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Best Equestrian Camping near Kewanee, IL

45 Reviews

Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground features separate areas for equestrians and non-horse campers on grassy sites with trees at the edges. The equestrian campsites include wooden hitching posts for securing horses, with approximately 4-5 individual sites available in the designated equestrian area. Located on the Hennepin Canal State Trail, the campground provides primitive camping with picnic tables, vault toilets, and water access. The sites are primitive with no hookups, though there is space for both tents and RVs, including class A motorhomes. Camping fees are $8 per night, with free camping Sunday through Thursday for Illinois residents over 62. The grassy sites show tire marks where people have previously driven in to set up camp.

The Hennepin Canal Trail runs directly through the campground, offering extensive riding opportunities along the crushed gravel path. Riders can access the trail system that eventually connects to both the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, passing through several small Midwestern towns. Horses have been spotted using the trail regularly, confirming its suitability for equestrian activities. The campsites provide enough separation for privacy despite being visible to others in the park. For riders looking beyond the canal trails, Jubilee College State Park Campground, located outside of Peoria, offers additional equestrian trails that are well-maintained and suitable for group rides of up to 8 people. The trails at Jubilee are regularly maintained with mowing, providing excellent conditions for horse riding through prairie conservation areas.

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Best Equestrian Sites Near Kewanee, Illinois (10)

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Equestrian Camping Reviews near Kewanee, IL

45 Reviews of 10 Kewanee Campgrounds

  • Matt S.
    Sep. 11, 2016

    Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park Campground

    I'm not a fan of Hennepin Canal, you might like it if you want to camp with your horse.

    I will give the staff credit, the park is well maintained and looks very clean. Having said that, this park is right next to the Hennepin Canal, which is full of stagnant water, a breeding ground for millions of mosquitos.

    Honestly, it was difficult to even understand how camping worked at this park. If you are not a local you wouldn't know where the campground is... well, the camps are set on the trails that run parallel to the canal. That is the only thing I could figure out from the message board and some hiking. The entire time I did not see one tent or person camping.

    On the positive side, if you want to ride your horse the trails running along the canal are equestrian trails and allow horses to camp with you. The other positive is there is a cool walking bridge over the canal. These positives are not enough to overcome the fact that you are a juicy meal for the un-numbered mosquitos that live and breed in the canal.

  • James M.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 11, 2025

    Scott County Park- South East Corner Campground

    Open primitive County park site

    The site offers a hard service to park on, picnic table, fire, pit, charcoal, grill, outhouse, horse tie up, and equestrian trailhead. There is a recycling dump station nearby, and open space with shaded tree area. The park itself offers trails for hiking and biking, a pool, golf course, campgrounds, historical Pioneer Village, amenities, including firewood, ice, concessions. Pride Lake offers paddling and fishing.

  • Art S.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jul. 18, 2022

    Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground

    Camp along the Hennepin Canal

    This small campground has separate space for equestrian campers and those without horses. There are picnic tables, vault toilets and water. The campsites are all on grassy areas with trees at the edges. This gives you some shade depending on the time of day. The grassy sites were a bit unexpected. We saw tire marks showing that people drove into the grass to set up camp. Some of the sites were completely separate from anyone else by the camp road. You were entirely visible to anyone else in the park but it was empty during our stay. 

    The Hennepin Canal Trail goes right through camp. On a previous visit I rode my bike along the crushed gravel trail. With a few connecting roads, I traveled from a Chicago suburb to the Mississippi River. While I didn’t see any horses then we did see a couple riding on the trail today. 

    This is a good spot for an overnight rest but there isn’t much more to the amenities than the campsites.

  • Stuart K.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 29, 2023

    Matthiessen State Park Equestrian Campground — Matthiessen State Park

    Limestone-Stained Equestrian-Only Campground

    For those that bring their noble steed to this campground, you’ll have it basically all to yourself. I have to admit, I was incredibly bummed to arrive here only to discover that this campground was reserved exclusively for those packing their four-legged, mane-baring, buggy-pulling horse friends, but hey, there were some pretty outstanding trails to hike during the day and the friendly on-site ranger made a call over to nearby Starved Rock SP to secure me a camping spot over there, so not all was lost. 

    If you do plan on camping here alongside your horses, you will want to note that there is no reservation system and that all sites are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. There’s a registration envelope that you’ll pick up when you arrive at Matthiessen SP, where you’ll simply need to fill this out with your name, # of days that you are planning to stay and then deposit the envelope in the drop-off kiosk along with the nightly fee and you’re all good. 

