Best RV Parks & Resorts near Brimfield, IL

This waterfront campground is perfect for anglers and particularly boaters who want to have their vessels close at hand, tied up at the marina, providing quick and EZ access to a fresh body of water that is formed where Upper Lake Peoria meets the Illinois River. For campers who want to get away from it all, while still being within close driving distance to civilization, Carl Spindler offers the convenience of a nearby major city (Peoria) while still providing a decent escape for some rest & relaxation within a fairly decent vicinity to nature. The best part about this lakefront getaway – apart from the incredibly cheap prices for an overnight stay – was hands down, the very friendly staff who offer up everyone a very strong dose of Midwestern hospitality.

This pet-friendly CG offers a lot of amenities including: FHUs featuring electric, water and sewage as well as playground, community fire pit, restroom and shower facility that are in pretty good (not pristine) condition, laundry, fresh tap water, boat launch, 2 dump stations, WiFi (although very poor connection) and a beachhead. All sites are very level here and come with a picnic table, fire ring and electric, while a good number of the RV slots have a combination of electric amp options in addition to water and sewage hook-ups. At the marina, you can purchase ice, small sundries and camping supplies and / or simply use this spot to launch your boat, kayak or canoe from. There’s also options to rent a slip, store your boat and / or trailer for the winter. There’s even a deluxe cabin to rent in case you don’t have a tent or RV.

While most of Carl Spindler is designed more for the RV-driving or 5th Wheel toting kind – and to be honest, some of these look like longer-term residents and / or traveling professionals – offering up some 55 individual slots (some of which I would definitely describe as ‘very snug’), this outfit does provide 2 different options for decent camp sites with me tent pitchin’ bredren in mind, both of which sit right in front of the Illinois River. In these areas, and actually for the entire campground, there’s not much (if any) shade, tree cover or brush that contributes to an overall lack of privacy – so whatever your activities might be, you and your camping brood will be on full display to the rest of the campground. At least if you chose to set up your tent over in the primitive camping area, this area is still pretty underdeveloped (for now), so over in these parts, you’ll have a greater feeling of solitude, peace & quiet.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you’d like to knock some pins down while slurping some delicious local cold brew, head on over to Landmark Bowling Center; (2) Should you be looking for some decent trails to hike check out nearby Powerton Lake State Park; (3) You will want to time your sundowners correctly, because if you do, you’ll be sipping Mai Tais leaning back in your camp chair listening to some Amy Winehouse watching the sun set in the west over the Illinois River as the twinkling stars come out to shine their brightest all with a crackling bonfire keeping you warm and lit on a gorgeous Midwestern night; (4) While I always pack a long 100 foot electrical cord for all of my electricity needs, I’ve never had to use it, except here, where the electrical outlet in the primitive tent camping area is shared by all 4 sites and ours was the furthest away – so we got lucky; and (5) In the event that you grow weary of conjuring up that next meal from the depths of your Cordova roto-molded cooler or onboard mini-fridge and want to check out some local flavor, there’s a handful of options, but all will require a bit of a drive, of which I highly recommend Avanti’s Ristorante for their excellent pizza and Italian subs, the Blue Duck BBQ Tavern for outstanding smoked brisket and Obed & Issacs Microbewery for the finest local taps as well as their signature dish, Kitchen Sink Pie (don’t ask, just order).

Happy Camping!

We had the entire campground to ourselves on a cold weekend stay. There isn’t much area to explore- just the campground and the river shoreline within it. However we witnessed the most spectacular sunset over the river. It was well worth the night’s adventures. 

We stayed in the non-electric loop. A bunch of sites with divisions obscured by crunchy, fallen leaves. We had a picnic table and fire pit. A pit toilet and water pump are located at the building used to clean up your fishing/hunting catches. The electric sites are on the opposite side and have a couple sites that look more long term campers. The host is over there but we never saw them. Once it was dark half a dozen bright lights came on in the parking area between the two camping loops. It was close to us so our teardrop camper was well lit up inside. I covered the window to block some of the light but I would suggest camping further down away from the building and those lights. 

A main road runs right behind the campsites. They have a wood fence on the electric side but not on our side. It obscures some of the headlights. Sound died off pretty early even with a few locals pulling in to meet up with friends in the parking lot. We walked to the river and found a short trail. We stood out by the boat ramps for a nice view across the river. 

