Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Carlyle Lake

This campground is beautiful with lots of gardens and potted plants at a lot of the campsites The host is very friendly, the pool is well maintained, they have a dog park The Host even led us to our spot..

Not a bad place for a stop between destinations or a couple days at the lake would be fine. Roads and sites were well maintained. The dog park gets muddy quick, it’s mostly moss and dirt. It’s close to the Interstate; we’d stay there again.

We love camping at all the campgrounds on Carlyle Lake. It’s always a good time. There are plenty of areas to fish, hike, swim, picnic. Looking forward to another great year and fun filled camping and fishing.🎣

Coles Creek Campground on Carlyle Lake has 219 sites, most with full hookups, and shade. (There is 30 & 50 a as no service). Internet is spotty. There are also 2 group campsites with cabins. There are showers, flush toilet, a playground, fish cleaning station, boat ramp and a dump station. There is also a laundry area. All the campsites are either on the shoreline or a short walk to the lake. The whole campground is fairly flat, so the sites are level and easy to get into. There are a few pull through sites. Comes Creek is on the east side of Carlyle Lake, away from the larger, more crowded Hazlet State Park area. It’s a great place for fishing and boating or just enjoying the lake. The lake is a prime fishing and boating lake, and is recognized as one of the nation's top ten inland sailing lakes.

Pet-friendly, full hookups, space for our larger rig and parking around for extra vehicle. Laundry and propane on site. Spaces were a little close together, but minutes from downtown St. Louis, and staff was friendly and accommodating. Also, fantastic restaurant right on site -- Sawmill BBQ!

Campground is off the beaten path, lots of space to spread out, and the top 4 amenities (electricity, water, flush toilets and showers). It’s not the cleanest bathrooms but certainly not the worst. Close to a Walmart for all your need and great sunsets too. Plus pets are allowed

We loved staying here. Pet friendly and beautiful lake views from many of the camp sites. I recommend checking the grade of the camp site because some of the ones next to the lake were at a pretty big angle. Our site was nice and flat so no issues there. We loved it and would definitely stay again.

Stayed at overnight. The host couple is very friendly and helpful. Place was clean. Sites were pretty level and shaded. Host helped us with ladder and broom for the stuff that fell off the trees. Cute pool but didn’t use it. Laundry worked good. Pizza was good. Pet runs clean and in good shape. Good air signal for tv.

Big things happening at Country Bend Campgrounds in Montrgromy Co, IL. This beautiful campground has many things to offer and is only a few minutes from the local drive in movie theater in Litchfield Illinois. It has a pool, swing sets, playground, cabins, ponds with stocked fish, beautiful walking trails, camping, welcome center, baseball field, volleyball, games, horseshoes, paddle boats, miniature golf, and so much more. This family run business is under new management and is welcoming new seasonal campers and day campers with competitive pricing. This beautiful campground is nestled in a scenic area in the country and is pet friendly. It has clean shower houses with warm water. We just purchased our seasonal campsite earlier in the season. Come check out this amazing campground and all it has to offer! Our rough collies will be joining us at this dog friendly campground! There is always something to do here and the owners strive to make it a family place by providing many activities on the weekends. The owners have done an amazing job on this campground and have made it one of the best campgrounds around to create that lasting experience with our children before they grow up!!!

Easy on off, right by highway, pulled in after dark and they met us to show us to the site and got us settled. Easy pull thru site with 40' and toad. basically a big open flat field with sites and building spread throughout. Cute little fenced in pet area with benches for the pups to stretch. came thru in February, so only a few permenant people. very quiet and super clean. would stay again

Ranger Review Primus LiTech Trek Kettle at Dam West Campground

Campground Review

What a great campground on the shore of Carlyle Lake! Right next to the marina and with many sites right on the lake, you can’t go wrong here. Sites looked a bit more level on the inside of the loop than the lakeside sites, but I guess that’s the price you pay for real estate. My site was not the most level, but only steps from the beach with a few trees that might work for hammocking. The site was really clean and had plenty of space, with a nice paved parking pad, fire pit, picnic table, and electric hook up (all sites have electric!). Across the drive was a nice amphitheater and playground and a basic bathroom. The fairly clean shower house for the whole campground is up near the entrance (it also has a laundry room, but I did not check it out). The campground host for this summer is super nice and is likely to visit for a bit as he buzzes around on his scooter. There is a bike path that goes right past the campground that was busy all weekend with bikers, runners, and walkers, and takes you from the shower house to the marina in just a short walk.

Gear Review

Primus LiTech Trek Kettle As a Ranger for The Dyrt, from time to time I get new gear to review. On this camping trip I tested out Primus LiTech Trek Kettle. I have to say, this may be my new favorite cooking pot. It is the perfect size for one person(which works well as I frequently camp solo). I used it to heat up some frozen chili for dinner and then used it again in the morning to heat water for oatmeal. Here’s what I liked: The kettle holds just a bit more than a liter of water(or chili), which is about all you need to make coffee, heat large single servings of food, or just about anything It’s non-stick, so clean-up is a breeze and doesn’t retain odors The handles fold out and are easy to grip, and fold around the pot for easy out of the way storage Its super light weight(perfect for backpacking) Even though it was taller than wide, water heated up in it very quickly My little fuel canister fits inside perfectly with almost no rattling Primus included a nice carrying bag that fits the pot and has a small bit of room to spare Here’s what baffled me: The lid doubles as a tiny nonstick frying pan. But it is big enough for maybe one egg. It is so small that I am not exactly sure what you could make in it. I understand the desire to make the lid“usable”, but maybe a regular lid with a colander built in would have been more useful. The lid is not a great fit, and when packing up for storage, it kept sliding off. Despite the weird frying pan lid, I am really happy with the LiTech Kettle. It meets all of my needs in a lightweight package. It is easy to clean up, packs small, has good handles, and is a great addition to my camp cooking arsenal.

Grounds were nice enough. There was a slight sewer smell throughout the park. Staff didn’t talk much. The water spigot was broken at our sight. Couldn’t get the water to turn off. Pool was in good enough Out caching with 2AussieDad. From Alaska. Got our Illinois cache. Headed to the St.Louis Arch. TFTC shape. Busy with families. The tiny pens in the back for the dogs were a little more muddy. Not enough room to play, just poop. The waste receptacle was full.