The best camping near
North Peoria, ILLINOIS

This campground has walk-in only camping but it’s right next to where you park. It’s a quiet place in an open field surrounded by forest. Choose a campsite under some trees if you like. Vault toilets are up the hill. Garbage cans are plentiful. 

Deer run hiking trail is right in camp and gets you a bit of a hike. 

There is lots of fishing opportunity here. Spring lake is long and shallow. They allow pole fishing. We saw people fishing from boats as well as from nicely designed pullouts along the road. 

Be ready for a long slow drive in to the campground. Follow signs that direct you to the camp office. That’s where the camping is.

It’s a nice get away from the city. I haven’t stayed at any of the backpacking sites, but the main campground. It is located under a bunch of tall pines, and feels fairly open. You’re close to others, and there isn’t a lot of privacy, but it is pretty. There are a lot of trails, but keep in mind a number of them will have you walking in sandy paths (hence the name). You can even spot some cacti out there, which is a site when you’re in the Midwest. There is also a verse camp, which I have walked through. It has a large pavilion, and all the sites have 0 shade. It’s about 3 hours from Chicago, so I like to hit it up for a quick get-away to avoid paying Wisconsin prices. I have never seen it packed.

Grassy waterfront campsites, clean convenient restrooms, quiet, nice!

Stayed overnight here… it was fairly quick of the highway. Easy in and easy out. Did check out the facilities.

Nice big campground on a lake!! Flat sites and reasonable price.

This is a pretty area on the Evergreen Lake with mature trees and open spaces. The area I camped in had large spaces between the sites which was nice, but there was no foliage to provide privacy or sound buffering. I could hear one campers entire angry phone conversation. On the plus side, the stars were amazing.

The pad at site 38 was gravel and uneven with electric only. Good electric though. There was a picnic bench and a fire pit, but the bench had been pulled over the pit which was odd. The dump station was also strangely located. It was down the road from the park. The bathrooms have seen better days and so have the sites I viewed. It’s sad because this park looks like it was a real beauty in it’s prime.

Large sites on Illinois River. FHU. Expensive. No laundry, store, or gas. They do sell firewood, pickup your trash, and have two showers available.

FHU, shower house, no laundry but there are small towns close by that have stores, gas, and laundry facilities. On Saturday night they offer classic country music free. Special events throughout the summer. Two fishing ponds. No license required. Catch and keep. Nice big areas with playgrounds for kids. Bouchée ball courts.

Quiet but tight spots. Along the Illinois River. Includes showers and laundry house.

 I’d like to start by saying the staff is wonderful. They’re very friendly and kind. 

However,  The bathrooms could really benefit by some simple tuneups. In order to run the shower, one must hold down a rusty slimy chain. The floors are also very porous, which would make them very difficult to clean (hence the filthy floors) 

Also, there were some other campers playing loud music which was annoying. It was not bad enough for us to make a fuss (we only stayed one night), so I have no idea how that might have been handled by staff had the need arisen.