Hannah T.
Traveler
TravelerWhite Pines Forest State Park Campground
Lots of things to do!
Well kept camping sites. Easy drive up style. Picnic tables and fire pits on site. Bathrooms and dumpster close by. River that is walk and drive through!
Glamping near Lena, IL
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Lena KOA houses upscale glamping accommodations with full amenities just minutes from downtown Lena. The property features canvas glamping tents and yurts with comfortable furnishings, electricity, and climate control systems that maintain ideal temperatures year-round. "The sites are spaced out well and there are more secluded sites so you have the feeling of privacy or big group sites for a big party," noted one visitor about the glamping experience. Timber Lake Resort, located 25 miles south in Mount Carroll, offers additional glamping options with safari-style canvas tents and geodesic domes positioned along the waterfront. Both locations provide glamping guests with premium bedding, private decks, and dedicated fire rings. Palace Campground near Galena rounds out the area's glamping resorts with their signature yurts featuring hardwood floors, queen beds with linens, and kitchenettes.
White Pines Forest State Park's glamping accommodations sit nestled among pine forests with access to miles of hiking trails and a creek that runs through the property. The park's glamping domes and pods include electricity, comfortable beds, and climate control systems for year-round comfort. A recent visitor mentioned, "The park is beautiful with lovely trees, lots of shade, and well-marked hiking trails." Glamping guests enjoy exclusive access to the park's restaurant and gift shop without needing to bring cooking equipment. Crazy Horse Campground, located 30 minutes east, supplements the area's glamping options with premium canvas tents featuring raised wooden platforms, electricity, and private outdoor spaces. Activities for glamping guests include fishing in stocked ponds, swimming in on-site pools, kayaking, and visiting the petting zoo that several properties maintain for families.
Best Glamping Campgrounds near Lena (19)
1. Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area
"They clean out fire pits after every weekend. Some sites were not the most level. All Roads are newly paved. New/Updated Dump station."
"This was an unexpected good find in Illinois. The campground was nice with the standard set up - picnic tables, restrooms, water available."
from $10 - $30 / night
Check Availability2. Lena KOA
"It is about 40 minutes away, but is nice to be away from the traffic. The KOA store is well stocked and has some pretty cool souvenirs!"
"This is the second KOA I’ve stayed at and is by far the better one of the two, the staff was super friendly and there was a lot of activities for the kids to do."
3. Timber Lake Resort
"The site was easy to get into with help from the friendly staff."
from $60 / night
Check Availability4. Blackhawk Memorial Park
"Pit toilets/shelter/playground near the entrance. Two boat launches.
Variable availability for firewood; the Cenex on the west end of Argyle reliably sells it if there isn't any at the park."
5. Crazy Horse Campground
"Friendly staff and a nicely stocked store. Has a pool, petting zoo, kayaks, rocky beach, dog park, and a land pillow!"
"We made this trip mid-May during the Covid social distancing. The camp ground was on point with their preparedness. Check in was simply pull into your site or a brief stop at registration."
6. White Pines Forest State Park Campground
"Easy drive up style. Picnic tables and fire pits on site. Bathrooms and dumpster close by. River that is walk and drive through!"
"Very clean, and beautiful hiking trails. My only complaint would be that at the private cabins you are not allowed to cook out."
7. Blue Mound State Park Campground
"Excellent for RVs but some sites are non-electric. There are no other hookups, but there is a dump station. Every site has a fire pit and a picnic table. Many sites have a slight slope."
"The biggest issue we faced was the amount of noise. All of the sites surrounding us knew each other and partied together. People that partied until 1am, yelling and being loud as hell."
from $18 - $50 / night
Check Availability8. Sweet Minnihaha Campground
"Such a lovely camp ...the sites are fairly close together but you can pick the site you want so you don’t have to be directly next to another tent ...on our visit we saw lots of wildlife from chickens"
"I originally went to this campground a couple years ago for a music festival, but I discovered how much fun it was. the people were incredible. the staff was really awesome so I continue to make it back"
from $8 - $35 / night
Check Availability9. Palace Campground
"This campground is tucked into a little area next to a Walmart, Culvers, and Mini golf course. It sits between east Dubuque and Galena. When we stayed they had a dirt bike rally."
"Campground was right next to Walmart, which was convenient, and a short walk down to the high school to get the shuttle into Galena itself."
10. Blanding Landing
"Hosts are friendly and I saw rangers driving through multiple times. Each site includes picnic table and fire pit. Most have electric. "
"When I arrived, the site was clean, and we had a site with an open site on one side making it feel twice as big."
from $14 - $25 / night
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Drive Time
- 39 min from Rockford, IL
- 1 hr 3 min from Dubuque, IA
- 1 hr 7 min from Janesville, WI
- 1 hr 19 min from Madison, WI
Recent Glamping Photos near Lena, IL
8 Photos of 19 Lena Campgrounds
Glamping Reviews near Lena, IL
179 Reviews of 19 Lena Campgrounds
Stacie H.
