Best Glamping near Mattoon, IL

Review of Drive In Tent Camping Site 2. Showed up on a Thursday night and had our pick of all the drive in and walk in sites. We decided on site 2 in the drive in area. Previous reviews and a book by John Schirle on Tent Camping in Illinois helped us with this decision as well. Decent maintained sites with some older picnic tables and fire rings, but let's be honest this stuff sits outside 24/7. Site 2 seemed to sit back the farthest with site 1 a close second. Both wooded sites that made for great shade and helped some when it was raining. Any two families looking for two sites could certainly set up and share the experience. Nice little cove behind them to try fishing. Just watch the hike down the path or ravine. Dog friendly, fresh water supply (hint put the handle all the way up and wait a few seconds), ability to store stuff in the car close by, outhouse toilets visible at the walk in parking lot, and helpful host for easy check in who even sells fire wood made for a great few days ($5 a bundle). Rated B/S site at a cost of $10 a night.

I tent camped in a large tent, car camping, Friday and Saturday night.

I have camped here as well as all the Lake Shelbyville campgrounds many times before. Lone Point campground is actually 14 miles from my rural home in Shelbyville, IL. and is my favorite Lake Shelbyville campground.

There are many nice sites here along the lake and in the wooded areas around the lake. The sites have electricity and water near by. Fire rings with grates, lantern posts, picnic tables and level parking areas. Some sites have limited level areas for tents, but there are lots of sites to choose from. I like camping here because it is the least visited campground on the lake, so it can be quiet and you can get a site with a view. The bathrooms are clean and there is a shower house. There is a 12 mile trail from Lone Point to Eagle creek along the lake shore line, this trail is moderate to difficult hiking. I recommend this campground over all the others on Lake Shelbyville. The campgrounds and park are maintained by the US Army corps of engineers and reservations can be made online through recreation.gov.

The main campground closes on Labor Day however there is a small section near the boat ramp open year round and this has nice sites in it with camp stove stands as well as grills and awesome fire pits. The trail Chief Illini trailhead is located in the parking area and the trail is fairly well maintained during the regular campground open season. The trail is open year round and can be hiked from one end to the other spending a night at either campground for return trip the next day.

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):

39.45222, -88.74028

39°27'8"N, 88°44'25"W

In mid-Illinois a campground waits for you. Well tended grassy sites with an impeccable grassy picnicking area. There was plenty of room in our site but most of the campground is empty. It would feel more crowded when full due to a lack of vegetation between sites. We grabbed a non-electric site but most have electric. The showers/restrooms are centrally located and could be crowded if the camp was full. 

We set up and walked some in the trails. The conservation area extends across the road and that’s where most of the trails are. Start at the one room schoolhouse and make your way down wide trails. They aren’t that long but take a few and they add up. Stay on the camp side of the road and you can find large grassy areas with playgrounds and picnic shelters. A few trails are on this side too.

Clinton Lake Recreation area is just down the road if you want to fish or bring some watercraft. 

One note: if you reserve a camping spot it’s just to have a site. Specific campsites aren’t reserved. Get here early and you have your choice. 

This is a nice mid-Illinois campground!

I have camped here in the past and enjoy primitive tent camping so I stayed Friday September 29th and Saturday September 30th in the tent camping drive up site #2. There is also a tent camping walk in area with 2 lake front sites that are about 150 yards from the parking area and about eight other sites in between. There is a building with men's and women's flush toilets here for both primitive campgrounds. These are cheaper campsites than in the RV area where you have the shower house, nicer bathrooms and electric hookups. There are lots of nice shaded sites in these campgrounds and all have fire ring grates, lantern posts, picnic tables and some have pole mounted campstove tables as well. The camp hosts do a great job keeping this place clean, maintaining a quiet campground and supplying firewood for the campers. The park has a boat ramp, playground areas, the Chief Illini trail plus a couple short trails. There is a golf course and a run down lodge / hotel that has been closed for several years. There is tons of deer and other animals to watch and watch out that they don't steal your food while you are sleeping. The wild life is great for photography and makes for some good fireside stories.

This is my second favorite place to camp on the lake, although not as peaceful as Lone Point it does have the Chief Illini trailhead here and makes for nice round trip hiking camping adventures.

This park is open year round so the fantastic camping in spring and fall are available. You should watch out for hunters in the area when bow season starts October 1st.