Are you planning a trip to Shawnee National Forest with your horse? We've got you covered. Finding a place to stay in Illinois while traveling with your horse has never been easier. The Dyrt can help you find the perfect equestrian sites that are scenic and easy to access.
Located in the Middle of Southern Illinois just Off I-24 it is a great place to stay while you explore all the the Shawnee Forest. From Giant City to Garden of the Gods. The Tunnel Hill bike trail is a half mile away and Cache River is just down the road. We have 60 Full Hook up sites. Large pull through sites up to 120 feet long. We have Shower Houses and Laundry Facilities. Our Campground is Open Year Round.
$40 / night
Congratulations! You've just discovered Rend Lake, the perfect place to enjoy a wide variety of activities, events, and nature at its best. Even a short visit to Rend Lake will impress you with the versatility of this magnificent area. Rend Lake is made up of 20,633 acres of water and 19,523 acres of land. Wildlife in the area includes deer, turkey, fox, raccoon, opossum, waterfowl, and others as seasons change througout the year. Whether you're looking for high adventure, a peaceful retreat, or something in between, you'll find it here in the heart of Southern illinois.
Take a leisurely morning stroll, ski or sail lake waters, spend the afternoon viewing inspiring art exhibits and end your day by the warm glow of a campfire under starry night skies. The fields, forests and waters of Rend Lake provide a natural haven for wildlife and an outdoor wonderland for you. Boat, hike, fish, hunt, swim, and explore at your leisure. If you prefer a little less nature, visit one of the resorts around the lake and delight in superb lodging and dining. Just minutes away you'll find golf, trap and skeet, arts, antiques, museums, wineries, and more.
South Sandusky Campground is situated around Sandusky cove on Rend Lake in the heart of Southern Illinois. With nicely spaced campsites and plenty of activities easily accessible from the campground, South Sandusky is an excellent destination for camping at Rend Lake. Wildlife in the area includes white tailed deer, wild turkey, fox, raccoon, opossum, waterfowl, and others as seasons change throughout the year.
South Sandusky Beach Rend Lake Visitors Center Rend Lake Project Office
$18 / night
Congratulations! You've just discovered Rend Lake, the perfect place to enjoy a wide variety of activities, events, and nature at its best. Even a short visit to Rend Lake will impress you with the versatility of this magnificent area. Rend Lake is made up of 20,633 acres of water and 19,523 acres of land. Wildlife in the area includes deer, turkey, fox, raccoon, opossum, waterfowl, and others as seasons change throughout the year. Whether you're looking for high adventure, a peaceful retreat, or something in between, you'll find it here in the heart of Southern Illinois.
Take a leisurely morning stroll, ski or sail lake waters, spend the afternoon viewing inspiring art exhibits and end your day by the warm glow of a campfire under starry night skies. The fields, forests and waters of Rend Lake provide a natural haven for wildlife and an outdoor wonderland for you. Boat, hike, fish, hunt, swim, and explore at your leisure. If you prefer a little less nature, visit one of the resorts around the lake and delight in superb lodging and dining. Just minutes away you'll find golf, trap and skeet, arts, antiques, museums, wineries, and more.
Gun Creek sits along the Eastern banks of Rend Lake in the heart of Southern Illinois.
Rend Lake Golf Complex, which includes a 27-hole golf course, restuarant, and lodge.
$30 / night
$30 / night
This campground is the site of an old Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camp. Somewhat off the beaten path Camp Cadiz is usually quiet and rarely do the campsites fill up; with the exception of turkey and deer hunting seasons. The campsites are level and each has a fire ring with grill and picnic table. __Equestrian camping is allowed.__Recreation Area brochure/map
At Hayes Canyon Campground we have 34 RV campsites available for rent for a day, weekend, week, or longer!
We offer 2 cabins and 3 rental RVs. There is a rental available for all budgets so book now! They go fast!
Reservations are recommended, especially during peak seasons and holiday weekends, when we often are fully booked months in advance.
We specialize in catering to campers with horses who want to enjoy trail riding on the many scenic trails in the Shawnee National Forest. Other campers, backpackers, hikers, and hunters are always welcome. To view a trail map online . . .
$15 - $32 / night
We are located in the heart of southern Illinois in the middle of all of the nice horse back riding hiking and kayaking drop offs we have several cabins to choose from and guided horse back rides to offer. You can bring your own horse and venture out on the trails or requests a guide by appointment.
