Best Equestrian Camping near Oakland, 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

Short drive from Chicago (3 hours?) and you are in lush forest. You have to pick the right campsite or you will have no cover and big campers on either side of you. We had two campsites right next to each other and backing into the woods.  Went on a fun canoe trip right down the road, which was fun.  There is an odd (but fun!) Key West themed bar/resturant very close to the park entrance.  The hiking is great in the area near the lodge.  I'd go back to the area and maybe try a different loop as we were near the entrance which had a lot of traffic.  Well maintained park with very clean bathhouse.

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.

We stopped in to Wolf Creek State Park later in the day on a Wednesday after trying to stop at a different campground that was closed. We were worried about finding a spot as the sun was going down so we called even though no one usually answers phones at state parks (esp during COVID). The woman that answered was SO nice and I was so happy to hear a voice on the other end. So that’s a huge plus. You can reserve spots online in advance but clearly we did not because we didn’t know we’d be headed there. Same day is first come first serve. We are tent people and love primitive camping in spots where we can really be away from everyone and at least pretend like we’re alone. Rolling in in the dark, we weren’t motivated to checkout the walk-in campsites. And it wasn’t necessary because the area - which if full would’ve been pretty cramped for our taste- was absolutely empty. So we were happy. Many many spots for RVs all next to one another but there was tree cover for some and the possibility of a little bit of privacy but not much in that area.

We had an almost full moon, but otherwise I think the stars would’ve been pretty awesome. The next morning we woke up and took a little hike down to Shelby Resevoir to see what was around. We were at campsite 18 and it was about 10 min hike down over there. Beautiful and big! Maybe good swimming I would assume? Too late in the year for us.

We will definitely be back to checkout more of the primitive/walk-in/hike in sites! Hiking trails look interesting and fun and Eagle Creek State Park is just across the water (that’s the bigger one). The 4 stars was because the sites are pretty close together which- even with RVs- I think people mind- but maybe not? We love to be back in the woods ans I do think there is an option for that. We just didn’t have time to check it out. Will update!

I have never been to a campground with so many children. At first it was a nice break from all the old folks at the RV parks, but then it got to be too much. There was constant noise and commotion and kids (and adults) constantly walking through my site. One boy was even riding his bike over my Starlink wire. A lot of the kids had electric scooters and bikes and were zooming through the campground endlessly.  I had a group from across the road come into my site and start playing frisbee golf because they did not have enough room in their own site but didn't say a word to me. Really? The surrounding area is very beautiful with rock outcroppings and small gorges unlike the rest of Indiana. However, the walking paths around this beautiful area were MOBBED.  The area around the suspension bridge was like being in Times Square.  The bathrooms were good….a solid B+.