    With nearly 2,000 acres, there’s a lot to explore here at Matthiessen SP, located just south of Utica by a few miles and due east of Oglesby by 3 miles. Whether you are camping or not, from the many valleys you will surprisingly encounter (Illinois is an incredibly flat state, for those that may not know) and the small trickling waterfalls you will stumble across to the non-stop trails, canyons, bridges, stairways, dams and dells that you will come across in this place, there is a really good cross-section of prairie land that meets densely-packed forests. What makes this area particularly unique is the unusual rock formations that you will discover all over the place, and nearby Starved Rock SP is no exception, where you’ll encounter exposed lime and sandstone. With water seepage and rain occurring naturally and in overabundance here, the residual impact of the water that dries on the sandstone adds to the verdant colors that you will find decorating the canyon walls. 

    Occasionally, if you are especially quiet, you’ll come across no shortage of white-tailed deer or wild turkeys foraging through the crabapple and plum trees that are scattered throughout the forest here. Cottontail rabbits are scurrying around trying to stay hidden from the several bald eagles that conquer the skies and who beat out the vastly over-populated flocks of red-tailed hawks that usually beat them to their lunch. You’ll be able to catch a glimpse of most of these unadulterated natural experiences along most of the 5 miles of trails that can be found here at Matthiessen SP, where believe it or not, the easier of the hiking trails are located in the upper bluffs and the more difficult trails to manage are those on the interior. 

    Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If like me, you stumbled across this campground and forgot to bring your horse (er, or don't have one to begin with), no worries, there’s a ton of outdoor camping outposts near here, top of which I would highly recommend Starved Rock SP, actually located just kitty-cornered from Matthiessen SP, or Kishauwau County Cabins, which is but a 10 minute drive from here; (2) In all of my camping, I have never really worried too much about poison ivy or ticks, until I came here – you definitely want to not only look out for the 3-leafed poison ivy that thrives here (note: if the 3-leafed descriptor wasn’t enough, be sure to look for the greenish-white berries), but be sure to bring some suave to apply to any skin that comes into contact with this nefarious plant, and if you find that you have a vampire-like tick that has fallen in love with you, a simple match applied close to the bugger will usually do the trick; (3) When you get tired of foraging for your next meal from the depths of your Cordova cooler, then head on over to The Lodge at Starved Rock SP where they serve up some pretty traditional continental American food of which I highly recommend the fried Walleye, smoked duck or the pan-fried pork chop; (4) When you’re looking for a great place to drop your kayak or canoe into, then head no further than the lower portion of Starved Rock SP where there is a boat and kayak launch into the turbulent currents of the Illinois River; and (5) After a good several days of camping, hiking and kayaking, you’ll definitely be looking for a place to ‘whet your whistle’ of which I would recommend heading over to Utica where you can try out one of the many taps they have on hand at Skoog’s Pub& Grill. 

    Happy Camping!

  • JThe Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 9, 2025

    Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground

    Nice quiet place

    Water was available on my visit 10-7 thru 10-10. The place is clean and well kept, including the pit toilets. Plenty of hiking along the canal and 10 miles away from most stores. Fee is $8 however if you’re an Illinois resident over 62 camping is free Sunday through Thursday nights.

  • Stuart K.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 27, 2024

    Matthiessen State Park Equestrian Campground — Matthiessen State Park

    Great Galloping Gamp Grounds!

    As my post from a bit more than a year ago provided quite a bit of detail on this campground, I’m following up on that review by sharing more fotos as well as providing a topline update:

    Highlights: (1) Great hiking abounds in this particular Illinois SP where there exists a combination of EZ, intermediate and difficult hiking and riding paths; (2) There’s great kayaking in nearby Illinois River, which you can access at multiple points, but my favorite is to shove off either at Starved Rock SP boat launch or head south of that SP by about 3 miles to one of the several launches that exist on the southern shore; (3) Supreme amount of peace & quiet here at this CG for you and your steed with simply amazing great galloping trails as well as numerous places to tie up your four-hoofed friend; (4) Sites are spacious and nicely shaded; (5) The facilities are basic-to-bad, so lower your expectations and bring your own sanitary wipes; (6) Ample space to wander around and get lost in nature

    Lowlights:(1) This CG is EZ to miss if you don’t look for it – DON’T drive all the way into Matthiessen SP either on its west or east sides – this CG has its own discreet entry with parking near the road on the east side; (2) The grounds themselves could benefit from some TLC as there’s a lot of downed branches and even trash scattered around the place (that we cleaned up before leaving); (3) Depending upon how you look at it, this CG had no one there on the 3 occasions we visited – which was fine for us, but some might find the solitude here a bit daunting

    Happy Camping!

