Starved Rock Campground — Starved Rock State Park

While I find it hard to believe that Starved Rock SP was voted the #1 attraction in the state (I mean, come on, there’s Wrigley Field, there’s the Bean, there’s Jon Hancock tower, there’s Galena and so many other amazing attractions to choose from after all!), I will admit that this outdoor natural amusement park is one incredible destination. Located in north central Illinois, just a few miles south of Utica and 3 or so miles east of Oglesby, what makes Starved Rock SP more like a 'needle in a hay stack' is that those coming from out of town (er, dare I say Chicago), it's quite an EZ place to find and get to, unlike most natural wonders, which would have you spending hours driving down winding roads in the middle of nowhere – with this campground, just take I90 south to 80 E and BOOM! You’re here. 

PLEASE NOTE: Rather than just 1 campground here at Starved Rock State Park, there are actually 3 individual campgrounds to choose from – Starved Rock State Park West Loop, Starved Rock State Park East Loop and Starved Rock State Park Youth Group Area – each with their own configuration, # and type of sites, overall vibe and amenities. For the purposes of this review, I will focus my comments on Starved Rock State Park – West Loop Campground. Upon entry, you’ll check-in at the Ranger Station, where you’ll confirm your reservation and be given directions to the specific campground and site that you have booked. For this West Loop Campground, which is comprised of sites #1– 54, plus 4 campground host sites, after passing the Ranger’s Office, you will immediately hang a left, before reaching the Camp Store mind you, and from here, you will drive a simple football field-shaped, completely wide open and barren loop that is intersected with two individual lanes, intersecting the loop into 3 distinct areas: upper, middle and lower, with restroom facilities in the two upper loops and a children’s playground in the third and lower loop, before completing the loop and returning to the Ranger Station. Sites are numbered from low to high with numbers ascending in alternating fashion on either left or right side of the road beginning right after passing the community shower/ restroom facilities, where you will note that there is fresh water opposite of this facility. Exterior sites in the loop are more preferred as they offer up a nice tree line and some additional privacy, versus those on the interior of the loop. Upon exiting Starved Rock SP – West Loop Campground you will pass by the 3-4 campground hosts, all in their RV/ trailers and exiting the campground campus itself, just as you pass the Ranger Station, you will find the dump station. 

For a very detailed map, complete with what amenities and even which sites have full, partial or no shade, please check this out: https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/parks/camp/documents/starved-rock-state-park-campground.pdf

If you time your visit carefully, towards the latter part of Spring or early Summer, you’ll be greeted by fresh, seasonal waterfalls that make for quite the refresher after a good couple of hours of hiking this fantastic spot that offers fishing, dining, boating, picnicking and no shortage of extraordinary views of Illinois’ finest natural outcrop. Apart from quick and EZ access to the mighty Illinois River, I also love the 13+ miles of hiking trails that form snake-like patterns throughout, across and over the nearly 20 or so canyons that make up this SP. 

The best map of hiking trails at Starved Rock SP can be found here: https://www.starvedrocklodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Starved-Rock-Trail-Map.pdf 

Whether you are looking at Starved Rock SP East Loop or West Loop Campgrounds, combined, there’s some 133 Class-A Premium campsites complete with electricity as well as showers and bathroom facilities, while most of which are outdated and in need of a fresh coat of paint, they are generally fairly clean. Wherever you end up parking your RV or pitching your tent you’ll be able to access all of those activities like rappelling, hiking and kayaking that brought you to Starved Rock SP in the first place. All of these sites have standard 20 amp electric plug-ins, plus there’s also the option for a 30 amp electric car or camper hookup with just a few spots offering up 50 amp electric for the big rig RVs. On campus, there’s both a campground store as well as Jack’s which is just off Route 71, where both offer up wood for sale 24/7 as well as ice, batteries, chips, sodas, marshmallows, rain gear and various other sundries. Additionally, there’s 8 covered shelters here and are also offered on a first-come, first-served basis with some offering wood-burning chimneys, perfect in the fall or winter and great for roasting s’mores or just curling up next to your honey. 

