Looking for a place to camp near Karbers Ridge with your horse? Camping with horses is a beautiful way to experience nature. Find our top-rated horse campsites from other campers like you. Plan the perfect trip in minutes.
Located in the Middle of Southern Illinois just Off I-24 it is a great place to stay while you explore all the the Shawnee Forest. From Giant City to Garden of the Gods. The Tunnel Hill bike trail is a half mile away and Cache River is just down the road. We have 60 Full Hook up sites. Large pull through sites up to 120 feet long. We have Shower Houses and Laundry Facilities. Our Campground is Open Year Round.
$40 / night
This campground is the site of an old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camp. Somewhat off the beaten path Camp Cadiz is usually quiet and rarely do the campsites fill up; with the exception of turkey and deer hunting seasons. The campsites are level and each has a fire ring with grill and picnic table. __Equestrian camping is allowed.__Recreation Area brochure/map
$30 / night
$30 / night
Situated along a peninsula between the lush shorelines of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, Canal Campground offers modern camping and provides the ideal setting to enjoy nature at its best with family and friends. Visitors can enjoy a stunning view of the Barkley Dam and boats traveling through the canal from the comfort of their campsite. The campground faces Barkley Lake, and the shore of Kentucky Lake is a brisk one-mile walk across the canal.
From water sports to wildlife viewing to hiking and biking, Canal Campground is the perfect setting for outdoor activities. Eagle nests can be spotted throughout the grounds, and its not unlikely for visitors to encounter deer and other wildlife. A short hiking trail allows campers to enjoy the outdoor scenery at their leisure. Fishing is also a popular pastime, and during warm months bass and catfish are plentiful in both lakes.
Lake Barkley, as part of a dam project at the Cumberland River, spans 134 miles along the Kentucky landscape, offering countless recreational activities to visitors. The canal connects Lake Barley with Kentucky Lake, forming one of the greatest freshwater recreational complexes in the country.
Grand Rivers, a short drive from the campground, has several restaurants and two public marinas.
$256 / night
At Hayes Canyon Campground we have 34 RV campsites available for rent for a day, weekend, week, or longer!
We offer 2 cabins and 3 rental RVs. There is a rental available for all budgets so book now! They go fast!
Reservations are recommended, especially during peak seasons and holiday weekends, when we often are fully booked months in advance.
We specialize in catering to campers with horses who want to enjoy trail riding on the many scenic trails in the Shawnee National Forest. Other campers, backpackers, hikers, and hunters are always welcome. To view a trail map online . . .
$15 - $32 / night
Congratulations! You've just discovered Rend Lake, the perfect place to enjoy a wide variety of activities, events, and nature at its best. Even a short visit to Rend Lake will impress you with the versatility of this magnificent area. Rend Lake is made up of 20,633 acres of water and 19,523 acres of land. Wildlife in the area includes deer, turkey, fox, raccoon, opossum, waterfowl, and others as seasons change throughout the year. Whether you're looking for high adventure, a peaceful retreat, or something in between, you'll find it here in the heart of Southern Illinois.
Take a leisurely morning stroll, ski or sail lake waters, spend the afternoon viewing inspiring art exhibits and end your day by the warm glow of a campfire under starry night skies. The fields, forests and waters of Rend Lake provide a natural haven for wildlife and an outdoor wonderland for you. Boat, hike, fish, hunt, swim, and explore at your leisure. If you prefer a little less nature, visit one of the resorts around the lake and delight in superb lodging and dining. Just minutes away you'll find golf, trap and skeet, arts, antiques, museums, wineries, and more.
Gun Creek sits along the Eastern banks of Rend Lake in the heart of Southern Illinois.
Rend Lake Golf Complex, which includes a 27-hole golf course, restuarant, and lodge.
$30 / night
We are located in the heart of southern Illinois in the middle of all of the nice horse back riding hiking and kayaking drop offs we have several cabins to choose from and guided horse back rides to offer. You can bring your own horse and venture out on the trails or requests a guide by appointment.