$30 - $200 / night
Traveler
What a beautiful campground, it’s our second time here. Some spots do have a fairly good slope to them
Scout
This campground provides large spots, drinking water, vault toliets, dumpsters, picnic table, lantern hook, fire ring, and contactless check in. I also appreciate the value of these sites. It really is a reasonable rate for forest camping.
Scout
We stayed 4 days and had a great time. The camp was clean and well maintained. The staff are very friendly and helpful and was more than happy to offer places to visit in the area, places to eat and provide assistance as needed. The trails are paved so we had a nice area to walk (twice around the lake from our site was 3 miles). :) We plan to visit again!
Scout
I stayed here and camped for a bike rally. I think you can only camp during an event. And cost is different from each event. Nice place
ScoutGreat little stop, everything is clean and a fresh shower was refreshing.
RangerLove this state park! Clean, quiet, water views and lots of bike paths to ride.
GuideStayed here on the way to and from Florida (home in Minnesota). Very nice campground. Well maintained, big sites for our 40ft fifth wheel, great sunrise/sunset views, and the bathrooms are very clean and well lite. The gentleman/host that greeted us at the office upon arrival was polite and helpful. Will definitely stay again!
Guide
We stayed at Giant City in February on a very cold weekend. It was still a fantastic trip! The campsites, fire pits and pit toilets were well maintained. The shorter trails in the park were beautiful even in the winter. The Lodge also had excellent food and a very cozy feel. Definitely visit the Lodge!!
Guide
We stayed at the campground on the north end of Pyramid. The campsites were close together but we visited in February so we were the only campers. The fire pits were a little run down but the sites were nice and level with a table. No lantern posts. Pit toilets that were decent. The park office is a pretty long drive from the north end campground. The hiking is limited but the campground was peaceful and close to the lakes. Probably covered in bugs in the summer. Overall pretty nice stay
ScoutCame to this campsite with my boyfriend and I as well as our two dogs. We were in spot 51, we have a large 8 person tent and need water & electricity so we rent out RV spots instead of the typical tent spots. When we arrived after our 15 hour drive, someone decided to park in our site. Once they moved we were able to start putting up our tent which was on a hill so we were slanted throughout the night. A family rented out the entire rest of the cul-de-sac, which isn’t the parks fault, but they claimed the pavilion and surrounding area. I would call this more of “suburb camping” because there are hardly any trees for privacy, large open fields of grass, and you are 2 minutes from the highway, food, and gas stations. It is only a single bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower instead of any stalls. They provide WiFi that did not work for us, we had better connection with our cellular data. No garbages anywhere in the campsite, thankfully we had our own garbage bags and tossed it in the dumpster before we left. It was fine to crash for one night, but I wouldn’t want to stay here for an extended period of time.
GuideThis was one of the best I have stayed out. I met some nice people, Manager helped me get my electric set up, (user error), Facilities clean and very nice, roads and park well taken care of..
ScoutEasy access, very clean facilities and lots to do and see nearby, friendly service. The constant interstate noise is a bit annoying
TravelerOnly reason for not 5 star was it is a little to close to the interstate.
RangerThis campground is very clean! Large open sites- shade is minimal for most sites but we had a beautiful large site with some shade (site 51). They have new trees planted.
There is no pool or activities for kids but we went out and explored the area
Beautiful walking/bike paths around the property
Hosts were very kind and helpful, we felt very welcomed!
There is some freeway noise but didn’t bother us at all
Laundry and bathroom facilities were very clean - was great to do a laundry mid trip!
GuideIt's a level spot with gravel, so it's a "clean" place in damp weather. No much right there, but Apple Creek is a very short distance north on the gravel road. The creek is a good place to fish and you can launch a kayak the boat ramp. A picnic table and trash can were also on the site.
Guide
The stay was pleasant and the lake was very nice but the reservation system and finding a spot was overly complicated for a first timer. Basically people show up and throw a cooler or tent onto a site to claim it and then leave. They have to pay for the spot by 8pm. And people can stay as long as they want as long as they pay for the next day by then. But if they don’t pay they have to leave by 9am the next morning. So you never know when people are actually leaving or a spot was opening up. Every spot was taken when we go in and we heard from the check in lady that someone was leaving so we went and waited watching them pack up to get their spot. We were there for one night and had 5-6 people come to us asking what time we were leaving the next morning. It was crazy. This was also the week before memorial day weekend so that’s probably why. Primitive camping was closed. We were in a truck with a roofnest.
