Best Glamping near Cave-In-Rock, IL

Cave in Rock State Park, Il is sorta out in the middle of nowhere. That being said it is an adventure worth the trip. Weekday visits will supply you with more things to do but weekend adventures are just as fun. 

If your coming from the Kentucky side first there is Amish country to visit. Check in Marion for what’s available and where (fill your gas tank up!)

Next there is the ferry ride across. If you’ve done it a lot no big deal, but my kids used to love it every time.

Write your directions down for this whole area, the cell phone coverage is spotty and it will keep frustration down.

Signage will greet you as soon as you exit the ferry and Cave in Rock city has several small businesses you might want to visit. Plus a bunch of painted bikes...

To the right down the road a bit and your in the park.

The RV area is spread throughout a hilly, tree’d area, after being in Army Corp of Engineers last week which uses every foot of area available this campground seems huge and vacant. There were many sites occupied they are spread out across a huge area which is awesome. There is a playground near the showerhouse and a pond back in behind the playground.

The primitive area is up another hill back in the woods, my favorite. Two handicap accessible spots next to the pit toilet let’s everyone have some fun. 

If you want a shower you have to return to the RV area. These basic sites have a grill, fire pit and picnic table. Some are pretty level some not so much ;) Best of all there are several options if you have a Tentstile. 

We took a 2 mile loop hike across to the lodge, along the cliff face and down to the cave. A lot of history here and some nice views. 

This was our second outing with our new to us EVAC Trailer (www.evactrailer.com) I added some metal poles and a tarp and bam! we have an impromptu sitting area. The tool box made a nice meal prep and cooking area. Still looking at other ideas, but it’s a sturdy little trailer that is serving its purpose well!

Relatively new. Has great potential. Located in Vienna, IL near Shawnee National Forest. It has 3 fish & release ponds. Sites were a bit hilly which stands to reason since it was converted from a golf course in 2016. Some sites are pretty long. It accommodated our 35ft. MH with attached car. Some sites are close together with very little shade. The campground had lots of open sites during our stay (3rd week in Aug), but during our stay 2 other short stay campers came in & they parked them right next to us. -Full hook ups available -Hosts were very friendly & provided insight to area. -Bath house - provided air conditioning. Although new & spacious there were only 4 in the entire campground & the toilet & shower were in same space. Upon arrival only 1 was open near us. Subsequently the 2nd was closed due to a water valve malfunction & wasn’t re-opened during our stay. My husband likes level sites & facilities he could use. He said he wouldn’t come back any time soon.

Pros:

Secluded campground

Beautiful area

Cons:

You're camping basically in a ravine.

No fire pit

We had site 15 and my in-laws had site 16 over Labor Day weekend 2018.

It took us over an hour to try and level our pop-up camper because the site was so steep. Our neighbors had the same problem. We took the advice of a fellow camper on here and brought an extension cord and we were so glad we did, I think my in-laws ended up needing it.

When we arrived I was disappointed to find that we didn't have a firepit, only an old grill that had a hole in the bottom, rendering it useless. Luckily my in-laws had a firepit so we had our fires over there. We do most of our cooking in cast iron over the fire, so a fire pit is a huge requirement for us. Our site was so steep it was hard for our two young children to walk and play on our site (4yo and 1.5yo) so we spent most of the time at their site anyway. The campsite we were on just wasn't that great for small children, but wouldn't be bad if you were in a tent without small children. Site 16 was great though.

Saturday night, we could hear a drunken group of about 20 with their speakers blasting music across the campground, so loud we couldn't hear each other talking around the campfire. I'm not normally one to complain about music at a campground, but this was overkill and was well into after quiet hours. Every so often you could tell that they were told to turn it down, but it only lasted a few minutes before it was cranked up again. It shut down probably around mid-night, but with two small kids it made for a long night.

The bathrooms were decent, one toilet would shoot water out of the top when you flushed. I didn't use the showers but they looked clean for a campground shower.

The LBL area is what made the trip worth it. We basically used the campground as a base camp to explore the area, which is a beautiful. We saw several deer within the park. The bison and elk prarie is a must see, the kids loved it. We drove to the Golden Pond visitors center and spent several hours at the Homeplace Living history village. Since it was Labor Day weekend they had a lot of events going on. We're now planning another trip back to the LBL area, just not at the same campground.

Energy Lake campground is well planned, the staff are amazing, and with a little planning, the best option for affordable camping that puts you on a small natural preserve lake perfect for kayaking and SUP boarding. Most difficult thing is remembering to fill the fresh water tank (if you are RV'ing) before you set up!! Electricity is on almost every site (there are a couple sites in a few areas that do not have electric & therefor have a reduced rental rate). Each area has "city" water available at hose bibs located in central locations in each area.  Some sites have waterfront "views" with trails going down to the lake, others have waterfront walk in availability.  You can also drive to the beach (it's got imported sand deposited there every new season!), and there are several areas to launch NONMOTORIZED watercraft. There are restrictions on this lake due to the wildlife refuge and preserve in the back of the lake - no motorized watercraft of any sort. There is camp fire wood, propane and a very small selection of necessities available at the entry gate/check-in. Closest retail store, gas station and alcohol is approximately 10-12 miles from the campground. This campground attracts a lot of tent & car campers as well as small RV's, and there are almost always smaller walk up sites available if the reservation system says there are no available positions. You will want to call before you haul though, because a few of those walk ups are less than 20 feet in length.

AREA B is only cabins... and the cabins are basically one room cabins, with bunks and a queen or full sized bed, with electric and AC. You still have to treck to the bath house for toilet, shower and the hose bib for water. The cabin basically just provides sleeping shelter.

We drove up through the Amish Country. Saw a lady mowing her lawn barefoot with a horse. We made it up to the ferry which is a quick fun ride. By the time we got to Cave-in Rock, we were hungry. There is a little diner right inside the park that I cannot say enough great things about! We all thought we would grab something light before we hiked but once we saw the menu and the prices we could not pass on some hearty comfort food and a beer served in an ice cold mug! The waitress was so sweet and took our picture for us and gave us directions to get to Garden of the Gods on our way out. We did not actually camp here but the cabins looked really nice and with a view of the river. I would definitely go back and recommend!