  • Stuart K.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 10, 2024

    Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground

    Bare Bones Primitive Camping Haven

    Located literally just a few stone’s throw due west of the tiny town of Wyanet, which is just a few miles west of better-known Princeton, you will access this little spec of undisturbed primitive camping bliss first via the major Highway 80, running east-west, and then, eventually via Route 6, which is more like a well-paved country backroad than anything else. While you will be hard pressed to find Hennepin Canal Lock 21 on your GPS, trust me, if you simply head west out of Wyanet, you will eventually find this jewel in the middle of nature.

    If you didn’t already know, the Hennepin Canal, and its series of locks & dams will eventually connect you with two of the most amazing rivers in the entirety of the US: the mighty Mississippi as well as the murky depths of the Illinois River – both of which are great for kayaking BTW. Should you choose to follow the canal in its entirety, you will be ushered through the minuscule townships of Mineral, Sheffield, Wyanet, Tiskilwa and Bureau – all of which are fairly emblematic of small Midwestern blue-collared towns that still to this day possess an equal amount of charm and hospitality, which the area is very well known for.

    Given that you can’t actually make a reservation here (or at any of the campgrounds along the Hennepin Canal for that matter) as this spot and the 5 others that make up the Hennepin Canal Lock camping options are only offered on a first-come, first-served basis, one thing is for certain: if you planned to truly ‘get away from it all’ you really can ‘have your cake and eat here too’ at Hennepin Canal Lock 21. While there is no actual check-in or check-out time, occasionally there is a park ranger that will come by to check on the location and collect those $8 nightly fares, although we never came across a ranger during our entire canal-navigating weeklong journey. You should also note that all of the campgrounds up and down the canal are class C camping, meaning that these primitive camping sites do not have showers or electricity, so either bring your own or, better yet, learn to live without these conveniences for a few days and actually embrace the opportunity to connect with nature.

    As you arrive, ultimately via Route 6 & Route 34, you will need to hang a left (coming westbound from Wyanet), where after just a short jig heading due south, you will find the first of 5 camping areas on either side of the main road you are driving down. On the right, in addition to the camping area, you will discover the first of 3 restrooms and just slightly beyond that, the boat launch. If instead of turning right to follow this first encampment, you head left, following the Hennepin Canal, you will see a small camping area on your immediate left, followed by a water spigot, after which you will come across another much larger camping area that has the second restroom facility. Opposite of these 2 camping areas on the other side of the road, there are 2 small camping areas that run right along the canal. If you go back to to the main road, from which you just came, and continued south across the little land bridge and hang another left, you will go around a small pond that will eventually present the third and final restroom facility as you go up a slight incline, where on your immediate right will be the sixth and final camping area that has been reserved for equestrian campers, of which there’s about 4-5 individual sites complete with a wooden hitching post to tie your horses down.

    Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Of all the camping options up and down the Hennepin Canal, while Canal Lock 21 is likely the largest and has more campsite offerings, it is still very basic and primitive, apart from the restroom, boat launch, picnic tables and fire rings that you will find. If that bothers you or you are simply looking for a spot with more space to explore, then likely the Hennepin Canal camping options aren’t for you, and instead, you may want to look just a bit further afield to another amazing place called Johnson-Sauk SP; (2) Should you grow weary of fixing ‘franks & beans’ again for dinner over your roaring fire, while there isn’t much out in these parts, if you are looking for some local fare, over in nearby Wyanet, you’ll find an abundance of just 3 options: Casey’s for well-made, fresh pizza; Harley-K’s Filipino Restaurant, which might actually just shock you!; or Ecky’s Tap, which is fairly darn amazing actually, but only serves up booze. For anything else, head on into Princeton, where there’s tons of options; (3) There is no potable drinking water anywhere at any of these locks up and down the Hennepin Canal apart from at the Visitors Center, so ensure you bring your own water or a filtration system; (4) Should you have your own kayak or canoe, the Hennepin Canal is very nice to explore, although at times difficult to navigate, especially when you come to each of the sets of locks and dams. If that is bothersome and you simply want to get some oaring in without having to take your watercraft in and out of the water every 30 minutes or so, then head on over to Goose Lake just southwest of Hennepin, which is a fantastic lake to explore and has some decent fishing as well; and (5) If you are on the look-out for simply amazingly fresh meats to ‘slap on the Barby’ then head on over to Wyanet Meat Locker, which has fresh venison, pheasant and of course, all of the typical Midwestern carnivore fare like brats, Ribeyes, burgers and pork chops, which all would be DELISH on that flip-open BBQ grill you have back at Canal Lock 21.