GuideWhite Pines Forest State Park Campground
Lovely natural scenery; campground leaves something to be desired
Let's start with the good stuff:
- The park is beautiful. Lovely trees, lots of shade, the hiking trails are nice, well marked, and they even have an accessible trail for those with disabilities!
- There is a restaurant and gift shop on site. Gift shop sells wood if you run low or forget.
- The bathrooms and shower house are relatively clean and well kept.
Now for the not so great stuff:
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Many of the campsites are sloped and some are sloped A LOT. This isn't obvious from the booking page.
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The campground is absolutely jammed with camp sites- it's ridiculous. I've never been to a campground where the sites were so on top of one another.
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We stayed in the Sunny Crest loop and the drinking water well was broken so we had to travel to other parts of the campground for water. When carrying a 10 gallon jug full of water back, that really sucked.
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The sites that are marked as "hike in" aren't secluded and away from other sites at all, as one might expect. They are jammed in with all the others but there just isn't any parking nearby.
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It had rained the day before was went and so the road to the campgrounds was blocked off (presumably because the creek was running too high), but there was NO SIGNAGE telling us how to get there another way. There was no one in the park office or in the camping registration station to ask. We finally figured out that we had to take an emergency road/auxiliary road to get to the campground, but that was after about 30 minutes of confusion.
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The breakfast buffet at the restaurant is mid but very pricey- $50 for 2 of us.
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The quiet hours and no alcohol policy are not enforced at all. While we were there, there was a very loud group playing beer pong into the wee hours of the morning.
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About half of the fire rings don't have grill grates so bring your own or bring a camp stove (See pic). Also, when you book your site, there is no way to know if your fire ring will have a grill grate or note.
- SSebastian G.Traveler
Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area
Smile...
First, once you are here and settled, the rolling hills and man-made lake are truly peaceful. I have camped here for over 30 years, and seen many changes. Unfortunately, this State Park is the hardest hit by the budget crisis. The roads are a pot-hole obstacle course, and the bait shop/boat rental, and restaurant is closed. There are always three campers taking advantage of the Campground Host position, but nine times out of ten, you have to wait until well in to the evening for the one, overworked, ranger to check you in. Surprisingly, the bath house is always clean. Do not plan on mountain biking...the trails are open to everything, and the road apples are impossible to avoid...not a pretty site as mountain bikes do not have fenders. The absolute most annoying thing about this park is that there are "gawkers" that constantly flow from Lena, and zig-zag the entire campgrounds. All Saturday evening, after church on Sunday, and anytime you are outside of your camper, you can expect gawkers driving by at 3mph, staring like the village idiot. The only humor is to stand there and make like you are filming them, or taking their picture...although some seem to like even that...WIERD!!! (None of them have car passes or trailer hitches...or, a life.)
- Stacie H.Guide
Morrison-Rockwood State Park
A lovely campground with the CLEANEST bathrooms and showerhouse!
This campground is a lovely gem! Most of the camp sites are fairly secluded from one another by distance and from surrounding foliage (see pic). The exceptions would be sites 55-64 that loop around the playground. We, unfortunately, didn't know this and so had site 61. It was nice little spot with plenty of shade but I was a bit jealous of those with more secluded spots, especially since we are tent campers and all of the others on the loop were big RVs.
The pros:
- The campground hosts were lovely. Friendly but not overbearing, as some can be.
- The on site restaurant/bait shop/ boat rental was very convenient! Husband forgot to pack something and the little bait shop had what we needed. Plus, we were able to buy firewood there, too.
- Lovely scenery! The hiking trails were well maintained and there were lots of beautiful flowers, bird, and butterflies. We even saw a raccoon!
- The (and I cannot emphasize this enough) CLEANEST campground bathrooms I've ever seen! I'm not squeamish and have been camping for years so my expectations for campground bathroom cleanliness is well calibrated but these bathrooms (even the vault toilets!) were amazingly clean! There weren't even spiderwebs on the ceiling of the shower house. Just *chef's kiss*
- The water from the pump was very clean.
The cons:
- Lack of privacy/seclusion for the 55-64 sites along the loop.
- For that same loop, since it circles the playground, if kids playing noises bother you, might want to choose a different site.
- The food at the restaurant was meh. It was fine- it was sustenance. Nothing to write home about.
- LOTS of big RVs. It wasn't an issue for us on this trip, but on other camping trips sometimes being surrounded by big RVs just isn't a great vibe.
Mountainman McBeachfront
ScoutWhite Pines Forest State Park Campground
Nice park, with some downsides.
