Best Tent Camping near Champaign, IL

Review of Drive In Tent Camping Site 2. Showed up on a Thursday night and had our pick of all the drive in and walk in sites. We decided on site 2 in the drive in area. Previous reviews and a book by John Schirle on Tent Camping in Illinois helped us with this decision as well. Decent maintained sites with some older picnic tables and fire rings, but let's be honest this stuff sits outside 24/7. Site 2 seemed to sit back the farthest with site 1 a close second. Both wooded sites that made for great shade and helped some when it was raining. Any two families looking for two sites could certainly set up and share the experience. Nice little cove behind them to try fishing. Just watch the hike down the path or ravine. Dog friendly, fresh water supply (hint put the handle all the way up and wait a few seconds), ability to store stuff in the car close by, outhouse toilets visible at the walk in parking lot, and helpful host for easy check in who even sells fire wood made for a great few days ($5 a bundle). Rated B/S site at a cost of $10 a night.

Just to let everyone know this used to be a Great campground and boat ramp, but the campground closed 24 years ago. The boat ramp is still available, but the Corps of Engineers closed the Whitley Creek pay and free tent campgrounds in 1994. In 1980 - 1984 I used to camp 14 days a month in the free tent camping area which gave you access to the shower house in the pay electric sites area. This was a nice campground and my home 6 months out of the year when I was young and carefree. Now there is nothing left but camping memories and it is strange to walk through it. Check out the video clip to see what 24 years of forest growth looks like. I want to set the record straight here, so someone doesn't go looking on the website and expect to find an open campsite in this area while travelling. You'll need to go to Wolf Creek, Bo Woods or the Sullivan Marina campgrounds if you want to camp in this general area of Lake Shelbyville. The boat ramp is a good place to launch here because not very many people use this ramp. Photos taken October 11th 2017.

We came on Memorial Day weekend so the campground was very full. It didn't feel too crowded though except when playing on the playground there were lots of kids and its not a very big play area. But it was fun for the kids to play with other kids. 

While I wish the tent are and comfort station were closer to one another, the walk really wasn't all that bad from our campsite. I loved that the tent sites (especially as you go further back (like to sites 6-10 probably) just had a secluded woodsy feeling to them. I loved how convenient our site was though being right by our car and the road to the restrooms. 

Some of the tent sites are close together with some having a little more seclusion. There are a  lot of trees and plants with it being in the woods so this does help. But with the trail running right down the middle that cuts out a little of your privacy. But the seclusion is definitely better than the RV sites that we saw in the main big loop of the campground. 

We walked a couple trails and they were lots of fun for us and the kids/dogs. 

There is a STRICT no alcohol rule in the tent sites. A sign said coolers are subject to inspection, but from our experience and the vibe of the place, I don't see this really being an issue unless your group gets kind of rowdy ;) 

All in all a great experience.

I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place until this year. The walk in tent sites are in a shady woody area and with lake views. Clean pit toilets, serene setting, and a really cool hike to an abandoned observatory. 🙌🏕

I have camped here in the past and enjoy primitive tent camping so I stayed Friday September 29th and Saturday September 30th in the tent camping drive up site #2. There is also a tent camping walk in area with 2 lake front sites that are about 150 yards from the parking area and about eight other sites in between. There is a building with men's and women's flush toilets here for both primitive campgrounds. These are cheaper campsites than in the RV area where you have the shower house, nicer bathrooms and electric hookups. There are lots of nice shaded sites in these campgrounds and all have fire ring grates, lantern posts, picnic tables and some have pole mounted campstove tables as well. The camp hosts do a great job keeping this place clean, maintaining a quiet campground and supplying firewood for the campers. The park has a boat ramp, playground areas, the Chief Illini trail plus a couple short trails. There is a golf course and a run down lodge / hotel that has been closed for several years. There is tons of deer and other animals to watch and watch out that they don't steal your food while you are sleeping. The wild life is great for photography and makes for some good fireside stories.

This is my second favorite place to camp on the lake, although not as peaceful as Lone Point it does have the Chief Illini trailhead here and makes for nice round trip hiking camping adventures.

This park is open year round so the fantastic camping in spring and fall are available. You should watch out for hunters in the area when bow season starts October 1st.

I have been here hiking many times but camped only 1 time in July of 2017. There are good campsite for both RVs and tent camping with clean restrooms and shower house. The park and trails are usually busy since the park is near the Eastern Illinois University. The no-drinking campground prevents many noisy student campouts. The hiking trails are some of the best in the state because the glaciers dropped of mountains of soil in the area where this park is located. The surrounding farm land is flat as can be, but the forested hills and creek beds in the park are almost mountainous. Bring everything you need for the weekend with you, there are no businesses close to the park. This is a great place for day hiking and a weekend getaway.

First stop on a cross county trip. We were directed to Catfish Bay for tent camping. It was lightly drizzling and on an overcast day most of the tree-covered campsites were dark. There are some nice sites right on the water (be prepared to walk your gear in from parking lot). Site #21 was private, with more open sky and a shorter walk to parking/outhouse. The outhouse was in really rough shape--looked like it hadn't been swept out or hosed down for awhile. Won't be back.

We went here with a group of tent campers sight unseen, so that’s always rolling the dice. We stayed until the main part where you could reserve online through reserve America. Would not recommend that area to anyone. Sites are right on top of each other in every direction. Not sure who would seek this out or agree to it after seeing it.

