Best Tent Camping near Homer, IL

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.

i have been to Thousand Trails in Indiana for 25 years and each time i visit i get more disappointed. its no longer a campground but an RV park. which makes me sad because tent camping is forced onto gravel or next to a septic tank hose from a neighboring RV.

however, the park is very large, has many activities such as swimming, fishing, arcades, cornhole, volleyball. you will need a vehicle to travel to activities because thry are far away. there is a general store that now serves breakfast so that is pretty nifty. it seems they are making improvements regarding grounds but i would not recommend tent camping. they do have cabins surrounding the lake.

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 stayed at one of the primitive tent sites. It was nice and shaded. As the other reviewer pointed out, further away from the entrance will get you away from the road noise. The shower house was very clean and well kept.

I would definitely stay here again. I would just select a site toward the back.

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.

Nice clean park in west-central Indiana that has a lake and a large number of camping sites along with restrooms and showers. The primitive tent camping sites don't require reservations, and each have a picnic table. There are modern campsites that have water and electrical hook-ups, and there are some small cabins that can be rented. The bath house was clean, and the grounds crew does a great job keeping the grass cut. Camp sites seem more spread out here compared to most state parks. Location is fairly close to Sugar Creek and other parks such as Turkey Run and Shades State Park. The lake is popular for fishing.

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.

We just left after a 2 night stay and we’re really pleased with this camp ground. The staff were very friendly and wanted to make sure our stay was the best it could be.

Our primitive tent site was in the very back isolated from the rest of the grounds. A port-a-potty was near by, but the shower house was a short drive away. Also, the site, 27C, was alone with timber separating it from the nearest site. The downside to this site is the morning/afternoon sun, but we adapted with a pop-up canopy and positioning our tent to utilize the little shady available.

The shower house was one of the cleanest we’ve seen and the staff makes a concerted effort to keep it that way.

The camp store was a nice convenience and wood delivery was a plus.

Lastly, features include a pond to fish (and rental of paddle boats/canoes) where my son and I caught two decent sized fish from the dock. Playground, volleyball court, and a half court basketball were right off the backside fishing dock.

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.

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.

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.

I was not a fan. I was tenting and there was not a great spot for the tent and there was dog poop everywhere (tracked some in the tent when setting up so I wasn't pleased). Also a bunch of large Widowmakers in the trees above was nerve-wracking. The people around me were LOUD! One dude listening to a college football game until past 10 and a guy and his kid playing glow Frisbee right in from of my tent past 10 as well. As I was on a road trip and wanted to get to sleep, this was not appreciated.. On th e good side, the bathrooms were very clean. I would NOT stay here again

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.

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.

A very large campground with tent and rv camping. Gets very busy.

Close to great hiking trails, swimming, canoeing & rafting rental. Quiet and family friendly on every visit. Rv, tent w/electric available.

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

Stayed for 3 nights and loved it. Gave 4 stars instead of 5 because it was electric only. There are 4 total camp areas in the campground portion of the park. Grey Squirrel and Fox Squirrel are the RV sites and Grey and Fox Tent are the tent areas. Tents are allowed in the RV area as well. Each site has a gravel pad, grill/fire pit and picnic table, as well as electric hook up. There is one dump station near the campground entrance, and water fill there or in a few locations in the campground. There is not water and sewer hookup at each pad. Some spots have decks, but not all, and the handicap accessible spots are paved with concrete. All spots in Fox Squirrel are landlocked. In Grey Squirrel, odd numbered sites 15-25 back up to the lake. All the Grey Squirrel sites have trail access to several docks and a couple of boat launches. There are a few out house/bathrooms for each area. There is at least one communal shower house. There are playgrounds throughout the park and a concession building near the campground entrance. You have to get firewood at the concession building to burn in the park. You can also rent kayaks, purchase bait, get info, and buy snacks. The concessions has recently changed hands and is now run by the same company who handles Moraine View. Overall it’s a great little park. Nice hiking, lots of quiet fishing options. No swimming or motor boats. We will go back for sure!

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