Best Equestrian Camping near Kampsville, IL

We stayed in the full hookups. It’s a very uneven gravel pad to start with. The campfire sits right next to the camper and the sites are very close together. So the sites are far from glamorous. But there were two close by trails that were very nice. They had offered a class about Mo snakes and a class on how to build fire with flint that our kids really enjoyed. We didn’t make it to the beach because we enjoyed the creek so much. The kids loved using the net to catch small fish and crawdads, throwing rocks and playing in the water. It was fun to explore. So 3 stars cause the campsites were not great but lots of fun to be had on the actual campgrounds! We will still be going back.

The campsites and grounds are well-maintained. However, the campsites did not have designated gravel tent pads. Given that we had to set up in/right after a rain, our tarp was sitting in grass and mud. I never knew how much I appreciated a designated gravel tent pad until then. Having never camped here, we had reserved site 25 and had the whole loop to ourselves (it was a Monday night, though). Our site, though, was the smallest in the loop, tucked away in the weeds, and the only area to pitch our tent was on a slight slope. After walking the loop, I noticed that sites 26 and 29, offered more room and were better maintained. We probably could’ve changed sites had we not arrived so late and in the rain.

Firewood is available for $5. We saw a nice playground at the entrance. There were plenty of showers (water was nice and hot!) and flush toilets in the bathhouse. The bathhouse could use some TLC, but the warm water made up for it. There are laundry facilities, though we didn’t use them.

Campground is beautiful and very woodsy. We saw bunnies hopping around and when we first arrived to our site a deer was grazing nearby, such a bonus! No electricity but water was conveniently located right across from our site to do dishes and whatnot. Staking the tent wasn’t difficult at all. Our site was fairly spacious and a not super close to others which we liked. The sites by the vault toilet looked closer together so I could see that being a cool spot for multiple families or friend groups. Don’t leave anything out at night or raccoons will scavenge, we accidentally left our trash bag hanging (ugh!) but that was our fault. We stayed only one night passing through on a road trip but would stay again if we end up in the area.