$30 - $200 / night
Legend
We’d seen signs for Shawnee Forest Campground (CG) many times as we headed out and back from our St. Louis home base and wanted to check this CG out. We followed our GPS to the clearly marked CG entrance but our GPS showed we still had about a half mile to go. We checked in at the little office and were given the choice of pull through sites with FHUs 12 or 21. We chose site 21. The gravel roads are slightly narrow with some trees but we did not have any issues getting to site 21. The water and electric(50/30/20 AMP) are at the back of the gravel pad. There are two sewer hookups, which was nice. The water pressure was good around 50 psi. Their WiFi was very good. There are mature trees here and there in the CG, so satellite should not be an issue. We got two bars on Verizon. Each of the bath houses have a washer and dryer. Our site was not level and with all the rain we had, there were water puddles at the steps. There are some nice sites in this CG but we were not offered one of the better ones even though there were plenty of sites open in the upper 26- 50 site area. If we come back, we’ll know where to ask for a site. They have a small lake and two ponds for fishing. There's no formal dog area, but there are paved trails around the large CG area, which made it nice to walk our dogs.
Traveler
What a beautiful campground, it’s our second time here. Some spots do have a fairly good slope to them
ScoutWe stayed 4 days and had a great time. The camp was clean and well maintained. The staff are very friendly and helpful and was more than happy to offer places to visit in the area, places to eat and provide assistance as needed. The trails are paved so we had a nice area to walk (twice around the lake from our site was 3 miles). :) We plan to visit again!
Traveler
Harmonie State Park looks like a great place for a family vacation. In addition to the campground with at least 2 playgrounds, there are trails, picnic areas and a boat ramp. We only stayed 1 night. Site 166 is big and on the end of a road. There's a restroom and water spigot within walking distance. They have showers but we didn't use them. Our only problem was 1 or more raccoons kept coming into our site. We shooed them away but they kept coming back. I'm sure they were just looking for food.
Scout
I stayed here and camped for a bike rally. I think you can only camp during an event. And cost is different from each event. Nice place
Guide
Stayed here for a week and it was great. Plenty to do to keep you busy. Nice pool with retractable roof. Playset for kids. Full service marina with boat rentals. Golf cart rentals as well.
ScoutGreat little stop, everything is clean and a fresh shower was refreshing.
ScoutIt had electeic hook up but we were tent camping early May 2024. The campsite is mostly hill with a wash out running through it. It is also the breeding site of thousands of Miner Bees. They were docile and no one got stung but they were everywhere from sun up to sun down the entire site hummed with bees. The entire ground was full of holes that they were coming in and out of. Close to bathroom/showers and a playground, fresh water source across the road.
ScoutEverything was well kept and clean. Multiple bath/shower houses on each loop. Push button showers. Takes about a minute to get water hot, but good after that. Dated, but clean and functional. The lights stay on 24/7 so bugs are in the shower house.
Multiple walking trails and bike trails. Nice shelter houses and picnic areas. Multiple playgrounds. Nature center in the campground. Many events scheduled for summer. New Harmony (town) is close by and a must stop. Nature walks, lots of unique history you will find nowhere else, quaint shopping, coffee shops, wine bar, dining, etc...
The pool has been filled in at the park. Very disappointing.
I was demolished by mosquitos and was covered in deet. Tried picaridin too. If you get the biters off you, the gnats were all over me too. Not sure if just time of year or maybe always this way (did rain multiple times).
Couldn't use mountain bike trails and most hike trails as it was too wet.
Suggest calling before making reservations because many of electric sites are not level, at all. Ask which would be best.
RangerLove this state park! Clean, quiet, water views and lots of bike paths to ride.
GuideWe had a great time here. Nice spaced out place. We stayed at site 192. It was at the back of the campground, but close to the bathrooms/showers and just across from the playground. It was close enough to walk to the Nature Center and grab ice cream. There’s even a hiking trail right behind. And not much through traffic since it’s in the back. Staff was extremely friendly. They had ice and firewood to purchase. Even the other campers were extremely friendly. We were only a few mins from downtown New Harmony. The coffee shop there was very good. Evansville was about 30 mins. We had to go get a new car battery there and DNR used a jump box to get us going. Very clean bathrooms and grounds. The only reason it didn’t get 5 stars were the showers. Older, took awhile to heat up, only had water for about 15 seconds at a time. Not easy to get a squirming toddler bathed. Better than nothing though. Great campground, highly recommend!
