The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Henderson. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Henderson is surrounded by family-friendly activities. Discover great camping spots near Henderson, reviewed by campers like you.
Saline County State Conservation Area
1 hr 6 min away
Tipsaw Lake
1 hr 13 min away
"The tent pads are right by the water, offering stunning lake views. Each site comes equipped with a fire ring, picnic table, and access to toilets—everything you need for a comfortable stay."
"Lake mauzy is very quiet. No hookups but if you want to boondocks this is a great place."
"On a gravel road, in the back country like most everything else on this side of Illinois , fill your gas tank up and your food locker or you will be driving back out a ways to refill. "
"There was potable water from a spigot and lots of kindling around to get fires going. No showers. Over all a nice site. I would stay there again."
"Campground is smaller but the sites are spread out well, most have fire ring with grill stand and table, firewood available to gather onsite when I was there, vault toilets, right on the river so may be"
"There is a pit toilet, but no water. "
$8 / night
"There is a dump station and potable water at the entrance to the campground. There are also some water spigots sprinkled throughout the campground."
"This was a great campground with fantastic views of the lake.
We also hiked Garden of the Gods and Burden Falls in the Shawnee National Forest. The hikes were great."
LegendPrimative camping at its best. This is heavily used in the summer and early fall. Picnic tables and fire rings, vault toilets. Go in the off season and you will have plenty of privacy. Fairly level tent sites , some with nice trees for hammocks. Close to Little Grand Canyon, a really neat natural bridge, and Illinois wineries.
TravelerThis is an amazing spot for free camping! The tent pads are right by the water, offering stunning lake views. Each site comes equipped with a fire ring, picnic table, and access to toilets—everything you need for a comfortable stay. Despite its remote feel, Walmart is just a 12-minute drive away for any last-minute supplies. We would have loved to stay longer, but incoming storms cut our trip short. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a peaceful and scenic getaway! No electricity or showers!
TravelerThis 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.
ScoutWe chose this campground due to its proximity to Holiday World and its family friendly atmosphere.
The Bad: We took our 5 and 3 year old daughters for their first camp out with the plan to do Holiday World the next day. This place has golf carts zipping all over all hours of the day and night. Apparently it is the thing to do to decorate golf carts with bright lights, blairing music, and megaphones. They even has a golf cart parade that went from 8:30-10:40pm and included thrown candy that ran about 30 feet from our tent! There was no privacy between sites, constant noise, and trash all over the ground! As an advocate for leave no trace camping, I was completely disgusted with the amount of trash on the ground at our camp site.
The Good (there was some): The shuttle to Holiday World was great, the staff were friendly, they have a great mini golf course that the girls loved, a top notch playground, and scheduled kuds activities (many are free). they also have a pool and water slides, but i cant comment on those as we did not try them.
At the end of the day, we had a great trip. but if i were to stay here again it would have to be a more secluded camp site without the constant buzz of golf carts. And I sure hope the amount of trash we saw was a fluke.
GuideThis campground area is beautiful! We stayed here 3 nights. We arrived on a Thursday and there were plenty of open spots. Friday they open some of the other loops up for more people to stay and it did fill up for the weekend.
You can get some cell service but only in choice areas (at the front by the water spigot and some of the roads leading down to the lake. We were not able to get any cell service (Verizon, AT&T, or T Mobile) in the electric loop.
This area is a primitive area and is not really set up for RVs. Don't get me wrong... RVs can definitely fit in most of the camping spots but only 1 loop has electricity, there is no sanitary dump station, and the water spigot does not have a way to hook up a hose to fill your tank. If you dump your tanks and fill with fresh water before coming you should be good.
It does have vault toilets... no showers. The toilets were very clean for vault toilets.
The lake area is beautiful with a swimming area, fishing pier, and pavilion to eat or sit under for shade. It looks like they really keep the area cleaned up!
Another little note that we learned is that the park rangers can help you move sites... or even campgrounds if your site is not working for you so you don't loose out on money like we did. This only applies to other Shawnee campgrounds of course but there are quite a few to choose from!
LegendI arrived on Friday around 2:30pm hoping to get a spot but unfortunately, all spots were already taken (about 10-12). The vault toilet looked decently clean and all sites had a nice fire ring, picnic table and hanging hooks. Some sites were closer together than others but would work for a night or two to enjoy the beauty around! Little picnic area just around the corner and about .5 from several awesome hikes!
TravelerThe park is very primitive with no electricity. There is running water but you have to walk quite a ways to get to it if you arent camping by it. There are no shower houses and the bathrooms are just a glorified porta potty. Aside from lacking amenities it is a very quiet and pretty place to camp.
TravelerCampground is smaller but the sites are spread out well, most have fire ring with grill stand and table, firewood available to gather onsite when I was there, vault toilets, right on the river so may be closed during flood seasons. Will be staying here again!
TravelerBasic car camping campsites with a picnic table, fire ring and a food pole at each site. The sites were clean the night I was there but the water seems to have been already turned off for the season (late October). There are vault style outhouses and an honor system check in box $15/night. The best part of this campsite is it’s a 5-10 minute walk to main trail/recreation area as well as the various other trails in the area.
Nestled near Henderson, Kentucky, tent camping offers a serene escape into nature, with several well-reviewed campgrounds that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Henderson, KY?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Henderson, KY is Lake Mauzy East with a 4.7-star rating from 3 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 4 tent camping locations near Henderson, KY, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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