Cave-in-Rock State Park

Great little park, and a good place to take a break with epic, expansive views of the river. Keep in mind, however, that during the spring thaws the cave is oftentimes flooded, and unavailable to enter.

Nice tent camping and clean showers, fantastic views of Ohio river and bluffs. Short walk to the cave is worth it, for an interesting change, but not the coolest cave I've seen. Cave in rock town has a nice ferry to Kentucky that is open 6:30-930. While you're there check out the garden of the gods

This review is for Cave-In-Rock State Park.

This is a beautiful, but fairly remote, campground. We were traveling with friends and chose the first two sites after the camp host (which was empty), up on the hill. It was starting to rain, so we thought it might be a dryer location. The sites have 30 amp and water and we had trouble with the electric at our site, shortly after setting up. The ranger tried some things and we finally talked him into replacing the breaker, which seemed to solve the problem, but we didn't push it. We were offered the host site, which has sewer as well, but we were already setup and it was cold and rainy, so we stayed and were careful what we had turned on. The cave is interesting and worth a visit, the restaurant on site was really good, I recommend it. The ferry across the river is fascinating to watch and we took it to Kentucky and drove to the Amish area on that side. There wasn't a lot to do in the park, but it really is pretty. One warning, if it rains the mud is super slippery. The pads are asphalt, but fairly narrow, so our steps went onto the grass/mud and we had to be cautious getting to the steps. Overall, we enjoyed our stay.

My family of four stayed here for three days and two nights. It was a cute little park. We had a site on top of a hill and it was very cozy. The park itself doesn't offer much but it is a short walk to the Ohio River, or into town and to the Cave In Rock-- which is pretty spectacular!! There is a free ferry to take over the river into Kentucky which is nice. And Garden of the Gods is about 30 mins away - that is a great stop as well if you are in the area.

We came here to see the cave and it was great but after that was ready to move on. The town is cute but no groceries nor gas station! The park was well kept but the sites are small and narrow... plus no water at any site, only electric! Crossing the ferry from IL to KY was fun but if you have a long rig then prepare to drag getting off and off the ferry!

Camped here some years ago. Poured buckets of rain overnight. Campsites range from top of the hill, down the slope, to sites at base of the hill. Inches of rain poured down hill and campers in tents at the bottom of the hill had 6 inches of water and had to leave. So pick your campsite accordingly. It was close to nearby tourist activities.

We arrived on Saturday and there were only around a dozen campers here. After Sunday we were the only ones in the park. Seems like this hidden gem is underutilized. This is a very beautiful State park located near several scenic views and Amish country(cheap firewood at the Amish sawmill) across the ferry into Kentucky. Garden of The Gods, Shawnee National Forest and other scenic attractions are a short drive away. We saw a fox when we arrived an numerous deer in the park. Nice shower house with flush toilets.

Park is a quiet park with nice kept grounds. Pick your site for your size of rig closely. Site are close to be level so you should not need to many blocks. There is a good restaurant located in the park and it also has some cabins.

General: I was a bit apprehensive about this state park because it did not take reservations, so we made sure to arrive by 11 am but we had no reason to worry – compared to other Illinois campgrounds we visited on this trip, this one was almost empty on a Wednesday in mid-October. Steve, the host, was very friendly and checked us in. The rate of $20 for an electric site was reasonable; we put a tag on our site and set off to explore nearby Garden of the Gods for the rest of the day, secure that we had a place to rest our heads for the night!

Sites/Facilities: The sites are set a decent amount of space apart and have an additional parking space for a second vehicle. A large picnic table and fire ring (although the windy conditions were not favorable for a fire) completed the site. Some are not completely level, so it was good to be able to select the best site.

Bathhouse: The bath/shower house was clean, and the shower had nice hot water and good water pressure. The drainage wasn’t optimal, however, and much of the water ended up in the rest of the bathroom. The only other thing to note is that the generator for the bathhouse is VERY loud so if you are in a site close by (we were across the street and one up), you WILL hear it but thankfully, when not in use, it was quiet through most of the night.

Activities/Amenities: There is a playground and picnic shelter, and the cave is cool to explore (a short walk from the campground). There are a dump station and dumpster. I had good cell service (Verizon/three bars) in this campground.