A sign shows a hiking route that you can drive to. We planned to hike it in the morning but unexpected events changed our minds. At 5 AM diesel pickup trucks pulling boats began to pull into the parking area. It was cold and dark so we stayed inside. Eventually we heard the boats heading out along with gun shots- some were nearby. We started packing up and in the process saw that they were hunting birds from the boats along the river. We chose to skip the hiking trail with the onset of hunting season. 

A 30 minute drive got us to the Hennepin Canal Trail and we hiked along it for a few miles before returning to our car and heading home. We did make one more stop at the Flour House Bakery in Princeton and highly recommend it. 

The spectacular sunset made this worth a weekend getaway but it doesn’t seem like a nice spot for an extended stay unless you plan to make more use of the river access.

General: City camping is generally challenging but this was a good place for us to land for the night as we were passing through. Very easy access as soon as you cross Peoria Lake to East Peoria. The flip side of this is that you will hear constant road noise and an occasional train. Reservations are made by phone and when I called to make mine, was told we would be in Site 33. Typical for us, we arrived after the office was closed and saw Site 33 was occupied. We took Site 36 and when I went to pay the following morning, I discovered this is where we had been moved to as site numbers are not supposed to be guaranteed. It appeared that there were many long-term campers staying here. The rate of $24 for an electric site was reasonable. Full hookup sites and a few tent sites are also available. 

Site Quality: Site sizes are, for the most part, very generous and can accommodate a large RV and extra vehicle/s. Some are very close to each other (beach and overflow) and there is no physical separation between them. Each site has one (or two) picnic tables and a fire ring. Some sites have paved pads while the ones closest to the water are either gravel or sand. There are also several cabins.

Bathhouse: Clean but the only downside is there is only one sink, and it is located in an awkward place (perpendicular to and close to one of the stalls). Showers were small and I did not use so cannot comment on how well they worked. Hot water was appreciated. 

Activities/Amenities: If you are a boater, this is a great place for you as this is a marina! Small and outdated playground and a basketball stand but no basket or net. There is also a laundry room. 

Conclusion: For us, passing through, this was an ideal place to land for the night but since we don’t have a boat, we wouldn’t stay longer than one night.

We stayed here in Sept 2020. Nice staff, quiet enough for being somewhat close to the highway. The trees seemed to block the noise well. They have a pool that was closed because of a virus or something. Sort of small, which made it easy for kids to ride around on bikes, and for us to walk to the playground. We had a good LTE/cell signal. There is a tower very close by. We have sprint. They drop off wood and one of those Lowe’s type metal fire pits if you want one. You can’t put the firepit on the grass, it has to be in the gravel, so that took away some of the coziness. Some of the other sites have permanent fire pits. Some sites have concrete pads, some have a pad for the camper, some just have a small one next to the camper parking. You can’t put a rug on the grass, so that makes relaxing right outside the door of the camper a little less enjoyable, if you don’t have a site with a small pad. The sites do have picnic tables. Overall we enjoyed ourselves and have already reserved another stay

We may have set the bar too high with our first camping trip. Comlara is a beautifully laid out hidden gem in Illinois. Evergreen Lake is the perfect back drop to the campground. Although we don’t fish, we saw many people fishing from the shore line and enjoying the water in boats and canoes. There is a designated swimming area (beach), but it wasn’t open at this time. There are many hiking and walking trails within the park that are within driving distance of the campground. There is one main shower house and several single outhouse style men/women bathrooms scattered throughout. The showers were very adequate, nothing fancy, but serve their purpose. There are fire pits and picnic tables at each site along with 30 or 50 amp hookups. Some have shared water hookups nearby also. There is also a typical dump station and potable water by it.
The camp sites are spread apart nicely with some moderate elevation change giving many great views of the lake. All campsite pads were gravel and the access roads were paved. Site 40 where we stayed was right by the lake and absolutely beautiful!

