Best RV Parks & Resorts near Shawnee National Forest

This is a no frills campground just off of I-69/I-24. Check in was completed online and our site was marked with our name. All sites are full hook up with concrete pads. The county has a trail system that begin just a few hundred feet down the road that is a nice stretch of the legs. The skeleton on the motorcycle welcoming you was interesting, maybe we were really early or really late for Halloween. The campground is in need of some TLC of the grounds. There also seems to be a lot of long term residents.

Relatively new. Has great potential. Located in Vienna, IL near Shawnee National Forest. It has 3 fish & release ponds. Sites were a bit hilly which stands to reason since it was converted from a golf course in 2016. Some sites are pretty long. It accommodated our 35ft. MH with attached car. Some sites are close together with very little shade. The campground had lots of open sites during our stay (3rd week in Aug), but during our stay 2 other short stay campers came in & they parked them right next to us. -Full hook ups available -Hosts were very friendly & provided insight to area. -Bath house - provided air conditioning. Although new & spacious there were only 4 in the entire campground & the toilet & shower were in same space. Upon arrival only 1 was open near us. Subsequently the 2nd was closed due to a water valve malfunction & wasn’t re-opened during our stay. My husband likes level sites & facilities he could use. He said he wouldn’t come back any time soon.

Spacious and level sites with full hook-ups. The campground is convenient to all of the attractions in the area. There is easy access to the tunnel state trail in Vienna. It’s about a 9 mile ride to the tunnel. Be sure to visit Garden of the Gods. Really remarkable.

We very much enjoyed our stay and will return!

Real nice RV park orientated toward rigs of all sizes. Easy to navigate the roads, with every site level concrete. ATT & Verizon both worked fine. Wifi & cable included in the price. 10% discount for Good Sam, military & seniors. Right off a hiway (W) and a bit noisey, but all in all a nice park, especially for a night over. Sites are reasonably spaced, many with large trees. Not real far off 55. Would stay here again for a nioght ofer and even an extra night. They also have a dog park area.

Around $30/night In 2019 for lake front with RV hookups. Cute little on site store for nick nacks, boat rentals, and fishing bait.

Nice chill vibe.

We managed to snap up site #43 out of pure luck. Level, water and electric while most of the campground is electric only. No full hook ups available. All the lots are paved and our site is located under an enormous oak tree. The campground is just minutes to the state park and Lake Barkley. Only 2 hours from home this park is worth the drive several times a year.

I stayed at Ferne Clyffe on a weekend in July 2020. I used this park as a base camp for exploring Shawnee National Forest and the Cache River Preserve. There’s a lot of outdoor things to do in this area. Ferne Clyffe is small. There’s one campground for RVs with electric hookups and another campground for more primitive camping. $8/night for primitive. The primitive sites require that you park your vehicle and carry in your equipment (less than 100 feet). You can pull your vehicle right up to sites 11 and 19. There were very few campers there when I visited. There is cellphone signal. Small fishing lake and a few hiking trails. Shower has at the electric campground. Pit toilets.

Pretty nice new campground! Hosts are very friendly and outgoing! Sites are clean and shower house is cleanest I’ve ever seen. All sites are full hook up.

In late October there was no water, but several sites have full hook ups Discounts for seniors, military, handicapped for state residents. All others pay $20 for weekday

Very rustic, woody campground with water and electric hookups. Very quiet and beautiful sites on Barkley Lake. The sunsets were beautiful! I have a 20’ camper trailer which fit in nicely.

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.

Located on the edge of Paducah, Kentucky this is the perfect place to stay if you are going to the quilt shows or visiting the National Quilt Museum. Supplies are just walking distance away and there is a good 24 hour restaurant across the street.

There are shady pull through sites with full hook ups or tent sites. There is a small stocked lake to fish in. The bathrooms are clean, as is the entire well maintained park.

Red Bud Campground Shawnee National Forest Bell Smith Springs Recreational Area Harrisburg, IL

Red Bud Campground is a secluded heavily tree covered campground perfect for tent and RV Camping. This campground can accommodate up to a 24ft RV Pull Behind RV and small motorhomes. Be careful if you are going to try this campground in a motorhome as it can be tight to turn into some spots. If possible you may want to scout the area first before going.

There is no amenities at the sights so if you are RV camping you will need to bring your own power and water for your sight but there is a place to fill your drinking water. There are several restrooms on sight and I didn’t see a dump station for RV’s however I imagine you can empty your cassette toilets in the restrooms.

As far as internet I have AT&T and I had internet up until I arrived. Once in place there was no internet access.
Intermittently I would get one bar but it was not enough of a signal to be of any use. I can’t comment to the service areas of T-Mobile or other providers. At any rate you should bring something to read for the evenings or just enjoy the evening with a group of friends.

Quiet time is from 10pm to 6am so if you are packing solar for your power you will be good to go because it’s quiet.
If you are RV’ing it be sure to conserve your power.

The area is quiet and I camped with a tow behind 22ft RV when I went on October 23rd, 2020. At that time there were a lot of campers. This sight seems most popular and well suited for tent campers and I was only one of 2 RV campers that weekend.

There is a short 5 minute walk to the Bell Smith Springs if you are up for a great hike.
If you have dogs they will need to be on a leash.

Overall I loved this area and can’t wait to go again!

37.520880, -88.656546

Pros: Right on the Mississippi River. Full hook ups. Beautiful state park with awesome trails and visitor center. Cons: Sites are tight along the river. Train goes right behind the campground, be warned!

This is really an under developed campground. There are only about a dozen campsites even though there is room for at least 3 times that many. The views of the river are great and my boys loved the trains going right by the camper. But just be warned that you will be woken up a couple of times a night due to them. But the rest of the pros greatly outweigh the cons.

This campground was essentially an RV park. Only big rigs, some sites well spaced physically but no privacy in between so feels like everyone staring at each other. Some of the waterfront sites okay privacy-wise, but not most. Hookups work well, but bathrooms in terrible condition - especially showers.

The whole place also smells like dead fish. We saw a raccoon go right through our campsite so be careful what you leave out, also tons of geese and saw two baby copperheads.

The lake is at least really pretty and there’s a small beach area.