RangerThere are numerous state park campgrounds in the area, but we stayed here for the full Hookups and available wifi. Just of I-24, was a plus as well. We did hear traffic noise from the interstate, but it was tolerable. Showers were clean. With a discount from this app, we saved $16 off our stay. Close by are dining options and a dollar general.
RangerExcellent park but many sights aren’t flat. Not all have water, septic. Clean facilities. Self checkin. Golf onsite, clubhouse with food.
Traveler
We spent 5 nights on Site A5 at Crab Orchard Campground. All sites are FC/FS. Full hookups are in Loop B & it was full. Overall the campground was full but not very many people around. Appears many locals take spots on the weekends & then hold onto them during the week. The 2 nearest to us we saw on Sunday (Easter) and the only 1 more time during the 5 days. Someone in one of the sites by the late (A9, A11 or A13 I think) said they saw snakes but we never saw any and our dogs would have noticed.
Showers and restrooms are nice. Ones in Loop A are no new (Loop Bs are new) but still nice. Lots of hot water.
Lots of trails (within 10-30 minute drive). Fishing was good (especially catfish and crappie). Went into Carbondale a few times. Also went South to Alto Pass but wineries all closed on Tuesday; locals told us they are open more hours during summer.
RangerRV or tent, book online at Recreation.Gov not all spots are level. Electric on most but not all have water. Campfire area and picnic table provided. Bathhouse is clean and park areas are all clean, dump station on site. We will be back and book closer to the lake in a level site.
ScoutThis is a very spacious campsite. The bathrooms and new laundry room are clean.
Legend
This campground(CG) is super easy to find. We arrived at the CG at about 1:45 PM, which was early as this CGs check-in is 5:00 PM. The gate office was open and after a very quick check-in, we proceed to one of the few FHUs(50/30/20 AMP), back in site 135. This site slopes downhill we so moved our rig onto the pad towards the back as far as possible to level. The water pressure was poor so we filled our fresh water tank and used our internal water pump. We got 2 bars on Verizon and T-Mobile and quite a few OTA channels. Satellite is iffy due to the number of mature trees in all CG areas. We’ve been to this CG many times but normally stay in the non-full hookup sites closer to the lake. There are five CG/loops within South Sandusky plus a walk-in tent area. We have stayed mostly in the first loop, Dogwood, as you enter, but the others are nice as well with some sites having water and electricity. The only FHUs are in Dogwood and most will take larger rigs. All campsites are reservable but reserved campsites are not marked on the post when you arrive(see the sign pic we posted). A comp host comes by after you set up and tag your post. There is a lot to do here. There are miles of paved bicycle trails, a marina, fishing, and a 27-hole golf course a couple of miles away.
Guide
Lots of choice camping spots! Serene and private. Beautiful rolling farmland, just minutes from town. They also offer tiny home rentals, yurt-style glamping tents, RV spots with 30 amp, 50 amp and 110 outlets, and The Art Barn for larger groups, retreats or family reunions.
GuideEasy in/out, reasonable rates, but pretty plain. Used to be a golf course, so few spots have any trees that could provide shade as of 2022. Host was nice, matter of fact and all business.
Stayed here twice, once on the way out to Yellowstone, and once on the way back. The nearby town is small and kind of dumpy.
Was fine for a one night stay. Giving it an average, 3 star rating.
RangerAnother great COE Park and this one offers some full hook up sites. ATT & Verizon both came in good. Water & electric (30 amp) were convient & functioned perfectly. Not all sites are very level. We got a great water view site, but lacked afternoon shade. A large park with well spaced site. Well worth the money, especially with the geezer pass.
Guide
I stayed here for 1 night in early April at an RV back-in site#81 on the hill. Water and electric were at the site. There was a dump station, trash and recycling near the campground entrance. The views were spectacular- especially the sunset. I would gladly stay here again!
GuideSites are well spaced apart. Bathrooms are pretty disgusting buggy and dirty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Shawnee National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Shawnee National Forest is Shawnee Forest Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 32 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Shawnee National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 24 equestrian camping locations near Shawnee National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
