Searching for the perfect place to pitch your tent near Shawnee National Forest? The Dyrt can help you find the best tent campsites for your next trip. Search nearby tent campsites or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Turkey Ridge is for campers who want a serene outdoor experience. It is a Class C walk-in campground that includes camp pads, picnic tables, cooking grills and showers. Drinking water and toilets are located near the parking lots.
$18 / night
Backpackers enjoying their commune with nature will appreciate the solitude of the individual campsites in the Class C Backpack campground. Located a half-mile from the Turkey Ridge primitive campground parking lot, these woodland sites have cooking grills, toilets and showers. Water and trash receptacles are available at the Turkey Ridge parking lot. You're reminded to be careful with your fires and to pack out what you pack in.
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
Located along the banks of the Ohio River, Tower Rock Campground offers beautiful scenery and close proximity to water activities like fishing and boating. The 1/4 mile trail can be accessed near the boat launch. Be aware this area is prone to flooding when river levels fluctuate.
$8 / night
Congratulations! Youve just discovered 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. Whether youre looking for high adventure, a peaceful retreat, or something in between, youll find it here.
North Marcum Day Use Area sits along the banks of Rend Lake in the heart of Southern Illinois. Plenty of shade and a large sandy boat in are, make this day use area desirable for a day on scenic Rend Lake. Rend Lake is made up of 18,900 acres of water and 20,000 acres of land.
Wildlife in the area includes white tailed deer, wild turkey, fox, raccoon, opossum, waterfowl, and others as seasons change throughout the year.
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 youll find golf, trap and skeet, arts, antiques, museums, wineries, and more.
North Marcum Day Use Area features two large picnic shelters with tables, grills, and drinking water. The shelters can accommodate up to 75 guests each, and the area has a boat ramp, playground, and dock all within walking distance.
Traveler
What a beautiful campground, it’s our second time here. Some spots do have a fairly good slope to them
Traveler
Plenty of space and nicely maintained Porto potty
Scout
Be free camp sites listings for state parks
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.
Traveler
Love this spot! It's easily accessible by all rig types. Backs up to the open forest and you pull right back onto the highway.
Guide
Hosts were friendly, but didn’t brief us on information such as where is the trash bin, what is the WiFi password. Restroom was old but relatively clean. There’s only one valve in the showers so all you get is lukewarm water. Not good on a cool or cold day. Some of the long term people have too many dogs, one had 6 little yippers, kind of annoying. And I’m not against dogs
Scout
Great little spot right off the interstate. Lots of nice scenery and decent fishing.
ScoutVery quiet and secluded. Campsites are roomy and some firewood is supplied.
Legend
Large park with not many large RV sites. Lots of tent and dispersed camping. Disappointing store. Equestrian area. Beach and boat launch.
Ranger
This is a little gem of a refuge within the Shawnee NF - about 30min from Marion, down a beautiful country road before nestling among the trees around the lake. The drive is paved/gravel the whole way, so very easily drivable for anyone in anything. Plenty of camp sites, both with electric and non-electric, double and single. Bring bug spray - horseflies and ticks. Beautiful lake, beautiful biking trails, etc. Firepits w/ grates are spacious and nice, fees are online. 1 bar verizon at camp, can get up to 3 bars within the area.
GuideNobody here. Bring a fishing pole. No services except a porta potty.
RangerStopped here for the night driving through the area. Nice campground, clean, safe, and right off the interstate.
Ranger
There are only two camp site at this location and they are very close to each other. The camp sites are also very narrow. We camped in the lower site and had a difficult time getting everything out of the road.
On the positive side, the site was clean, there was nobody there over the weekend and there was a humming bird. The pond had lots of frogs and and a few fish.
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!
TravelerBeautiful spot with easy access and not far off the highway
Scout
1 side is directly on the freeway VERY loud, the other is in between the sewer treatment plant and municipal airport. If you're a light sleeper might want to stay away Full video review on YouTube https://youtu.be/QpuNpA7UVZI
ScoutI 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.
Traveler
Only $26 a night for full-hookups is amazing. Cell service for AT&T is marginal at 2 bars LTE. Only issue that I have is that site 49 is very hard to get level in, make sure that you bring extra leveling blocks if possible
Guide
Was the only one there $ 20 with Electricity, what a Deal Steve is a great Host Also had free Music….. Cicadas
Ranger
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.
GuideWe camped here during the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse and it was also the overflow site which at that time was the side of the camp entrance road. Fast forward to April 7,8 & 9 2024 We are again on overflow campground where this time was their group camping site which was much better than the side of the road. The overflow site has 4 unisex bathrooms but no showers (showers are at the main campground) there is dining (open) pavilion with a fireplace and a filtered well water system. We had a blast watching the Total Solar Eclipse.
Scout
Location is everything and this is well in the middle of a great area in Shawnee National Forest. Garden of the gods, Bell Smith springs, Ferne State park, and on and on. You can spend a week here and not see everything.
There are primitive and electric (with water) sites. There are no sites with sewer hookup. There is a dump station at the entrance.
Sites are generally level and well kept. Very large rigs (35+) will be challenging, but I've seen them - more towards the front. There are some lake front spots that can be had. Sites are first come and there are no reservations taken. During the week, no problem. Weekends would be iffy.
Large lake with swimming, fishing, kayaking. Also has a bike trail around it - maybe 2 miles.
Shower houses are kept clean, but as of this posting, they need some maintenance work.
All in all, this is a must stop if you want to enjoy what the area has to offer.
RangerLove this state park! Clean, quiet, water views and lots of bike paths to ride.
LegendGetting there: Easy access off Illinois 13 East of Carbondale
Check in and staff: Campground is now under the egis of recreation.gov& reservations through them are a must. This is new& when planning the trip the website said“first come first serve” so we arrived on a Friday evening(4pm) with no reservation. The sign said RV sites all taken. The host was wonderful! He has been here 9 years and steered us to a nice site for the one night we will be here. The online experience with recreation.gov was not pleasant, impossible in fact. So I had to call. This took quite awhile. Once I got a real live person it was great, and we got our site with no problems.
Amenities: Bathrooms: clean, paper towels& air dryers.
Site: A-35. In the middle of the A loop and therefore not on the water. Still, very nice. After all, beggars can’t be choosers! Sites are somewhat spacious, but not terribly private.
Scout
Primitive campground with electric and water, who knew. Nice sites well kept. Showers were disgusting, drain had accumulated crud. Sinks also gross.
Legend
We camped here with our pups to see the eclipse in Paducah. The area is not really pretty or scenic. You can walk to the dam from the campground but it's nothing super special to see. There is dead fish laying around everywhere and it also smells like it. The campsites are very confusing. There is no map anywhere, except online. Sometimes you can't even read the numbers on the piles. The bathhouse was pretty ok. It was cleaned daily and always stocked. The water pressure was very low. Our camp host was super awesome and nice. There are also no hiking trails close by. The town of Paducah was worth a visit, otherwise we would not camp there again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Shawnee National Forest?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Shawnee National Forest is Turkey Ridge Campground — Ferne Clyffe State Park with a 4.3-star rating from 16 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Shawnee National Forest?
TheDyrt.com has all 18 tent camping locations near Shawnee National Forest, with real photos and reviews from campers.