This is the type of campground you go and check your spot out before you reserve it. Many of the tent campsites are literally on a hill. Some are very close. They really crammed them wherever they could. The amenities are excellent and the only reason I gave 3 stars, the shower/restroom was very nice and air conditioned. Potable water available. If I knew the campground was gonna be sideways I wouldn’t have reserved it, not gonna lie I was pissed when I saw it as I reserved it for 3-4 days. There’s lots of them that are on flat ground/tucked away and look excellent but it’s a gamble unless you go there beforehand to look. There’s a ford you have to cross to get to the campground but its not that bad people this isn’t Oregon Trail you won’t float away and lose an Ox and wagon wheel.
- NNate R.Traveler
Blue Mound State Park Campground
Good RV sites, great site isolation
The sites are very well isolated and shaded, and have a well maintained gravel and packed earth surface. Not great for staking a tent, but doable. Excellent for RVs but some sites are non-electric. There are no other hookups, but there is a dump station. Every site has a fire pit and a picnic table. Many sites have a slight slope. Trail access to both the state park trails and to the Military Ridge Trail which runs nearby.
I stayed two nights in a tent and really struggled to find an ok spot on my site to pitch it, between the slope and the occasional roots and rocks. I managed to get stakes in but only at great effort. It looked like some other sites may have been better suited.
There is a raccoon problem here. They were definitely snooping through my things on the first night. Heard coyotes during the night in the distance.
Overall I'm pretty happy with my stay due to the location in the park, and most of the issues I had would be moot with an RV.
Rx Q.ScoutCox Hollow Campground — Governor Dodge State Park
Noisy
This was my first and probably last time camping at Cox Hollow. Let’s start with positive: easy access to the campsite I was able to park my car right by the tent. Bathrooms and showers seemed clean enough, but I would recommend wearing some sort of footwear while you shower. Now the negatives: loud and obnoxious families with screaming bratty kids, people leave food scraps so raccoons are not scared and come right up to you sniffing for food, people have zero courtesy and slam bathroom door non stop, not to mention slamming down dumpster lids literally all day and late into the evening. Oh and did I mention screaming kids? Apparently “quiet hours” are from 11pm-8am, well the noise continued almost into midnight hours and as early as 6:30am. Thumping stereos with loud music, also can’t blame dogs for barking, but we had a howler and it kept going all the time. Forget about sleeping in or enjoying the sounds of nature. I’d like try different campsite at this park, but won’t be returning to Cox Hollow.
Scott W.TravelerBlue Mound State Park Campground
Depends on your site.
My wife and I tent camped here. We had never been here before.
We stayed at site 77 as the majority of the sites were booked.
77 is sloped, as well as gravel with hard packed earth. Some patches of grass, but for the most part it’s gravel. My wife and I sleep on mattresses, so it was not an issue for us.
If you’re tent camping, I highly recommend looking for a site with a leveled tent pad. We did not inspect any of them, but from a distance the pads look like packed sand or something of that nature.
The pit toilets are very well taken care of. The shower facilities were not open during our visit.
Here is where our problems lied (and this has little to do with the park itself)
there was no end-of-night patrol of any kind. The biggest issue we faced was the amount of noise. All of the sites surrounding us knew each other and partied together. People that partied until 1am, yelling and being loud as hell. Screaming at cars that drove by. quiet hours are listed online starting at 10pm.
We left our campsite to ask the Onsite host for help or to do something about it, but they chose not to come out of their camper. We called every line we could to get someone to come and shut them up, but alas, no park employees or hotlines were available. The wife and I certainly did not want to call the cops since we were surrounded by a group of drunk loud people and that can get out of hand fast.
Park staff came to our site the very next morning and talked to us. They warned all groups around us of the noise level. While this did calm down the partying our next night, it did not stop them from yelling things towards our campsite to try and scare us. Making animal noises and non-sense scare tactics to try and intimidate us.
Trashy and disrespectful, we walk away from our experience with an extremely negative stain.
This has nothing to do with the park itself, just the unfortunate circumstance that we were surrounded by terrible people that do not respect the rules of camping.
- Griffin K.Scout
Blue Mound State Park Campground
A+ camping experience
Tl;dr: shower house is great. Nice campers, rangers and camping vibes. Go to Blue Mounds Grocery on the way in. easy access to hiking, mountain biking, and running trails - including Military Ridge Trail.
