Best Cabin Camping near Effingham, IL

Just finished our second trip/vacation here. We stayed in the rental cabins, but are in the waiting list for a seasonal site. Right next to the lake. Plenty of room for everyone, from tents to the massive RVs. The pool very clean and never gets over crowded. Staff are knowledgeable and polite. Friendly/quiet dogs allowed. Wonderful pirate ship playground. Weekend activities for the kids. Electric golf carts allowed. Very inexpensive compared to campgrounds closer to me.

We've been camping at Coon Creek, on a beautiful Lake Shelbyville, for a few years now, the place is perfect for family vacations. And that's exactly what we do. Gather 10-12 of us, reserve a buddy site, so we can all be on one campsite (big enough to fit 5 tents and an RV). If you have a small group and want to get a small site, there are plenty of those. Some even with lake views. The campground is really big, with tons of different sites. Some are closer to each other, but still very private. Nestled in trees. Equipped in fire pits, and lantern posts. Gravel surfaces, with grass around. The site we always get, is situated along the camp road, but once we are set up, it becomes very private. there is no one in a close proximity, just the road traffic. Which is not bad at all. Good overflow parking, perfectly hidden in the trees. Showers and toilets are in great condition, and usually very clean. Well maintained campground. Illinois is pretty boring, and I know this web site is for more remote camping, but all facts considered, if you're looking for a camping getaway, in Chicago area, only about 4 hours drive (south on I-57) - this is a perfect place for you. Lithia Springs Marina offers boat rentals, we usually get a 12 person pontoon boat for few days, to cruise the 26 mile long lake, or chill in one of many, many beautiful coves. Coon Creek is not too far from town of Shelbyville, where you can stock up on camping food, and beverages. Also few quick-bite restaurants in town. There might be some hiking and biking trails, visit the website for more information. You can book on reserveamerica.com.

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.

This is a KOA Journey, it is right off the interstate in a nice little town in East Central Illinois. It has full hookup, and electric and water sites.
The ground seems pretty level throughout the entire place so getting your rig setup should be fairly easy. The sites are pretty close together but I expect that at a commercial type campground. The staff was nice and responsive when needed. The playground is old and could use an upgrade along with the recreation room. The pool was nice and well maintained and so are the showers and restrooms. But the shower house does not have AC so keep that in mind.
Overall it’s a nice get away we did stay on Labor Day weekend so there a lot of people coming and going but it worked for us and the kids enjoyed themselves.

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

Great little campground close to Charleston and Eastern Illinois University. Not really anywhere to fish close, but nice quite park.

This is a real nice small park. Each site has great privacy and has very spacious sites. Close to Eastern Illinois University and lake Charleston which has trails.

Most of the sites are large and a good distance from the next one. Shower house is alright. The store/restaurant has been closed for a year or two now because of the Illinois budget. There's a dollar store in Farina and a grocery store in Kinmundy; both towns are less than 10 miles away. The lake is big enough for ski boats but nice for kayaks also. Swim beach is not well maintained due to the budget but also doesn't cost anything since they can't pay anyone to man the gate, but it's not horrible.

I visited Fox Ridge frequently as a student of nearby Eastern Illinois University, but never camped there. We came back to visit campus and stayed in site #12 at Fox Ridge.

All sites were spacious and shaded. We did not use any of the facilities but were impressed with how secluded our campsite felt. Each site is Isolated by trees and growth and the entire camoground is shaded.

There are plenty of trails in the park and things to do in the area. Be sure to check out the Worlds Fastest Soda Machine in Lerna, IL!

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

I should start this review by saying the day we got home from this trip, I booked the same campsite for the end of September. So yeah, it was great. 

Living on the north side of Chicago, we were looking for campgrounds in Wisconsin for this trip but then, alas, the quarantine rules went into effect so we turned our search southward. I'm so glad we did!  Illinois doesn't have a lot of lakes but boy is this a nice one. Rented a boat for a day and got to explore the lake and it's gorgeous. Also, there are a TON of campgrounds all around the lake and you could see from the water how many are right on the lake. I'm a sucker for a waterside campsite so I know I'll be back. 

The site we had was at the end of the loop (not really a loop, just a straight road with a turnaround on a little peninsula.) 

We had the lake on 3 sides and a private little area with trails to explore. This site was a buddy site so very large and plenty of room for two families. Social distancing was not a problem. 

The bathrooms and showers were about as clean as I've experienced. Probably just got lucky but seems like every time I went in them they appeared to just have been cleaned. We went during the week and it was super peaceful in the campground and on the lake. I'd imagine in the Summer on the weekend, it will be a bit louder in the campground and more boats on the water. 

One night our grand dinner plans were spoiled by a storm so I ran to Shelbyville and grabbed some pizza at Monical's Pizza. It was a quick 15 minute drive. 

All in all, great experience and, as I said, we'll be back at the end of September.

Our second time staying here we had site #2 waterfront pull through with full hook up and shaded till late afternoon. The sun sets behind the camper. Very nice clean restrooms, laundry room and a area you can grill in using their grills. We had pizza in their bar it was locally made chicken, bacon, ranch and Butch’s sweet hot sauce. Good music on the jukebox.

Sites 1A and 19 are nice 19 has a deck. There are nice paved sites too.

We stayed 3 nights and enjoyed the place.

We stayed 1 night years ago in a spot that was close to the lake. They have a store with a bit of supplies and a bar that has slot machines. We went in for drinks and pizza it was nice to not cook or worry about food. We took a walk along the lake and sat on a bench watching people fish.

I would stay here again actually were staying here again this year on the way to and from our summer trip. We reserved a spot on the waterfront this time #2.