Conclusion: Although this state park is right on the Ohio River, the campground is set apart from the river so you will not see the river from the campground but it is close enough to walk to the banks of the river when exploring the cave. Nice place to spend a night.

We stayed at Cave in Rock SP (CIR) over the Memorial day weekend for a total of 8 days. Overall: It’s a very nice stay and nice campground. Because of a mobility issue the Camp Host gave us site 27 which is one of two ADA sites and one of the 34 RV sites and is right across from the bathhouse. Now some specifics…..

Check In: The process was easy, everything is F.C.F.S, so you can go find a site then go to the host and check in and pay. Host cannot accept credit cards, cash or check only, $20 for weeknights and $30 for weekends and holidays.

Sites: Sites are configured in a one-way loop and are easy back-ins.
Levelness: Our site was about four inches out of level front to back but level side-to-side.
Pad Construction: Ours was a concrete pad, regular sites are asphalt. Lengths varied but a 40’ wouldn’t be out
of the question. Ours is 35’ and we were able to park the toad in front, as did most other campers.
Electricity: Sites are electric 50/30/20amp with a stable at 125vac on leg 1, 124vac on leg 2 and 60hz on both.
Water: Not at site, fill at dump station or jugs at shower house.

Shower House (1): Pros: Large, spacious with two showers (1 ADA) and two commodes (1 ADA) each side and of course a sink; for the most part, they were relatively clean and restocked. Cons: There were some items that laid on the floor the whole time. Water was warm, timed and the temperature preset. On the men's side, the standard shower had a leaking shower head, the ADA shower had a wall head and a hand held head and it was cracked and sprayed out all over, but it was usable. Next is something that is the fault of the original builders, that is the slope of the shower floor. The floor is not sloped the full width of the shower, so water runs over the peak away from the drain and runs out the door; my wife said the same thing about the women's shower too. So the floors outside the showers were wet, and inside on the men’s ADA there was pretty much a ½” of standing water where you needed to dry off and put clothes back on. Really nothing that can be done with that without some major work. It could use some TLC, but overall it was usable.

Dump Station and Dumpster: They are both located near the end of the camp loop and an easy pull through with potable water as well.

Accessories: Ours had a high grill, others had a combo grill/fire pit. Sites also had nice picnic tables.

Other: The interior of the loop is large and grassy and children played ball and games. By the bathhouse is a small playground and picnic pavilion and even though there was gathering it wasn’t really noisy. Sites are shady with dispersed deciduous trees at sites with 30% to 50% coverage, but still able to produce electricity on your solar panels if needed and get a signal on satellite. The campground is peaceful, it has a small fishing pond with a dock. It is of course named after the sleepy little riverfront (Ohio) town of Cave In Rock. There is one small mini-mart coming in on Rt 1. The next closest place for grocery options is Elizabethtown IL, and Marion KY, just over the river and 13 miles down Rt 91. They have a Dollar General and another Mom and Pop grocery store. The corner mini mart has really good coffee.

Local Attractions: Basically they are few, Cave in Rock Cave is a nice short visit. Then there is Tower Rock a mile or two down river. No real hiking trails in the SP, Shawnee NF and Garden of the Gods have miles and miles of trails; and is 15 air miles, 25 road miles and 33 min. There is picnic and hiking, one special treat is the observation trail. It's short, but has an established flagstone path and is 4/10’s of a mile. There are plenty of rock scrambling opportunities which give breathtaking views.

There is a very touristy souvenir/ice cream/snack shop on the corner of Garden of the Gods Rd and Karber Ridge Rd. They have some camping supplies and trinkets and they have a penny smashing machine outside on the porch, which is a welcome sight for us. The soft-serve ice cream is really good and they also have a few picnic tables outside as well. They have a well stocked Bigfoot selection with a photo op full size statue across the street. And on the way back on Karber Ridge Rd is High Knob, a lookout picnic spot. It has two Benchmarks and a few Geocaches. Because of physical limits we were not able to get the geocaches because of the climbing and walking.

Cave in Rock CG also has a quaint little restaurant at the top of the hill, prices were good, portions were good, service was good, food was great as were the views.

All in all it was a great experience