not put outdoor rugs on grass; no problem as grass is nice. Sites 1-10 are your best bet for Starlink if that’s what you have; best opening through tree canopy of the northern sky. Pet friendly; counted three cats and a dog in the office when I checked in. Was given the option of choosing my site out of the seven available for my reservation. A mix of long term residents and travelers; some of the long term resident sites were a little junky.

• 

  Steve

  Scout

  

  Aug. 6, 2024

  Prairie Pines Campground

  Comfortable campground

  People are very nice and the campgrounds are clean. Plenty of site room and clean and updated shower and washing machines. Rates have gone up to $40 per night

• 

  Rose S.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2024

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  Not free camping

  My mistake for not researching this place further but it was listed on the dyrt’s free camping sites, but this is a paid/reservation based site. Unfortunately we arrived passed check in (which starts at 3pm) and couldn’t stay here for the night

• 

  MickandKarla W.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 24, 2024

  Prairie Pines Campground

  Nice Campground

  Our Garmin RV GPS’ conflicted with our new Ford RV navigation, wanting to take us a more direct route and Garmin through town to this city park. Either route would have worked but suggest you locate the campground(CG) on the map and verify the route with Google Maps or Waze. Check-in was at the camp host site near where you enter the campground near the shower house building in the center of the CG. After a quick check-in we were escorted to site 13 with FHUs. This site is technically a back-in but our host brought us around by the swing set to make it an easy pull-through. The utilities worked well and we got 3 bars on Verizon. There are a lot of mature trees. They have a nice shower house complete with laundry. This CG was well kept and a great choice for an overnight stay as we headed to our home base near St. Louis, MO.

• 

  Kelsey S.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 1, 2024

  Off The Trail Campground

  Lots of fun!

  We stayed in buddy sites 81 and 82. Buddy sites are large, have full hookup, fire pits, and picnic tables. Lots of dogs around, pricing was about $50 a night per site. Restrooms had showers as well which made it easy to rinse off the mud. Great time all around.

• S

  Scott B.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 18, 2024

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  Nice park with activities

  Camp sites in the middle are on the smaller end but side sites have plenty of room. Drive is paved and pretty level. They have tubes kayaks and cannons

• c

  cathyL

  Guide

  

  Jun. 7, 2024

  Turkey Run State Park Campground — Turkey Run State Park

  Fabulous Park, Nice Campground

  Turkey Run is a fabulous state park with a nice campground. My only complaint about the campground is that many sites are in an open, level area without a lot of trees or bushes between them. You don’t have a lot of privacy. Two sections of the campground, with the higher numbered sites, are much more wooded. If I go again, I will try to be there!

  But the campground has two large modern bathrooms that are cleaned regularly. It also has clean well maintained vault toilets throughout the campground. Best of all, from the back of the campground you can access Trail 7, a moderate level trail that leads unexpectedly to a small stream running past a recessed cave. It’s a peaceful spot.

  Be advised that a “moderate” hike at Turkey Run can be challenging, with plenty of steps up and down the hillsides. Many of the trails go along stream beds, so you often need to make your way across the rocks to avoid wet feet. Be prepared with hiking boots and sticks.

  There are two covered bridges on the edges of the park. Be sure to check them out!

• 

  Staci W.

  Guide

  

  May. 30, 2024

  Turkey Run State Park Campground — Turkey Run State Park

  Pros and Cons you Should Know beforehand

  Turkey Run is arguably the most popular campground (and state park) in Indiana and has its pros and cons.

  It is definitely designed to accommodate RVs, as the majority of the sites are situated in an open field. There are a few dozen sites that are in “loops” that are situated in shaded areas. Some camp sites have zero privacy while others have a little. Either way, if you’re here on a weekend, you’ll definitely have neighbors close by. You can see the entire campground via google maps street view, just FYI

  This is a very family friendly campground and you will see lots of kids on bicycles flying around. I’ve stayed here a few times, and no matter the day of the week or the time of year, there are always lots of kids.

  This campground has a raccoon “problem” due to campers having poor camp etiquette and feeding them. They come out of the woods towards dusk looking for food. They will come right up to you without hesitation, so don’t be alarmed if there’s one next to you while you cook s’mores over your fire (ask me how I know, hah). They will take any food that is left out. Do not turn your back to your dinner table at any time if there’s food out.

  On my last visit to turkey run (I’ve camped here 3 or 4 times) I arrived to my campsite and someone had left dog food out for the raccoons in little piles all over the place which was super disappointing. Additionally, my neighbors didn’t put their campfire out when they packed up and left.

  Perhaps I’m just used to camping in other areas where you have to worry about bears and burning the forests down…But campers here just aren’t as mindful or respectful of the campground.

  The restrooms and showers (at least the one I use at this campground) is modernized and cleaned daily but there’s no dish pit/wash room available if you cook. Just be prepared to clean up accordingly and put trash in trash receptacles. There are a few vault toilets in the campground as well.

  You can hike from the CG into the state park (highly recommend. It’s gorgeous!) just wear shoes that youre willing to get wet.

  Overall, it’s a beautiful state park with a conveniently located campground. It’s not the best campground ever but for Indiana standards, it’s great. Even with my complaints, I always return because I enjoy visiting and hiking through the state park.

