Fort Defiance State Park

Google maps sent me on a wrong path to get to the park. When I stayed the bridge across the Mississippi near the park was closed. The way to get into the park was from the North through Cairo, IL. I ignored google maps and followed the road signs to Ft Defiance State Park.

This is a nice quiet park with plenty of room for parking and camping. In the park there is a platform where you can overlook the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meeting. There is a levee to the west of the park with a two lane path that I walked on occasion.

Things I did outside the park was visit Cape Girardeau, MO and Paducah, IL. I went to Vienna, IL to ride my bike on the Tunnel Hill State Trail a rails to trails in southern Illinois. There is also the Wickliffe Mounds just to the east across the river where you can see an excavation and get a NPS stamp for the Lewis and Clark Trail.

I was able to work remotely all week here, a booster helped, the nearest tower is across the river near Wickliffe.

We for one night to see where the Ohio and Mississippi River converge. This is where you see, touch and feel this merging of 2 aggressive rivers. Lots of tugs and barges, a few fishermen, 1 other camper, a few passer byes, and mother nature. Couple of police cruisers verified its safe, quiet and Free.
A large concrete lot is the designated area for camping, we camped in a grassy area right off the pad. No water or electricity. Dog had lots of green play ground!
It is a good choice for spending the night if you like solitude.

We enjoyed our stay here. There were signs saying the road was closed so we weren’t sure if we could access the park but the closure is just past the park entrance, toward the beginning of the bridge that goes to Missouri. When we pulled in nobody was around except for two friendly apparently homeless folks who were at the picnic tables by the water.
We took a walk around then set up the camper on the concrete pad which was the parking lot for the old now-grown over boat launch. The night was quiet aside from a barge banging against some sea wall pilings. Being October it wasn’t too hot out, we stayed comfortable without electricity.
The next morning we took our bikes up to explore the town of Cairo. Eerie because of all the broken down buildings and the abandoned feel, but very pretty and we found some really cool sights.
With all the history of the surrounding area, and being right beside the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, it was a fun place to camp!

We set up on the paved pad it’s large enough for any size rig. We were the only campers there, great piece of history wish I had time to explore.

Lots of parking on tar. Did have lights for night. Easy in and out for our 43foot 5th wheel. Watched the barges all afternoon and evening. Some traffic though the park until dark. Would stay again. Great free spot!!

I researched this park by going to the official IL state park website. The very first thing it mentions is camping. It then goes on to say you self check in/ pay. So I made it a point to camp there. Upon arrival there was signs along the way pointing out Fort Defiance State Park. But once you turned in there was no more signs. There was an old gate and it was open. I drove all the way In as far as you could to where the Missouri and the Mississippi meet. There was a portable toilet there and one sign that read no vehicles beyond this point. That’s it! It actually looked abandoned. The street lights were all off. No picnic tables no benches just a parking lot. I drove around the whole park and ended up in an even larger parking lot. Still no signs and no place to pay or register. It was already dark and there wasn’t any no trespassing signs so I called it a night. Pretty cool place. Very dark and quiet until a barge or two came down the river. This was during labor day weekend 2020. My thoughts were maybe it was flooded recently and they never went back to make any improvements. The roads and parking lots were paved and could accommodate multiple large rigs. ✌🏼

Actually drove past the entrance and, after turning around, finally saw a small roadside sign indicating the park. Turned into parking lot first and then down a road to a multi acre area of trees and grass that could loosely be a park. Didn’t see any hookups or formal looking campsites. Finally just pulled into the grass and setup camp. Along the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers is a unique place to camp and the river was busy with sounds of barges. Would stay here again although no facilities.

We camped there last night on 4th of July. Between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at the confluence. There is a porta potty, a few trash cans and picnic tables down by the river. You can camp either in the grassy area where the campground used to be or down by the water on pavement but still under shade trees. We chose by the water and watched tugboats and barges off and on through the evening. Did not hear any after 11pm and we had windows open. Saw fireworks in the distance. It is a local fishing spot so not a deserted area, maybe 5 or 6 vehicles that evening and a few this am. Everyone very nice. Pretty buggy but it’s July by the water so hot and humid and bugs go together. Not a swimming area. Too much debris floating in the water. Would definitely stay here again.

Driving through the all but abandoned town of Cairo was eerie but the park is just fine- no tweaker, just fishing and tourist traffic. We were pretty much alone. Police drove through a few times and just waved. Really interesting to watch the barges and tugboats and to learn about the convergence of these two rivers. Look up the history of Cairo as well for a history lesson. This would be a fine place for any size rig and room for several but we enjoyed our solitude. I recommend NOT taking the Cairo Mississippi Bridge- we have been over it in a semi and it's VERY narrow.

Sadly, it seems the park has gone the way of Cairo itself: boarded up and abandoned. I'm not sure if they do have hours, but when I went by during a regular weekday, it was gated off and looked empty (and unsafe). However, Cairo itself does have a fascinating (although depressing) history, so if you want to see what a largely abandoned town looks like, it's your lucky day. Before you go, read a short history of Cairo, including the racial strife that led in large part to the people moving away from the 60's-80's, and the trip will have more meaning to you. It IS an important town in the history of America, but humbling to see what can happen to even the most bustling of places if the wrong things happen.