TravelerHad the campground to myself. Facilities for showering were fine. Park employees were very friendly. I saw some cabins at park that they rent out that looked like a good deal for the non camping people. Short drive away is the town of New Harmony. They seem to have a lot of events in summer and fall. Access to the Wabash River right at the park
Traveler
Very nice campground, better than what I expected. We stayed at site 20 with a 36' travel trailer we had to actually drive all the way to the end of the campground to turn around so we could back into the site. Cravens Bay is secluded and about a 2 mile drive off the main road running through LBL.
There is a attendant at the site that you have to check in with first who will let you know what sites are available and pay after you have chosen your site and settled in. The attendant station did have some snacks for sale as well ice, also in the event that you may need assistance with any problems at you camp site or even with your camper the attendant more than likely has the tools to help you.
The road leading into the campsite is paved but narrow, the roads at the campsite are well hard packed gravel and very narrow. Cravens Bay basically breaks down into two areas, the low ground (first sites upon entering) and the high ground (sites further in at the top of the hill), there are some sites scattered in-between these two areas but for the most part the largest campsites areas are the high and low ground sites. The sites in-between the two high and low ground areas are very private and two are definitely secluded.
We stay three days and during that time other than the occasional fisherman or the attendant driving by it was definitely very private and quite. There were some seasonal campers there who were very helpful and friendly (even cut up some timber for us to burn).
If you don't mind not having any hook ups and dry/boon docking with your camper Cravens Bay has a lot to offer in terms of privacy, peace, boating, fishing, and swimming. Defiantly for the nature lovers out there, nothing like seeing a Bald Eagle hunting fish while drinking coffee first thing in the morning.
GuideStayed here on the way to and from Florida (home in Minnesota). Very nice campground. Well maintained, big sites for our 40ft fifth wheel, great sunrise/sunset views, and the bathrooms are very clean and well lite. The gentleman/host that greeted us at the office upon arrival was polite and helpful. Will definitely stay again!
Guide
We stayed at Giant City in February on a very cold weekend. It was still a fantastic trip! The campsites, fire pits and pit toilets were well maintained. The shorter trails in the park were beautiful even in the winter. The Lodge also had excellent food and a very cozy feel. Definitely visit the Lodge!!
ScoutCame to this campsite with my boyfriend and I as well as our two dogs. We were in spot 51, we have a large 8 person tent and need water & electricity so we rent out RV spots instead of the typical tent spots. When we arrived after our 15 hour drive, someone decided to park in our site. Once they moved we were able to start putting up our tent which was on a hill so we were slanted throughout the night. A family rented out the entire rest of the cul-de-sac, which isn’t the parks fault, but they claimed the pavilion and surrounding area. I would call this more of “suburb camping” because there are hardly any trees for privacy, large open fields of grass, and you are 2 minutes from the highway, food, and gas stations. It is only a single bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower instead of any stalls. They provide WiFi that did not work for us, we had better connection with our cellular data. No garbages anywhere in the campsite, thankfully we had our own garbage bags and tossed it in the dumpster before we left. It was fine to crash for one night, but I wouldn’t want to stay here for an extended period of time.
GuideThis was one of the best I have stayed out. I met some nice people, Manager helped me get my electric set up, (user error), Facilities clean and very nice, roads and park well taken care of..
ScoutEasy access, very clean facilities and lots to do and see nearby, friendly service. The constant interstate noise is a bit annoying
TravelerOnly reason for not 5 star was it is a little to close to the interstate.
RangerThis campground is very clean! Large open sites- shade is minimal for most sites but we had a beautiful large site with some shade (site 51). They have new trees planted.
