Best Equestrian Camping near Norris City, IL

Address: 50 Barger Rd, Stonefort, IL.

Little Lusk is the most Spacious and beautiful equestrian campground in southern IL.    Bring your horses, or just come and camp and stay in the lodge.  Ride or hike in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest.  Campsites are spacious and can accommodate very large rigs. High lines behind sites.  Stalls can be reserved. some sites are full hookup. Primitive camping also available.  CALL them for more info at 270-205-7138.  Arena and huge event barn on site. Event barn can be reserved for weddings.  Numerous sites have electric and water.  They have a Facebook page with numerous photos.

Ferne Cliffe State Park is situated in the Shawnee National Forest, in the southern part of Illinois. It is not among the best known parks, and its distance from bigger cities makes it more obscure and less frequented than other places I have visited. The campground is small, situated on a limestone bluff which is cut by a small rivulet and some seasonal small waterfalls. The area is really a hidden gem - one has to hike down to discover the natural canyon with the awesome sites. The campground is clean and well maintained. A site of interest nearby is the Garden of the Gods wilderness, which 300 million years ago was the bottom of a sea. The whole area was spared by the glacier activity, yet the weathering of the rocks has given us a sandstone plateau with numerous hoodoos. Close nearby are also Cave in Rock and Land Between the Lakes, both worth seeing.

High Knob is a Horse campground in Shawnee National Forest near Garden of the Gods off Il1. The entire area has extensive trails through some awesome, hilly, rocky, cliffy areas. There are some excellent things to see. The trail traverses some of the River to River trail that meanders through the area. There used to be an annual ride through “One Horse Gap” I don’t know if it’s still a thing. 

The campground has options in addition to sleeping in your rig, cabins, travel trailers and a “hotel” . There’s also stalls and tie outs in the area you park in. A good staging area for Shawnee NF treks with several trailheads to pick from. Groups can set up in here and either stage or use it as base camp. Quiet , depending on who you are camping with, all amenities available on site too. (showers, laundry, store)

We enjoyed the trails though we went no where near as far as the horse people do. (There is so much to see, we have been going to Shawnee NF for over 20 years but I still find something or somewhere new almost every visit.)

North and South Sandusky campground is located in southern Illinois on Rend Lake. It is a large state park with tons to do. From boating and swimming to hiking and relaxing. The sites have many areas that fit different needs. I have stayed this year in both. My site at North Sandusky was on the water and I could pull my pontoon right behind my campsite. The kids were close enough to the bathrooms and showers to walk. And there was fresh water located there as well. There was a park a bit further down the way as well. But no need as the lake was in the backyard.

South sandusky site was across from a park, bathrooms, showers and water. The beach was a 2 mi hike on a beautiful trail. But we could walk across the street to a fishing swimming spot as well.

The beach is super clean and monitored well.

The bathrooms were cleaned every morning before 7 am. Water had great pressure and was always nice and hot.

I love these campgrounds and can’t wait to go back.

This small, rustic camp is at the edge of Shawnee and only had a few campers staying multiple nights with us. Then the turkey hunting season came upon us and the sites filled.

We had site choices that ended up being along the gravel forest road that goes by camp. This put us away from other dogs but caused other issues. Every vehicle that went by generated dust which then coated everything in our camp. If you come here, we suggest taking the site that is furthest from the road (it's right next to the small forest road that heads off to the hiking trails. They had shade as well as sun and no dust. 

The sites are large but there isn't any foliage between them. Luckily the dogs were in camps further away from our dog so she was able to relax. The water pump got frequent use and the twin vault toilets were plenty for the campground. 

The hiking trails that headed out from the camp were wonderful. We even hiked down the forest road and found a hidden cemetery tucked away. The river to river trail heads out from camp too - we saw a group of backpackers leave their cars and head off for the night. Garden of the Gods area is a short drive away for more hiking options.

Choose your time wisely. Camp filled up with hunters who started generators at 3 in the morning to get ready to head out for turkey. Once we realized what was going on, we put our dog's bright shirt on. Everyone was wonderful and we had some interesting conversations. It was also morel mushroom time so some people were hunting for them.

Camp Cadiz in Shawnee National Forest was fun to find :) The GPS is a little off BUT it gets you in the area.

On a gravel road, in the back country like most everything else on this side of Illinois , fill your gas tank up and your food locker or you will be driving back out a ways to refill. 

IL1/Ohio River Scenic Byway(in Illinois, who knew;) off the ferry from the Kentucky side, not much phone signal in these parts so bring the old fashion paper map. 

There is a sign for Camp Cadiz, trust the sign. Stay right onto the gravel road at the Y and you will pass JJ’s.

This is a very cool little basic campground with two stone fireplaces and several other sites with shade. A pit toilet and water source that’s about it. 

This is a campground you wanna use if you like being off the beaten path out on your own. Would also be a good group outing. 

This is the Eastern trailhead for the River to River trail , there is also a shorter trail , Beaver. Good one to practice your backpacking skills on. Very dark at night, bring your headlamp. Good times to be had ;)