Upon finding the rustic tent sites, we’d wished we’d known about that area before going. Those were still a little close together but were at least wooded and you could walk from your car.

The dispersed camping sites were the closest to what I’d been used to coming from New Hampshire, but it was more of a hike than I would be looking for.

The Forest Bo Wood Recreation area has grown each year since I first camped there in 1979.

In 2017 it has 150 camping sites, a boat ramp, fish cleaning station, several picnic areas and a bait shop at the entrance on Illinois Route 32 4 miles South of Sullivan. The camp sites all have parking space for a big rig and one vehicle. There are some tent only sites but most have been converted to at least 30 amp electric sites with water hookups near the site. Many lake side sites are available, some years back there was a problem with the bank, but that has been dealt with.

Bath rooms and shower houses are very clean and there is good bank fishing near the pavilion at the turn around at the west end of the area. There is a marina just 1 mile South and across the bridge another ½ mile is the Sullivan beach. Just 1 more mile South is a Rosatti's pizza located in a gas station with a liquor store. Rossati's delivers pizza's to the 2 campgrounds that are this close to the business. People that love the comforts of home while camping love this campground, so it fills up in the spring and summer months.

All sites are spacious and include a picnic table, lantern stand, fire pit with grill grate and some have added camp stove stands. I find that October camping at Bo Woods most agreeable with less people tent camping and less boat traffic on the lake. The fishing this time of year is also very good.

We have camped here many times and this time was awesome as well. The park is huge and is one of the only state park's in Illinois with horse camping and horse trails. There are 13 horse camp sites and additional trailer parking for about 6 more rigs with tie out posts for riders that will not be camping. There are several miles of horse trails and the area is set apart from hiking trails and the other camping areas. There are hundreds of campsites in this park in addition to the horse campgrounds and the entire area is maintained by the US Corps of Engineers. There are full hookup RV sites everywhere with tons of flush toilet bathrooms and shower houses in each large section. There is also a tent camp area without electricity, these sites are cheaper and there are lake front sites available here too. There is a beach that closes after Labor Day, but there are lots of sites available all year round. There are lots of hiking trails and deer run through the park in herds in the winter months. The hiking is OK in this park and good if you like short 1 to 1 1/2 mile hikes. I recommend visiting in the fall after Labor Day, October when leaves are changing is my favorite time for this campground. Clean restrooms, showers and a small store at the entrance for bait, firewood or forgotten items make this a great place to spend a few days.

Website: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/Parks/Pages/WolfCreek.aspx

Il start this by saying: we prefer tent camping/primitive/atleast semi isolated spots. If you’re looking for RV camping, this is probably a decent spot so read no further!

We drove in to the Middle Fork Forest Preserve looking for a place to camp same day on our way down to Giant City. We weren’t able to make a reservation less than 5 days in advance online so we tried to call. No one in the office except Th-Sunday and it was Wednesday so we couldn’t get in touch. All good. It happens and it did say that clearly on their website and on voicemail. We needed a place for the night so decided to risk driving over from I57 S. Rolled in around 5 and all the campsites were marked reserved but there were about 3 people set up to camp there. We didn’t end up camping the night 1. Because we didn’t want to be jerks about the reservations although it seemed like no one else would be arriving until at the earliest the next day and 2. All of the campsites were pretty tight together and surfaced with gravel. That’s a personal preference thing. We always look for primitive/walk-in/hike in sites to set up tents/hammocks. This spot was mostly set up for RVs.

The hiking looked pretty lovely and the grounds/facilities looked well kept! Just maybe not our preference.

Great sites. Plenty to do. Favorite place to camp in Illinois.

This is our go-to campground when visiting the U of I. It is a large campground with well spaced campsites for tents and rvs. Almost every site has plenty of shade with lots of tree cover. This also means in the dog days of summer the breeze is blocked by the trees so get an electric site even with a tent and bring a fan. They have a beach and a boat launch. The loops that allow alcohol can get a bit rowdy with weekend partiers, but the alcohol restricted loops can get loud from all the families. However, with full hook-up options there is no generator noise. The showers/bathrooms are kept up well given the massive amount of people served. If you own a boat and camp, this place is ideal for central Illinois.

This was a quick overnight in a tent on a road trip for me. Site 75 was what was available when I booked last minute. It's level with grass to pitch a tent but definitely in a loop of the park better suited to travel trailers/RVs etc. Not much privacy between sites but backs up to woods. The bathrooms were clean with good hot showers. Would return again if I could snag a tent loop site.

I had a friend stay in the tent area and she had to leave in the middle of the night because the raccoons were so bad. The couple a few sites down had their tent destroyed. She had all of her food and smelly things locked in her car.

Camped here in a tent. Loved it. Raccoons are really brave and ate not afraid of humans. They know how to rip open a tent for food. Nothing is safe here. But a beautiful lake and campground.

Stopped here for a quick overnight on a cross country trip. The 10 sites in the tent-only wooded area weren’t very appealing(no grass/uneven terrain) except for the ones furthest from the parking area. We didn’t feel like hauling our tent and stuff all the way in, only to haul it out first thing in the morning. Since there were few campers, we opted for site 81 which had nice grass and close parking. Made for great sleeping, but the bugs(chiggers?) were horrible and left us with painful itchy bites for the rest of our vacation. The camp host was very friendly and fun to chat with.

Great camping and great fishing. Scenic little park. Tent and trailer camping here, but the real reward is in the primitive backpacking sites. Highly recommend.

A great little park close to Eastern Illinois university. A great place to camp with family and friends.