Best Tent Camping near Loda, IL

We tent camped for one night the weekend of Independence Day. Very quiet campground. Clean and spacious camping areas with a nice bathroom and multiple shower stalls. Bring firewood with you. We plan to stop again on our next road trip!

First stop on a cross county trip. We were directed to Catfish Bay for tent camping. It was lightly drizzling and on an overcast day most of the tree-covered campsites were dark. There are some nice sites right on the water (be prepared to walk your gear in from parking lot). Site #21 was private, with more open sky and a shorter walk to parking/outhouse. The outhouse was in really rough shape--looked like it hadn't been swept out or hosed down for awhile. Won't be back.

We went here with a group of tent campers sight unseen, so that’s always rolling the dice. We stayed until the main part where you could reserve online through reserve America. Would not recommend that area to anyone. Sites are right on top of each other in every direction. Not sure who would seek this out or agree to it after seeing it.

Upon finding the rustic tent sites, we’d wished we’d known about that area before going. Those were still a little close together but were at least wooded and you could walk from your car.

The dispersed camping sites were the closest to what I’d been used to coming from New Hampshire, but it was more of a hike than I would be looking for.

We had four sites on Osage loop for tent camping.  Two were very small (14&15), and little grass for tent setup, fine for RV or trailer campers.  They were private with brush between sites.  16&17 were amazing for tents!!  Open, tall trees for our tight rope and hammocks and shade. Grass for tents  16&17 Osage loop also open to 9&10 on Hickory loop.  With a lot of space between so no site setup is on top of each other.  Wish we knew more about individual site layout.  Grills were new.  Bathrooms inclu vault were cleanest I’ve seen.  Bike path/hike path is long and wide and very nice.  We had kids under age 8.  River is fast, tried to fish.  Stars were out.  Had rain Saturday but we all just hang out and manage just fine.  Overall, where the loops get close on the map, the sites back up with good space without ground brush - if you’re trying to string together a few sites for a group where you can pass through - also fine for strangers.  Biggest spaces.  Can add that 13, 6, 5, ,4  Osage are good RV but not good tent.

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.

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.

the map that shows the Peoria area is wrong. this campground is near Bradley-Bourbonnais Illinois.

10$ a night next to a park on a slightly busy street. I pitched my tent amongst the many rv trailers and had a rest on my motorcycle trip south. Not ideal for camping but a great budget option if your tired

This is an awesome place to stay. We got a first come, first serve tent spot right on the lake which made for a gorgeous sunrise. The amenities were great and there’s plenty to do around the area.

We group camped with about 6 tents and 12 people, had a great time, very quite secluded area for group camping.    Good fishing and kayaking, facilities could be a little cleaner but not bad, the water is TERRIBLE and looks like coffee or tea.   But otherwise, if you bring your own water, not bad...

Nice state park in the not so great state of Illinois. Stayed July 4th weekend and it was blistering hot. This was a couple years ago. Pretty noisy also but that can happen anywhere. Nice lake for fishing and the whole park was great to take bike rides in. State park operated restaurant in park is a nice touch. Very handy for ice and drinks on a hot weekend.

Stayed on a Tuesday night in April. Only a few rvs, no tent campers besides us. Stayed at A19, the loop was quiet all day/night. Most loops look exactly the same, just the quality of the sites. Some are all dirt, some are all grass. Bathrooms are ok. Didn't use the showers. Good first time visit to the campground.

Several loops.  Tent loops are pretty much open fields.  We stayed in a loop with electrical hook up.  Sites are level and there are trees through out the campground.  Sites on the interior of the loop can be close to the one behind it so check your site carefully before you choose it.  Bathrooms are older but clean.  Shower does not allow for adjustment of water temperature.  Hiking trails are not well marked except for the mountain biking trails, which were well marked.

Stayed here on Dec. 10, 2021 (yes the night of all the tornadoes throughout the Illinois/Kentucky/Tennessee area), I and everyone else at the campsite got pretty lucky, we were just outside the path of the main storms that did so much damage. The campground itself seems solid, but I will admit... I did not use many of the facilities that evening. The camp host at the entrance was super nice though. I can't remember the campsite number, it was near the restrooms at the back of the campground.

The sites here are pretty close together and not particularly private. The good thing is it wasn't particularly booked up the night I stayed there. No showers and the pit toilets exist. (I've seen worse, I've seen better, clean but doors are a bit hard to shut the door, no handwashing readily available). I'd recommend this for folks bringing a camper more so than planning to pitch a tent if you want to stay more than one night.  It's a good spot for a quick overnight just outside Chicago.

The good: swim beach is not right in campground but nearby. $3 entry for beach. The RV campground is on the water, book far enough in advance for a waterfront site. You can kayak or fish from campground. Sites all seemed flat (meant for RVs but most had grass good for tent setup) and most were shady. There's a playground by bathrooms which have showers. Showers were a good temp. Campground was not particularly loud when we were there (even on a holiday weekend).

The bad: bathrooms seemed dirty even for campground bathrooms & 1 stall was broken, leaving 3 showers & 2 flush toilets for the whole campground. Sites could have been a little more spaced out/ private.

We live 20 minutes from Moraine view so I'm sure we'll be back. :)

So we loved staying here for 2 weeks, it was cozy and quiet. It had excellent 5G AT&T, 30amp service and lots of shade. We stayed in our 44’ Newmar Dutchstar.

The Sites have lots of slope so bring many leveling pads/blocks (we needed 9 - 1.5” thick dica road warrior jack pads (highly recommend). It’s also never super convenient to need to pack up just to go to a dump station but as long as your fine walking to the community restrooms, you should be fine.

If my wife wrote this - it would be 4-stars due to showers without temp control and button timer style where you get 30-60 seconds of water for each push…

Overall it was a great camp spot for Illinois and a good place to stay if your prepared for it!