Camped here with 2 friends during a cross country road trip. We had site 5 and were tent camping. When we showed up it was raining and it was unseasonably cold, but other campers in adjacent sites looked like they were having a great time - lots of family groups. This kept our spirits high as we set up camp, made a fire, and made dinner. The site was standard with a big picnic table, tent platform, fire pit, and room for our car. The bathroom and shower house was a really great amenity and there were spots for cars to drive over there if their spots were far. A very nice camp ranger came by to say hi and let us know that campers are expected to quiet down at 9ish and not be cognizant of that. Campers were being respectful of socially distancing and wearing masks for the most part. Seems like there is a great bike/hiking trail network all around. A couple of us are runners also a friend from Madison met us and we ran on the military ridge trail in the morning. There is very easy access to that. Also, insider note, on the way in, go to blue mounds grocery for anything you need (esp firewood). The cash register gave us some great camping advice.
Guide to Lena
Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area forms the natural anchor of camping options near Lena, Illinois, situated among rolling hills and small creeks at an elevation of 830 feet above sea level. The region experiences four distinct seasons with summer temperatures averaging 75-85°F and winters dropping below freezing. Modern yurt accommodations have expanded camping options beyond traditional tent and RV setups, providing visitors with climate-controlled alternatives during temperature extremes.
What to do
Hiking trails: Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area features hiking paths with varied terrain and wildlife viewing opportunities. "Riding into this state park on my bicycle was a challenge. There are many steep hills but at least they aren't too long. There are some trails that will take you around some of the hills through open fields if you are interested in walking around the campground," notes one visitor at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area.
Water activities: Swimming and fishing opportunities exist at several parks despite occasional water quality issues. "We had a lot of fun there playing in the water on the beach however my son who was five at the time got a really bad bacterial rash from the water," warns a camper about Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area.
Tubing and kayaking: Access the Sugar River for water adventures at Crazy Horse Campground. "We have camped here twice once in the fall once in the summer during the summer they provide at no charge kayaks and a shuttle to a drop-off point which you can kayak back down to the campground which takes about an hour and a half," explains David H.
What campers like
Spacious sites: Many campgrounds offer well-designed layouts for privacy. "We were in site 148 which was quite nice. Great shade and dense woods separated us from the RV area," reports a visitor about Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area.
Wildlife viewing: The region supports diverse animal populations. "We enjoyed our site, nice campground. Lots of birds," mentions one camper at Lake Le-Aqua-Na, while another notes, "We saw turkeys wandering around, lots of different birds, heard coyotes hooting and hollering in the distance, and an opossum wandered into my site while I was sitting by the fire."
Live entertainment: Sweet Minnihaha Campground offers regular performances. "There are bands playing on the weekends. Easy access to on and off the river for tubing," explains Steve S., while another camper adds, "I originally went to this campground a couple years ago for a music festival, but I discovered how much fun it was. The people were incredible."
What you should know
Seasonal considerations: Many facilities close during colder months. At White Pines Forest State Park Campground, a visitor notes: "There are showers here. I'm not sure if they're open year-round, but the campground is."
Site leveling challenges: Uneven terrain affects comfort at several campgrounds. "We slept with our heads lower than our feet in our camper van. Except for the handicap accessible sites, all are non electric," reports one camper about a nearby state park.
Budget planning: Costs vary significantly between properties. "Crazy Horse Campground is very expensive. They have a Daily Activity bracelet that allows you to partake in all activities but you need to purchase per person for each day regardless if you will utilize," explains Marc W.
Yurt availability: Yurt camping near Lena, Illinois requires advance booking due to limited inventory. These structures feature solid floors, locking doors, and many have electricity, providing a luxury camping experience without requiring personal equipment.
Tips for camping with families
Kid-friendly activities: Crazy Horse Campground offers numerous attractions for children. "With the kids we do use all of the included activities which include pool, kayaking services, batting cages, miniature golf, peddle cars, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting," notes Marc W.
Wildlife interactions: Several properties maintain animal areas for children. "Such a lovely camp...on our visit we saw lots of wildlife from chickens to cats that are so nice and walk right up to you," mentions Brittany H. about Sweet Minnihaha Campground.
Water safety: Monitor children closely during water activities due to quality concerns. "The lake was brown looking. A lot of rain in area caused flooding. No swimming or boating currently on lake," warns one camper about conditions at Lake Le-Aqua-Na.
Tips from RVers
Site selection: At Palace Campground, experienced RVers recommend specific areas. "If you get along the outsides you have a lot more privacy and better chance they will be level. If you aren't worried about sharing a conversation with your neighbor then you can pick anything," advises Scott M.
Road conditions: Be prepared for rough park roads when towing. "The roads need repair, many potholes. Otherwise very nice campground," notes one visitor about Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area.
Dump station logistics: Plan timing around busy periods. "The line to clean out the tanks was long and blocks the way in and out," observes Bill L. at Lake Le-Aqua-Na.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Lena, IL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Lena, IL is Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area with a 3.6-star rating from 10 reviews.
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What is the best site to find glamping camping near Lena, IL?
TheDyrt.com has all 19 glamping camping locations near Lena, IL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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