Best Tent Camping near Shawnee National Forest

So first of all- I think it’s fair to state before I leave a review that my husband and I prefer primitive and private camping. The fewer people we see while we’re out, the better. We live in a city so when we camp, we want the opposite. If you enjoy RV camping or don’t mind not so Private spots, this is a decent spot to spend the night. If you like primitive/private camping- il fill you in below!

We do tent camping and Saw there were walk-in sites and hike in sites at this campground. Usually walk-in sites are pretty private and dispersed well - atleast where we’ve been before. The 14 “primitive” camping sites were right next to eachothwr with little to no privacy at all. Good tree cover for shade but otherwise you’re basically setting up your tent and area in an open field. That was a little disappointing to us because it wasn’t what we thought we would find. The RV spots also seem super close together but again- we like things spread out so maybe it would be an OK place for some.

The vault toilets near the tent sites were...as clean as vault toilets get! And we did not use tje shower facilities so can’t speak on that.

If we had been just the 2 of us, we would’ve hiked in to do our camping along one of the hiking paths but we were meeting two other friends and were unsure if they would want to hike miles to a spot so we opted for the tent spots just after the RV campground. If you want more privacy for an evening of camping, you’ll need to come with your gear packed up decently enough to hike it out atleast a mile onto the trails. There is camping allowed along the trails as long as you are 100 ft from the trail so that was an option, but in certain spots along the trail it’s challenging to find a clearing (hammocks would be great along the trail). There is also an official primitive camping site halfway through the 12 mile loop of the Red Ceder Trail. We day hiked almost the whole loop but made a Weird little detour so we didn’t get to check these spots out.

We were hoping to find a campsite that- as get as difficulty of accessibility level- was in between a 6 mile hike and the tent spots in the field but there isn’t any official spot like that even tho there’s tons of space and potential for it. Rant over about the campground. Let’s talk about the hiking! The hiking was truly awesome and felt like it balanced out my disappointment with the campground. Doing the whole 12 mile loop of tje Red Cedar Trail was a challenge for us! We really enjoyed it. In some spots, the trail markers are a little confusing, but overall it’s decently marked and the map is somewhat helpful just to kindve know vaguely where you are. The 2nd day, we went back and did about half rhe loop and also checked out the more popular section of the trails back there that include Giant City Nature Trail, Devils Stand Table, and a few others. Very cool rock formations. Pretty busy in the weekend over there but the test of the trails away from that area with those big landmarks was completely deserted and there are some super cool rock formations not on the map at all.

Over all, this was a fun 4 days. We would return and plan on hiking out into the trails to camp for our evenings. If you like privacy around your campfire at night, I can’t recommend the campground.

PRO 

Senior discount saving $6 

Able to reserve on-line 365 days prior to arriving 

Very friendly and helpful camp host 

Unobstructed view of the Mississippi River 

Great dark sky viewing 

No highway/road noise, but... 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded by grass 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

One hook lantern pole 

Moveable wooden picnic table in the grass 

Toilet/shower building.35 miles from campground very nice and very clean with ample TP and hand soap 

Firewood for sale by camp host $5 

Mississippi River Scenic Overlook was very nice V

Visitor Center has small museum (no admission fee) on the Trail of Tears Native American tribal migration 

Coin-operated laundromat on South Hope Street Jackson after the roundabout 12 miles from campground 

Tractors Restaurant Main Street Jackson very good diner type restaurant 

CONS

$8.50 reservation fee for online self made reservation 

Sites that back to the river very close to each other. We stepped out our door onto the neighbors stinky slinky. Insufficient space to deploy awning. 

Electrical utility connection is on passenger side of the campsite#6 

Sewer connection was high above ground so drainage was up hill. Camp host warned us upon arrival we may need to use dump station to get tanks totally drained. 

Site 6 not level side-to-side 

Lots of trains, day and night with train horn blaring due to road crossing at campground Lots of river barge noise 

Only one single unisex pit toilet in campground 

No park headquarters or entrance gate office for check-in. Sign in campground informing how to conduct virtual check in. 

No security gate closed overnight 

No ranger patrolling campground

No WiFi 

2 bars Verizon LTE

We drove down to camp here and found this campground closed. We walked in past the locked gate to scout it out and there was a line of debris left behind from when the river was higher. 

There is a vault toilet and a simple loop setup to the campground. The road continues past camp to a marina where you can launch your boat into the river. We found a family camping in that lot and enjoying the area on their four wheelers.

We drove in through Shawnee national forest. The road went through some small towns with gas and food but not much else. Farms surround the area. We enjoyed the creative decorations - especially the bikes people used as sculptures.

This looks like a simple, no-frills camp right along the water line. It is wonderful to know that this is here if other campgrounds fill up but it is a bit of a drive from the main part of Shawnee. We had time to continue on to another campground (Camp Cadiz) which was another simple, rustic campground.

Nickell is the northernmost campground in LBL. It is a self-service campground with 11 designated sites. The access road FR-102 is gravel and in pretty good shape aside from some large potholes. There is a large loop with a big open grassy area once you get to the pay station. From there, 3 short offshoots A, B & C - A is the boat ramp area and site #1; B is where the single vault toilet is located and sites #2 & #3; C loop has the remaining sites #4 - #8 which are for small to medium RVs, and sites #9 - #11 are grass tent sites. There are picnic tables and very nice fire rings at each site. Besides the toilet, boat ramp, and a new dumpster, those are the only amenities.

The 11-mile Canal Loop Trail crosses the road just before the pay station for hiking and biking (it connects to the North-South Trail). The campground is near the Barkley Canal that connects the two lakes making for lots of boating and paddling options. The North Welcome Center has fresh water and a dump station just a few miles away.

The cell reception is great - I got download speeds of 18-34 Mbps. Also, several OTA TV channels. These sites are all situated in the woods near the water so none are particularly good for solar. But otherwise, for the price this is pretty sweet dry camping.

This camping spot is just down the road from Southern IL’s Garden Of the Gods. There were 12 camping areas. Plenty of room and trees for tents and hammocks. Also, there is a good amount of shade so if you tent in the right spot you don’t wake up roasting from the sun. The campsites have a lot of room so your neighbors don’t seem like they are on top of your site. The spots include a picnic table, hanging poles for trash or lantern, and a fire pit with movable built-in grill. The area is very wooded so unless the ground is wet you can find lots of firewood. There is a drinking water pump at the entrance of the campsite but it’s pretty chlorinated. There is no shower or running water and the toilets are pit style; but there are toilets. I don’t know if other sites had this but ours had 2 trails leading right out of the woods. Great for close to home hiking.

P.S. Beware of tailless raccoon at site 12 that likes to steal Doritos.