There is no pool or activities for kids but we went out and explored the area
Beautiful walking/bike paths around the property
Hosts were very kind and helpful, we felt very welcomed!
There is some freeway noise but didn’t bother us at all
Laundry and bathroom facilities were very clean - was great to do a laundry mid trip!
Guide
The stay was pleasant and the lake was very nice but the reservation system and finding a spot was overly complicated for a first timer. Basically people show up and throw a cooler or tent onto a site to claim it and then leave. They have to pay for the spot by 8pm. And people can stay as long as they want as long as they pay for the next day by then. But if they don’t pay they have to leave by 9am the next morning. So you never know when people are actually leaving or a spot was opening up. Every spot was taken when we go in and we heard from the check in lady that someone was leaving so we went and waited watching them pack up to get their spot. We were there for one night and had 5-6 people come to us asking what time we were leaving the next morning. It was crazy. This was also the week before memorial day weekend so that’s probably why. Primitive camping was closed. We were in a truck with a roofnest.
RangerThere are numerous state park campgrounds in the area, but we stayed here for the full Hookups and available wifi. Just of I-24, was a plus as well. We did hear traffic noise from the interstate, but it was tolerable. Showers were clean. With a discount from this app, we saved $16 off our stay. Close by are dining options and a dollar general.
RangerExcellent park but many sights aren’t flat. Not all have water, septic. Clean facilities. Self checkin. Golf onsite, clubhouse with food.
Traveler
We spent 5 nights on Site A5 at Crab Orchard Campground. All sites are FC/FS. Full hookups are in Loop B & it was full. Overall the campground was full but not very many people around. Appears many locals take spots on the weekends & then hold onto them during the week. The 2 nearest to us we saw on Sunday (Easter) and the only 1 more time during the 5 days. Someone in one of the sites by the late (A9, A11 or A13 I think) said they saw snakes but we never saw any and our dogs would have noticed.
Showers and restrooms are nice. Ones in Loop A are no new (Loop Bs are new) but still nice. Lots of hot water.
Lots of trails (within 10-30 minute drive). Fishing was good (especially catfish and crappie). Went into Carbondale a few times. Also went South to Alto Pass but wineries all closed on Tuesday; locals told us they are open more hours during summer.
RangerRV or tent, book online at Recreation.Gov not all spots are level. Electric on most but not all have water. Campfire area and picnic table provided. Bathhouse is clean and park areas are all clean, dump station on site. We will be back and book closer to the lake in a level site.
ScoutThis is a very spacious campsite. The bathrooms and new laundry room are clean.
Legend
This campground(CG) is super easy to find. We arrived at the CG at about 1:45 PM, which was early as this CGs check-in is 5:00 PM. The gate office was open and after a very quick check-in, we proceed to one of the few FHUs(50/30/20 AMP), back in site 135. This site slopes downhill we so moved our rig onto the pad towards the back as far as possible to level. The water pressure was poor so we filled our fresh water tank and used our internal water pump. We got 2 bars on Verizon and T-Mobile and quite a few OTA channels. Satellite is iffy due to the number of mature trees in all CG areas. We’ve been to this CG many times but normally stay in the non-full hookup sites closer to the lake. There are five CG/loops within South Sandusky plus a walk-in tent area. We have stayed mostly in the first loop, Dogwood, as you enter, but the others are nice as well with some sites having water and electricity. The only FHUs are in Dogwood and most will take larger rigs. All campsites are reservable but reserved campsites are not marked on the post when you arrive(see the sign pic we posted). A comp host comes by after you set up and tag your post. There is a lot to do here. There are miles of paved bicycle trails, a marina, fishing, and a 27-hole golf course a couple of miles away.
Horse camping in Illinois offers a unique blend of scenic trails and well-equipped facilities for equestrians. Whether you're a seasoned rider or just looking to enjoy the outdoors with your horse, there are several great options available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Karbers Ridge, IL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Karbers Ridge, IL is Shawnee Forest Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 33 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Karbers Ridge, IL?
TheDyrt.com has all 21 equestrian camping locations near Karbers Ridge, IL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