This is an incredibly quaint, somewhat out-of-the-way (in a very good way) location that will treat you to a heavy dose of isolation and privacy wherein you’ll feel completely blessed by the nature you will be surrounded by. This incredibly friendly (pet-friendly as well BTW) operation does an excellent job in how it is set up, offering up a few distinct loops that are ear-marked pretty much exclusively for the wheel-toting camping variety (think RVs, rigs, trailers and 5th wheels) providing 59 pull-thru and 12 back-in slots, while also offering up a discreet space flanked towards the front of the property that is simply perfect for mi tent pitchin’ bredren, which is surrounded by mature Oaks. And, just in case you either forgot your tent or RV, Geneseo Campground has 4 super comfy cabins (each sleeps 4 and come with A/C) or an amazing yurt that sleeps 8 that they’ll gladly rent you.

From an amenities standpoint, there’s an amazing kid’s playground, well-stocked camp store, propane refueling station, kayak & canoe rental, gas grill rental, e-bike, pedal carts & fat tire bike rental, full and partial hook-ups offering 30 / 50 electric amp, water & sewage hook-ups. There’s also a meeting room, WiFi everywhere, enclosed dog park, firewood & ice for sale, arcade games, RV dump station, coin-operated washers & dryers / laundr-O-mat, excellent showers & bathrooms, direct access to the Hennepin Canal and don’t forget the 60 or so miles worth of hiking trails!

This place is spacious, very well organized, incredibly clean all the while within a short 10 minute drive into nearby Geneseo, which quite frankly, is one of the most idyllic small towns you’ll come across anywhere in Illinois that is both convivial and provincial, but also quite emblematic of a typical Norman Rockwell painting. What I loved most about this place is that while it doesn’t offer up EVERYTHING that you might be looking for while camping, you only need to head due south to Izaak Walton Park (further south of this spot) or to Geneseo Prairie Park, both of which offer up amazing hiking trails as well as good launch spots to access the Hennepin Canal via kayak and canoe.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you’re reeling, you should expect to catch blue gill, catfish, bass and crappie, and while you can throw your line from the Geneseo Campground property, I would highly recommend you cross the canal to Izaak Walton Park on its east side where there’s a large open canal / lake to cast in; (2) While there’s tons of hiking trails, you don’t want to forget your bikes – there’s 72 miles of biking trails as well as miles and miles of nicely paved empty country roads to pedal on; (3) Maybe you have a kayak or canoe, but in the case you don’t, do yourself a favor and rent one from the good people at Geneseo Campground in which to explore the Hennepin Canal - trust me, you won't be disappointed; and (4) Should you grow weary of eating franks & beans again from your campsite and want to try out some local cuisine, then get yourself over to nearby Geneseo where you can dine out at The Cellar, Sweet Peas Grill & Bar or Geneseo Brewing Company.

Happy Camping!

If you want to visit Peoria, this is an ideal place to stay. The campground is part of a marina on the Illinois River and not too far from downtown. We wanted to stay here so we could visit the Caterpillar Visitor Center which is totally worth the visit.

We visited the park in November and since it was the shoulder season the park was not very crowded. The park is open year-round and you will find more seasonal people during the off season. They close most of the park in the winter time which only leaves 22 paved sites available. Otherwise, they offer a mix of paved, full hook-up sites or electric only sites.  Sites that are close to the river have a great view of the skyline at night and if you don’t mind having just electric and being on sand these are great sites. There is a small beach area where you can access the water and a community fire pit which seemed to draw a lot of people in the evening.  

The park has shower/bath house that was clean as were the laundry facilities. Wifi was non-existent but our Verizon 4G phone and hotspot worked well. We were able to get a decent number of antenna television channels. The roads are paved and easy for us to navigate in our 45’ RV. Our site was paved with a picnic table and fire pit and all the hook-ups worked well.

We enjoyed the short nature trail that leaves directly from the area. The trail starts off as a boardwalk over an interesting marsh area and then transitions to a primitive trail eventually leading you to the lake shoreline. This was a great walk for our black lab who loves trails and water. Of the four times we walked the trail we only encountered people once. After a heavy rain, the low lying areas of the trail were pretty muddy so wear appropriate shoes. 

The nice aspects of this park were the location to downtown Peoria, the pretty view of the skyline and the access to water if you want to kayak, fish, or swim. The price of $27/night for full hook-up was a great rate. The downside of this campground is that sites are close and there is a bit of road noise. There are a lot of seasonal people who were up and going to work in the morning which may bother late sleepers but meant for a quiet campground during the day.