Insider’s tips: (1) IMHO the best campsites in Starved Rock SP– West Loop Campground are those that fall against the treeline on the exterior of the loop, with sites #20, #22, #23, #24, #27, #43, #45 and #46 offering up the most privacy; (2) For those bringing their kayak, canoe or boat with them, you’re really going to enjoy the Illinois River as there’s no shortage of places to explore and while we attempted to land on Leopold Island, it was completely soaked, so we ventured onto Plum Island and had a very nice picnic on the beachhead there; and (3) The two nearest towns near Starved Rock State Park are Utica or Oglesby, wherein I would recommend a visit to either long-time favorite Garzanelli’s Supper Club, which has a pretty amazing Midwestern take on Italian food or Lodi Tap Room for some pretty amazing glorified bar food, otherwise, if you don’t want to drive anywhere, just stay put and enjoy the fare at Starved Rock Lodge; (4) Looking for a place to ‘whet your whistle’? Then head on over to Aces & Eights in Tonica for a cool biker bar with some decent Americana fare and cheap tall boys OR head into Utica to check out Obscurity Brewing Bier Garten for some unusual draft brews or August Hill Winery for some fairly mediocre wine from Illinois; (5) If hiking is your thing, and being here at Starved Rock (and don’t forget nearby Mathiessen SP), then you’ll want to take full advantage of all the great hiking trails, of which I highly recommend for a shorter hike, checking out the loop around Lover’s Leap, which is the most popular, but for those wanting a slightly longer and more challenging hike, look at either Wildcat Canyon or Lasalle Canyon; and (6) Finish off your entire camping experience by visiting Two Girls and a Cupcake for some sweet, albeit overpriced, desserts and treats. 

Happy Camping!

Easy walk-in process. Well maintained grounds and facilities Near Starved Rock Lodge for hiking and a meal with a view. Dog friendly on back deck.

I stayed here for 1 night- site#12 in the west loop. The staff was friendly and the grounds seemed to be well maintained. I loved that it was so close to Starved Rock Park(5 minutes). Electricity was available at the camp site. I wish that there was water at each site but luckily, we were able to fill up directly across from our campsite. If you have your hose connected, be sure to pull the diverter down so water will be redirected into the hose. There was a dump station at the campground entrance but we had issues with the hose working. Given the location, I would stay here again if I were to visit the park. I gave this 3 stars because I was comparing it to other campgrounds I've stayed at and the amenities they've offered.

Could’ve been much better. Somewhat dirty, dumpsters overflowing with trash. Campsites were a little on the small side. Really cool area with really neat hiking.

Great camping experience at Starved Rock Campground. Well maintained. Relatively level sites. Good space between campers. Heavy fire pits and grates. The hiking trails are challenging but rewarding.

The campground is separate from the park and it's a good thing. Super quiet.

one of the better campsites in the surrounding area. there is a decent amount of trees and vegetation separating each campsite which i loved! my only complaint is the grounds were busy and someone who was sitting outside kept shining a flashlight into our tent for what felt like all night.

The Starved Rock are is gorgeous. The campground is poorly laid out. It’s disconnected from the state park, there are no trails that lead from the CG. The loop with the lower numbered sites is very open, however sites are well spaced out. The other loop with the higher numbered sites offers more trees and privacy. Both loops have a shower building with toilets at the loop entrance which are not really close to any actual sites. There are pit toilets and port-a-potties but they weren’t in great shape. We’d recommend sites 50, 52, or 54 as they provide some tree cover and have good proximity to the bathrooms.

Love this campground! It was my first time going camping with just my boyfriend and his dog. Each campsite was very spacious and came with a table and fire pit. We had a site right next to a forest and we found a little river so we decided to go exploring a bit and had loads of fun! The bathroom and shower facilities were nice and clean. We heard coyotes at night (they were laughing, no joke) so that was a little scary! We went to Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Park for hikes and loved both!

We camp at this campground a few times a year. We love the quiet and simplicity of this place. Site 104 is a good sized inner loop site. Everyone knows about hiking Starved Rock, but I recommend the short drive down the road to Matthiessen State Park. Much less crowded with better trails, in my opinion.

Site 105 is one of the bigger outer loop sites. Behind the tent pad there is a nice trail to the ravine. Lots of tall trees and privacy. During a whole day of very heavy rain, there was minimal flooding. One of my favorite sites here. This campground is always clean and quiet.

