The Dyrt – find campgrounds for tents, RVs, cabins, glamping and more.
Open in App

Best Tent Camping near Homer, IL

337 Reviews

Tent campers near Homer, Illinois can choose from several established campgrounds within a moderate driving distance. Lake Waveland Park in Waveland, Indiana offers numerous primitive tent sites with picnic tables and fire rings in a spacious, well-maintained setting. Sullivan Marina and Campgrounds Resort in Shelbyville, Illinois provides another tent camping option, though with more limited amenities compared to other area campgrounds.

Primitive tent camping at Lake Waveland Park features dozens of sites situated beyond the shower house where the road bends left and downhill. While sites aren't marked, they typically contain picnic tables and sometimes fire rings. The grounds are reasonably well-mowed, creating comfortable tent pads. Campers should note that primitive sites operate on a first-come, first-served basis, requiring no reservations or advance payment. The bath house provides clean facilities, though some infrastructure may need updating according to visitor reports.

The tent camping experience in this region offers a good balance of natural setting and basic amenities. Lake Waveland's primitive sites provide more seclusion than their modern counterparts, which include water and electrical hookups. The campground's location offers convenient access to nearby natural attractions like Turkey Run and Shades State Park. Sites tend to fill quickly, especially on weekends, so early arrival is recommended to secure primitive tent spots. A camper noted, "The primitive sites are very secluded and quiet but get there fast because spots are first come first serve." For those seeking tent-only experiences with minimal development, Lake Waveland Park's primitive camping area provides ample space with bird watching opportunities and relative privacy compared to more developed campgrounds.

Map showing campgrounds near Homer, IllinoisExplore the Map

Best Tent Sites Near Homer, Illinois (4)

Show More
Showing results 1-4 of 4 campgrounds

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win

Homer Contest

Enter to Win

Recent Tent Camping Photos near Homer, IL

2 Photos of 4 Homer Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Homer, IL

337 Reviews of 4 Homer Campgrounds

  • T
    Aug. 6, 2021

    Shades State Park Campground

    Wooded Sandstone canyon with primitive camping.

    Located north of turkey run state park shades offers all the hiking and scenic terrain with less amenities and less crowds. Sugar creek cuts through the ancient sandstone floor creating canyon walls. The park is connected to a nature preserve that dose allow backpacking but has designated camping within the park separate from the car camping sites, so you can’t set up camp on the trail. The car camping sites, labeled as family camping, are primitive only with vault toilets. There is a shower located in the campsite with flushing toilets. Campsites are close but most have trees separating them for privacy. Avoid sites next to toilets or dumpsters their practically in your site. There’s no cellular signal in the park so heads up. Ice and wood are located for sale at the entrance. If you have little ones there are a few playgrounds located in the park including one in the campsite which is located a short hike in the woods. This park is quite, shaded, rugged at times and the canyon/creek can be breathtaking. Although I would go early or late in the season to avoid Indiana’s humid muggy summer heat.

  • Marisa A.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 17, 2020

    Clinton Lake State Recreation Area

    Busy Central Illinois Campground on a lake

    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.

  • S
    Oct. 1, 2020

    Harry L Swartz Campground

    Pretty spot/small gravel campsites

    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.

  • Michael M.
    Oct. 16, 2017

    Bo Wood

    Campground with all the comforts

    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.

  • Mike V.
    Jul. 23, 2016

    Lake Waveland Park

    Waveland Lake and Park, near Waveland, Indiana

    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.

  • Terri D.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 10, 2017

    Turkey Run State Park Campground

    Nice Big Sites

    I have to say it is always nice to stay at a state park in the off season. There are a couple hundred sites in this park and we were one of about 12 occupants. Even if this park had been full, the sites offer nice space. Sites vary from full shade to wide open out in the sun. Bathrooms are clean, but they are pretty spread out. Most sites offer electricity, but no water or sewer hook-up for RV. Water spigots are pretty spread out too. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. I didn't see any camp hosts that sold firewood when office is closed. Park is located right across the street from the local high school, I thought this was sort of odd.

    We were just passing through for a nights stay, but it looked like there were some nice trails for hiking. The children playgrounds looked nice as well.

  • H
    Jun. 23, 2023

    Shades State Park Campground

    Awesome Backpack Camp!

    Took my son on his first backpacking trip this week and felt like Shades would be a perfect trial run for us together. I don’t think this camp gets enough love as it’s a relatively short hike for most seasoned backpackers. Great for trial runs and gear testing. The trail was (recently) well maintained in sections, but there are spots that are a little weedy. That’s to be expected I think with a park that doesn’t see as much traffic as another well known park in the area (that doesn’t offer a backpack camp). The camp itself was fantastic. It doesn’t boast great views or any scenic points, but it is fabulously maintained and well thought out. Several awesome sites to choose from and we had our pick as the only campers there. Every site had a fire ring and picnic table, with paths heading to the bathroom and water. The bathrooms were pretty much immaculate and the water was great. We didn’t hike in early enough to take the path to play at Sugar Creek, but I won’t make that mistake again. Next time, because there will be a next time, we’ll go earlier for more downtime around camp. So glad we’re close enough we can make this trip again soon! Park entry: $7 Camping fee: $12 With tax our total was $19.84. If you have an IN state park card you can avoid the entry fee.