    Happy Camping!

Guide to Kewanee

Equestrian camping opportunities abound within 30 miles of Kewanee, Illinois, particularly along the historic Hennepin Canal system. The flat terrain features a mix of prairie and wooded areas with elevations ranging from 650 to 750 feet above sea level. Campgrounds in this region typically remain open from April through October, with peak season bringing temperatures between 75-85°F during summer days.

What to Do

Trail riding on the Hennepin Canal paths: Horse riders can access miles of crushed gravel paths at Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground. "The Hennepin Canal Trail goes right through camp. On a previous visit I rode my bike along the crushed gravel trail. With a few connecting roads, I traveled from a Chicago suburb to the Mississippi River. While I didn't see any horses then we did see a couple riding on the trail today," notes Art S.

Fishing along the canal system: The canals provide good fishing opportunities with several species available. "Fishing is good! Bull-heads, sun fish, big mouth bass are abundant," reports Jeny C. about the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park Campground.

Explore local historic sites: Visit the Jubilee College historic area near the campground. "There is a really old cemetery at the college if you just want to creep yourself out at night," mentions Jonathan J. who visited Jubilee College State Park Campground.

What Campers Like

Quiet camping options for equestrians: The dedicated horse camping areas provide peaceful surroundings. "The site offers a hard service to park on, picnic table, fire pit, charcoal grill, outhouse, horse tie up, and equestrian trailhead," describes James M. about Scott County Park's Equestrian Campground.

Spacious sites at certain campgrounds: Many campers appreciate the room to spread out. "This campground is a lovely gem! Most of the camp sites are fairly secluded from one another by distance and from surrounding foliage," writes Stacie H. about Morrison-Rockwood State Park.

Off-season tranquility: Camping during weekdays or shoulder seasons offers additional peace. "I especially like winter truck camping here. The pit toilets are always available in the winter, and I usually have the park to myself," notes Jonathan J. about Jubilee College State Park.

What You Should Know

Campsite availability varies by season: Many horse campgrounds in the region operate on a first-come, first-served basis. "Got kicked out cause I didn't have a horse. Even though it was completely empty. Gave me my $8 back though," reports Amanda C. about Matthiessen State Park Equestrian Campground.

Facility conditions can be basic: Expect primitive amenities at many locations. "The picnic tables were in a bad state, with boards missing and deteriorating wood, so it could use some upkeep. The grass was nice and green, though, and looked very pretty and well kept," writes Jennifer T. about Hennepin Canal State Trail.

Evening activity patterns: Some locations experience local traffic in evenings. "This is a favorite haunt for the local late-night scene. For as rural as the area seems to be, there were a surprising number of cars just passing through the parking lot, starting at about 10:30 pm or so," notes Jennifer T.

Tips for Camping with Families

Playground-adjacent sites: Choose campgrounds with play areas for children. "We had site 57 which is in a loop which goes around a playground. It was great for the kids who could go play and the sites in this loop provide plenty of space and privacy," recommends Ben W. about Morrison-Rockwood State Park.

Beginner-friendly camping: Some locations are perfect for introducing new campers to outdoor experiences. "First timers/young kids - yes. Primitive campers - no. My husband had never been camping... This is a great place for new campers, families of young kids, or just looking for an easier trip," advises Amy W.

Wildlife viewing opportunities: Look for native wildlife in early mornings. "Occasionally, if you are especially quiet, you'll come across no shortage of white-tailed deer or wild turkeys foraging through the crabapple and plum trees that are scattered throughout the forest," Stuart K. observed at Matthiessen State Park.

Tips from RVers

Site leveling challenges: Be prepared to adjust for uneven terrain. "The Road there is paved, not really big but not gravel. The place is pretty small, no water, or dump station. We used the Loves T/S at Atkinson. The place needed mowed badly," reports Jeff F. about Hennepin Canal State Trail.

Parking arrangements: Some campgrounds have specific restrictions. "There is a large open area for tent camping but no real space for rv's. We set up in the parking lot and nobody asked us to move," explains Art S. about camping at Hennepin Canal State Trail.

Utility access information: Know where to find hookups and which sites offer them. "We saw a class A, so they do fit. No hook-ups, just grass with a fire pit and table. Water available a couple of places along the canal," notes Jeff and Linda L. about Hennepin Canal Lock 21 Campground.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Kewanee, IL?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Kewanee, IL is Hennepin Canal Lock 22 Campground with a 2.7-star rating from 3 reviews.

What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Kewanee, IL?

TheDyrt.com has all 10 equestrian camping locations near Kewanee, IL, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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