Due to limited availability, I was forced to pick an inner loop site and was worried it would be small. This site was plenty big enough for our 8 person tent and a pop up screen house. Ample tree cover and privacy. One day had very heavy rains and the fire ring area did have some minor flooding but the tent pad section stayed drier. This campground is always quiet, well maintained, and never disappoints.

I got here after dark and paid for a walk-up reservation. They don’t differentiate tent and RV sites, so I picked one that looked like it wouldn’t be near other RVs since I’m tent camping. Registration was easy although a bit confusing about credit card options. Everyone was quiet and the bathrooms were clean.

A dog ran up to my tent and scared the crap out of me at like 11pm, but he quickly apologized. I’m not sure if he was unleashed or on a long leash, but there were a lot of dogs.

We arrived at Starved rock a little after 3pm, check in was a breeze and the host was very helpful with directions and information about where to get firewood and how late the camp store was open. We arrived on a Friday and enjoyed even the weekend tourists as no one was super loud or had bright lights on. The campground is set up very well and leaves a ton of space between sites and even the other side of the campground. The shower house was very clean and right as you enter the campground. There are small outhouses in the median between the rows of sites, easily accessible but not ada accessible. There are some trails that walk you around the campground but nothing that leads to the parks more popular trails. The park itself is beautiful and has very well kept trails and parking lots. However, the maps that were drawn up are terrible. Some of the parking lots weren't even on the map and some of the canyons were not marked on the trails. We started at the top and walked the ridgeline down to the main parking lot, glad we did because that lot was completely full.

Typical RV camp ground in a wide open area.

Nice spot for an over night stay

The campground itself is pretty basic. The sites were extremely close together. I wish we would have been able to pick it out when we got there, because there are so really. It and open sites. I found 99, 101 and 105 to be the best ones! We stayed at 115 with not much room! The best part about this is the sites outside of the campground. There are several trails and history about starved rock! Unfortunately they recommend you drive to them. I understand why as biking or walking from the campground may not be the safest on the narrow country roads.

Grass was tall, several sites were flooded/standing water, felt bad for those campers. Most sites have very very little gravel for car/camper and no gravel around fire ring, just tall grass. Shower house is a joke. 2 showers, 1 stall, 1 urinal for men. No temp control, the hot water is blazing unsafe hot. My kids were in pain. No alcohol, no playground execpt 2 swings in a literal mud pit. Camp store had insane prices for wood and ice. For being such a huge SP, the campground was a joke.

We got there in the rain. The site had electricity and water. Standard site. The sites were paved and large. The bathroom near our site was not the greatest, the woman’s room door did not open so we used the men’s room. There is one toilet, which is non-flushable outhouse style. That was not a problem but it was not very clean.

The place was well run, sites vary from heavily wooded to wide open in grass. A decent amount of tenters mixed in with trailers. The showers were very hot, almost too hot for adults. Camp hosts were excellent.

Campsite is not on the same spot as the starved rock or trails. Doesn’t matter. In my opinion, it keeps the traffic down. Nice spots, power available, shower, toilets, pop vending machine. Love this area.

The park is amazing as you can see in the photos.  Many hiking trails,  fishing possibilities and a visitor center with a museum. The campground is very tight.  The road i s very narrow and if someone is trying to move into their spot, you cannot get around them.    The only garbage drops are at the front of the park since trucks cannot navigate the road. There are two sections, sites 1 to 58 and 59 to 133.   Sites 1 to 58 include 7  handicap sites and this section has more space between sites.  In the other section, sites  84 to 109 are the largest.

There are 2 playgrounds and shower houses.  All sites  have electric and if you need to fill the water tank of your RV the only water fill is at the dump station at the front.

The campground is a good distance from the visitor center and the park is very large.  If you have young children a vehicle  to drive around would be good.

We have both A T & T and Verizon and both had limited connections.

Even taking all  these items into consideration, I will return, the natural beauty of the park is well worth it and there is enough to keep you busy for at least a week.

Starved Rock State Park and the surrounding area has some of the most beautiful views in north central Illinois. We’ve spent many days exploring trails for river views, bluffs and overlooks, even waterfalls! There is so much to see here! Whether you stay in a tent, cabin, or the resort, you’re sure to find a treasure for the eyes and spirit. Just note that the peak season is really crowded these days!