• 

  Anne W.

  Guide

  

  May. 5, 2024

  Harry L Swartz Campground

  Beautiful campground but very busy (and noisy)

  This is a really lovely spot! There’s 2 bars of Verizon service, a shower house with warm water and flush toilets, as well as pit toilets. There are a few hiking trails that leave from the campground as well. My only problem was that it was extremely busy when I visited and some of my neighbors were quite loud (although they quieted down by quiet hours).

• 

  Julie H.

  Traveler

  

  May. 4, 2024

  Rockville Lake County Park

  Spring beauty

  I stayed by the lake, the spaces there are parallel to the road. Which gives you a beautiful view of the lake. I was there early in April when all the flowering trees were in bloom! Full hook up made it even the nicer!

• 

  Matt M.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 24, 2024

  Harry L Swartz Campground

  It Was Alright

  I wrote out a 4 paragraph review and somehow it was just completley erased. Will update later.

• 

  Makada L.

  Guide

  

  Apr. 15, 2024

  Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area

  Out of this World View

  Nice campground with out of this world views!

• 

  Brandi M.

  Guide

  

  Apr. 14, 2024

  Walnut Point State Park Campground

  Loved our stay!

  This is a lovely campground with large dispersed camp sites. There is an on-site restaurant that has stayed busy, and we are here the second weekend of April. Cafe also sells firewood when in stock and rents out boats and kayaks. John, the host is very sweet! Electric only with a dump station. Bathrooms are clean and well maintained, I like that size of the showers. Fishing is good. A beautiful weekend for our first time here.

• A

  Alexis D.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 31, 2023

  AOK Campground

  Bathrooms are ick. Campground is fine, tho.

  It’s decent—but the bathrooms are most certainly not. Definitely need someone out there at the very least keeping it tolerable for campers.

• H

  Helen M.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 2, 2023

  Cecil M Harden Lake Raccoon State Recreation Area

  Tent camping during XC road trip

  Super easy reservations online, and if it’s a weekday or a Sunday you could likely just roll up. $16/night for a tent site plus $9 out of state car fee. Security is at the main gate until midnight so later check-ins are possible. Great set-up after driving 11+ hours!

• L

  Liz

  Guide

  

  Aug. 26, 2023

  Cecil M Harden Lake Raccoon State Recreation Area

  Beautiful, well maintained park

  On an east/west trip and only had an overnight here. Campground is well maintained. Bathhouse clean, plenty of showers, flush toilets. Will need to fill your water holding tank as sites only have electric. Most sites are very spacious. Only negative was our site description and picture. Described the pad as level when it was actually about a 30% grade. We are camping in a truck camper and had planned to leave the camper on the truck but had to take it off to get level. And said the “yard” was grassy but it was only dirt which then became muddy after a bad storm. Great areas to walk your dog. We would definitely stop again but pick a different site. Camp store and ice, other items sold.

• 

  Pat M.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 19, 2023

  Sugar Creek Campground

  Beautiful place!

  We had a great two night visit right on the creek! Rented kayaks for a 3 mile adventure! Owners are super friendly and helpful. I would advise to camp during the week for a less crowded time. Would love to come back!

• 

  Marianne W.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 13, 2023

  Turkey Run State Park Campground — Turkey Run State Park

  GREAT park, but the campgrounds need an upgrade!

  While this is always listed among the top Indiana state parks because of its amazing beauty and historic sites, the campgrounds are not up to the same level. The shower houses are old. No sinks, no flush toilets, no solid doors for privacy. Just curtains. So yes, that means put/vault toilets only, and there is no light for a middle of the night visit except the flashlight you will hopefully remember. Other state parks in the area do have modern shower houses. If you are disabled or just prefer better hygiene amenities, camp at Raccoon Lake SRA and take day trips to Turkey Run. I’m not sure of the status of nearby Shades Stare Park comfort facilities since we haven’t camped there yet.

• 

  Jake P.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 5, 2023

  Ross Camp

  Small Local Campground

  15 site campground, must call for reservations. Sites are on the smaller side but the higher number sites (13,14,15) can take larger RVs. Site 8 drops off quite a bit to the back so be sure to have appropriate leveling blocks. Clean, modern shower house.

• B

  Bennie

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 20, 2023

  Kickapoo State Recreation Area

  Not bad but sites too close together

  I can only speak about the non-electric sites. It was a weeknight so I only saw 2 other occupied campsites in the whole area (did not see the campers though). Being that it was empty it wasn’t bad. If it was full I think it wouldn’t be quite so nice. It’s very open.

• B

  Bennie

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 20, 2023

  Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area Campground

  So so

  Week night so not another soul around but the sites are tight! If there were other campers I don’t think it would be enjoyable at all. They were working on the bathrooms and they are working on the lake. It was totally dry!

• A

  Anne S.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 14, 2023

  Prophetstown State Park Campground

  Lots to do - Too crowded for me

  I prefer quieter, more spaced out campgrounds. But if I had young kids and was looking for lots of fun stuff to do, this would be a great park. I did really love the bike trails. There’s a huge aquatic park which would be great for family’s.

• 

  Brian B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 2, 2023

  Rockville Lake County Park

  Worth the stay

  Place was huge and packed. Really nice and it was quiet to sleep with nice facilities.