  • L
    Sep. 10, 2021

    Moraine View State Recreational Area

    Easy access from highway for quick stop at a nice campground

    Easy access from the highway. Drove in without reservations, mid-week, just before dark, for a quick overnight while on a cross country trip. The very nice hosts (father/daughter team) helped us with the process. Lots of good sites available with long, relatively level gravel pads with 30amp electric. Got water on the way in, by the dump station. Firewood bundles for $8. Lots of beautiful, tall trees. I imagine it would be nice on a summer day, with plenty of shade. Clean and basic bathroom, there were free showers but I didn’t use them. This was an excellent overnight stay for only $20.

  • Janet B.
    May. 9, 2023

    Vermilion County Park Forest Glen Preserve

    East Camp (backpacking site)

    First backpacking trip in the Midwest and this was a surprisingly scenic place with a great backpacking sites! We did forest glen river ridge trail; started from the staff parking lot and walked about 8 miles to the east camp. We had a big group and took sites 3 and 5 because they were on a flatter ground. All sites were well shaded and there was even an OUTHOUSE!!! The rangers told us the water from the Vermilion River was safe to drink with filtration but note that you do have to walk down to the river and up to the campsites. Both sites came with a picnic table and a fire ring. Had a lovely time even with the thunderstorm.

Guide to Homer

Tent camping options near Homer, Illinois provide campers with diverse experiences within reasonable driving distances. Most campgrounds in this region operate seasonally, typically from mid-spring through fall, with Lake Waveland Park's season running May 15 to October 15. The surrounding area features a mix of wooded terrain and lake environments that support fishing, boating and wildlife observation.

What to do

Fishing opportunities: Lake Waveland Park features a lake popular among anglers. "If fishing is your way of relaxing, you should have a good time here," notes Randy A., who visited the park. The lake serves as the central recreation point for many campers.

Visit nearby state parks: The camping area provides convenient access to natural attractions beyond those mentioned in existing materials. "The campground is located within close proximity of both Turkey Run and Shades State Park," writes Sydni T. about Lake Waveland Park.

Seasonal events: Some campgrounds host special activities during holiday periods. Nicole B. mentions, "Fireworks in July and Halloween for the whole family in October" at Lake Waveland Park, offering additional entertainment options beyond standard camping activities.

What campers like

Spacious grounds: The extensive open areas receive consistent maintenance at some locations. "Lake Waveland's grounds crew does a very good job keeping the property in order... and that's no small task, there is a TON of green space on this property," says Randy A. about his camping experience.

Quieter camping zones: Sullivan Marina and Campgrounds Resort in Shelbyville provides a well-maintained option with specific operational considerations. ShayLin E. notes, "This was a great campground with clean facilities. But they have very strict hours, and after 10 PM you have to call to get in the gates."

Spread-out campsites: Some locations provide more space between sites than typical state parks. Mike V. observed at Lake Waveland Park, "Camp sites seem more spread out here compared to most state parks. Location is fairly close to Sugar Creek."

What you should know

Arrival timing considerations: Many primitive sites operate on first-come, first-served basis without reservation systems. Kevin T. advises about Covered Bridge State Forest Retreat, "The site fills up pretty fast so come early. No need to pay because it is first come first serve."

Facility maintenance varies: While most campgrounds maintain clean facilities, some infrastructure may need updates. William David S. noted, "Not fancy, some updating of infrastructure is due. I would keep this on list as decent stop."

Site identification: At some primitive campgrounds, designated spots aren't clearly marked. "The sites aren't marked, but are indicated by picnic table and fire ring, though fire rings are not always present," explains William David S. about the primitive camping area.

Tips for camping with families

Beach access: Water recreation options expand family activities at certain campgrounds. Nicole B. mentions, "They do have a beach" at Attica Family Campground, providing swimming opportunities beyond fishing.

Seasonal family events: Schedule camping trips around special events for enhanced family experiences. "Fireworks in July and Halloween for the whole family in October," as Nicole B. notes about Lake Waveland Park.

Wildlife observation: Natural settings offer educational opportunities for children. William David S. describes one campground as "a lovely space with lots of birds to observe," creating potential for nature education during family camping trips.

Tips from RVers

Site limitations: RV campers should research site specifications before arriving. Nicole B. cautions, "They need more spots for those long campers. Lots of pop up size sites. Trees need cut or maintained" at Lake Waveland Park.

Hookup availability: Electric and water connections are available at select campgrounds. "The best part is sites include water and electric," Nicole B. explains about the modern camping section at Lake Waveland Park.

Shade conditions: Tree cover varies throughout camping areas. Randy A. observed, "The majority of electric sites are well shaded," which helps RV campers manage temperature conditions during summer camping months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Homer, IL?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Homer, IL is Lake Waveland Park with a 4-star rating from 8 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Homer, IL?

TheDyrt.com has all 4 tent camping locations near Homer, IL, with real photos and reviews from campers.

Keep Exploring