I was there this past November and again blessed with great weather this past weekend (April 16-18, 2021). I live the park, some of the canyons has waterfalls. The campsites in Loop 2 are close together and small. I booked two campsites but I had friends bail at the last minute but I still kept the two campsites, which was fortunate.

This park is popular, has plenty of space, though can use updates and better Leave No Trace practices (litter). During our time, park and cg was busy, full at times. Hiking was great with geological aspects. Has Lodge, CG store, lots of history.

We have camped here twice and it is beautiful in any season! Great privacy and good size sites in the northern east loop. Around site #100  (90-110 approximately). We looked up a drive through on YouTube to help pick out a good one. The second time we came here, we intentionally picked a pair of sites that were next to each other/connected and also by the bathrooms. The port a potties are nothing amazing and they were actually getting full the first night we were there, but then they were taken care of. Great hiking, scenic views, good playground by the showers. Will definitely be back again and again.

General: 133 site campground in two loops; we camped in the East Loop so most of my comments are regarding this loop. The very friendly attendant at the check-in booth (this is potentially luck of the draw) spent time answering all our questions. 

Sites/Facilities: Many of the sites are fairly close together but have trees separating them. All in the East Loop are shaded except for Sites 59-68 and 128-130, which are in full sun with no physical separation between them. The driveways are all dirt/gravel and most appear to be level. Most of the sites are 30 amp with about 20 of them having 50 amp. All sites have a large picnic table and fire grate. Each loop has a bath/shower house but depending on which site you are in, it can be quite a hike to get to it. Of note is there are seven handicap accessible sites, all in the west loop – more than I’ve seen in any other campground. 

Bathhouse: The East Loop bathhouse was ok but not great (could use a facelift). Was going to use the shower but it was very chilly the next morning (I was assured at check-in that there was plenty of hot water). There are more than sufficient vault toilets, including a handicap accessible one, in each loop. 

Activities/Amenities: There is a camp “store” (more of a trailer vending machine) offering 24-hour self-serve ice and firewood. There was also a small gift shop, but it was not open when we were there. There is only one playground, at the end of the East Loop so not centrally located for campers. One dumpster (closer to the west loop) and the camp host is in the west loop. 

Conclusion: My main beef with this campground is that it is quite a distance away from the rest of the park and is not accessible to the hiking trails, visitor center, etc. by foot. (although some see this as an advantage!) Not the fault of the campground but I was dismayed at the amount of trash in sites (as well as on the hiking trails).

We visited the first weekend in November so we still had some leave to peep. The weather was unusually warm and beautiful so we were able to hike both days of our visit but it was packed with people who had the same idea. Also, as we left the park to go to our campsite (around 2 PM) the camp was getting a rush of afternoon hikers. The place is busy!!!

The campsite itself is off the State Park premises,which isn’t bad since it’s not swarmed park attendees not spending the night. It has an electrical hookup on each campground for RVs. There is also a bathroom with running showers and toilets, pretty nice. And there is a camp store (which is currently closed for the season). The campsites themselves vary in size and fire station. Our campsite was a little small but if you want fully forested campsites I suggest you keep your choices between #s 30 and 100.

We had a blast, the state park itself was fantastic, plenty to see. Starved Rock and the other peaks were fantastic and Wildcat Canyon was a sight to behold. Illinois Canyon is huge and worth the visit. I understand that with the spring runoff there are many waterfalls to behold. We plan on coming back then. Great place to camp!!!

If you want more trees and privacy stick to the east loop if you want more flat land that is easy to drive up and camp, go to the west loop. The Camp store is cute but tiny. There is also a vending machine by the bathhouse and a 24/7 wood vending machine by the camp store.

3 state parks are within a 5-10 minute drive making early morning hiking very easy. Welcome to the Disney Land of outdoors!

The campground itself is off of Starved Rock’s main entrance but we think it’s perfect because I don’t need that much traffic with cars and people constantly walking/driving by. I do wish there were walking trails off the campground though.

The campground has easy access for trailers, tents, and rvs. The shower/bathroom facility is good, but there is only one and I’ve seen this park get really busy. Campsites can be woooded or open.