laurieblacker

We arrived here on a very cold and very blustery day, winds were gusting up to around 40 mph so we didn’t really get to take advantage of our surroundings much. Our site faced the water, and sure was pretty to look at even though we couldn’t really enjoy it much. The campground was very well-maintained and seemed like it had a lot to offer if only we couldn’t have spent more time outside. The site was a parallel pull through so not a whole lot of privacy between sites, but I guess we knew that coming in.

This was our second attempt at camping at an Illinois State Park, and I’m hoping it will be the last. Making the reservation was easy, the campsite was right on the water at the end of a loop with a beautiful view of Lake Carlisle. The problem occurred when I attempted to use the outhouse. First problem was I had to walk through a vacant campsite to even get to it, not even a pathway leading from the road. When I got there the door was propped open and was something straight out of a scary movie. The paint inside and out was peeling off in long sheets blowing in the breeze, and the same with the shredded toilet paper on the rolls. There was an indoor bathroom facility over in the next loop, but this outhouse was all we had available to us. This is the second time we have had horrendous outhouse experiences at Illinois state parks, so now we will drive the extra hours to avoid camping in these facilities.

Actually stayed here two different nights, one on our way west and again on our way home. Hard to beat it for only $14 a night, this campsite is a very level pull through with a Ramada over the picnic table. Close to the shoreline trail, as well as a short hike overlooking the reservoir. Very clean bathrooms, very quiet campground.

Just can’t beat going to sleep to the sounds of Lake Superior right below your tent.

We arrived in camp after driving through hours of heavy rain. The trailer pad appeared to have been repaired numerous times and left no room for error - without good aim we would’ve been in need of a toll as it was a very steep drop off. Other than that though it was a beautiful spot overlooking the Neosho river. The site had both water and electric and was very level in spite of the patches. The next morning when the rain stopped we are able to take a walk and look around, even though it was pretty empty due to it being very early in the season we could tell we would definitely like to come back again.