Springfield KOA

We camped over a 3-day weekend. This is basically a large parking lot on grass for RVs. There is one average tree per campsite and not enough shade. Tent campers are mixed in with RVs instead of in their own area. There is a pool, but it was packed with unsupervised kids the entire time. There is a nice camp store and rec area. It's on the edge of Springfield, IL so if you're doing the Lincoln sites (Abraham Lincoln's home, train station where he departed for Washington D.C., Lincoln's tomb, etc.) or the State Fair this would be an okay place to stay since you would likely not be back during the hot and sunny part of a summer day. It seems secluded as it is surrounded by trees even though you're close to the city. It is very quiet at night. Most of the RV sites are pull through.

We only stayed one night in October 2018 as a quick stopover on our trek south. The campground was several miles away from I-55 so close enough for easy access, but not so close to have noise. In fact, the campground was very quiet. We choose a large pull-through spot which was perfect because we did not have to unhook the truck. It was level too. The spots are not too close together which was nice. We were there only one night so didn’t do much, but they do have a dog run, laundry, and a pool (closed in Oct). We were going to laundry, but the price seemed high at $2 to wash and $2 to dry. You can get quarters from the office. Our spot was $37 before the 10% discount because we are KOA members. Full hook-up so didn’t think the price was too bad. Another campground near here is $50 a night so this one was much cheaper. Overall the campground was nice. We would stay here again if we are ever back in the area. 

Stayed here from 4/15/19 to 4/19/19. It was early in the season when I stayed here and there weren't many other campers. It was also extremely muddy when I was here, which obviously isn't the fault of the park. I actually saw someone get both their fifth wheel and truck stuck in the mud. The staff had to come pull them out with a tractor and fill the ruts with dirt. I definitely give the staff props for helping with this, as they were out wading through the mud and digging for several hours.

My site was a nice pull-through with a picnic table, fire ring, and shade tree. Check-in was easy and the staff was friendly. The pool wasn't open yet and I didn't use any of the amenities like bathrooms, laundry, etc. so I can't comment on those. Everything seemed to be in good shape though. I think the only downside to this campground for me was the location. I was looking for full-hookups with easy access to Springfield and it was kind of far away. There were a lot of narrow roads to get out there. This could also be a benefit though if you're looking for something secluded away from the highway noise.

When we pulled up at the “Stop Here Sign” we saw a woman in a yellow KOA shirt getting on her golf cart. As soon as she saw us, she shook her head in obvious annoyance that she had to go back into the office. I thought to myself “well that’s a great greeting.” But, I‘m a kill them with kindness type of person so I smiled and said hi. I saw here name was Linda.

We are VIP KOA members and have camped all over the United States (30 states so far) in many, many KOA’s. I wanted to use some of my KOA reward points to take some money off of our stay and she told me that’s not allowed for 1 night stays. I know that’s a lie because I have used that reward many times for one night stays. Linda seemed annoyed that I even asked but I did not want to push the issue.

After research I found out Linda is the owner of this KOA. And many people have had issue with the way she can treat some people.

Honestly, I’ve never come across such a unpleasant worker or owner at a KOA as Linda was.

With Camping at a KOA I have certain expectations. And one of them is the KOA motto of “Making it Great”. Linda is failing at that. First impressions really are everything. And Linda failed miserably at KOA’s “Making it Great” motto.

I did not use the facilities so I can not review that part.

Both directions into the camp you have very narrow roads with sharp blind curves. If you come from the west you will have to cross a narrow one vehicle at a time bridge.

The cell service is 1 bar AT&T 5G with spotty service. And 1 bar Verizon lte with ok service.

Sites are very close together. Roads inside the campground are decent.

I would NEVER come to this campground (Springfield KOA Journey, In Rochester, Illinois) again, based on Linda’s unpleasant and rude demeanor, the cell coverage and the roads to get to the park.

We came through in November of 2020 and spent a single night here.

We had a pull through site with full hookups. We just needed a place to stay for the night and this met that need. We had a no contact registration.
It’s a bit odd here. The playground equipment is quite run down. The kids had a blast playing on it but they both ripped pants on the rusty bent edges of the merry go round.

It must have been hunting season as there were gunshots at dusk and dawn. I wouldn’t plan a trip here but with the world shutting down around us as we booked for home because of COVID it was OK.

Cell phone reception (Sprint) was okay; the bathhouse was tiled and clean; the staff was friendly. But our surge protector/EMS indicated that there was an open ground. When my husband reported this to the office he was told, in short, that the alternative site would be just as finicky and to not use our EMS, Sounds silly, but in our defense, we were hot and tired and had already paid for our site. The only other time this has happened (at a state park) the ranger moved us without question. The next morning I walked around the campground and noticed that several of the pull through sites with Class A's and a Class B had EMS/surge protectors connected. I should have asked to be moved to a pull through site.

We made reservations four weeks in advance and were told we got the last site with only water and electricity. When we arrived they were half full and we were able to get full hook ups . They never did fill up. Very friendly management. Narrow sites. I am still cleaning ash off of my car and rig from the fire next door to say nothing about the smoke. Will return to store our trailer only because it is closest to our grandchildren.

We made a mistake on our original reservation. We thought we reserved Wednesday and Thursday night when we actually reserved Tuesday and Wednesday night. On our way there Wednesday we got a cancellation email (because of no call, no show). We called immediately and explained our mistake, they reinstated our Wednesday reservation and told us there wasn't anything available for Thursday night. However, they said they would try and move some things around and see what they could do. They called back a short time later and said we were good for Thursday night as well. So it all worked out. It's a clean park with a pool and playground. It's set back quite far off the highway which is a little different for a KOA Journey. Small park, maybe 40 spots and a decent little store as well.

We made a mistake on our original reservation. We thought we reserved Wednesday and Thursday night when we actually reserved Tuesday and Wednesday night. On our way there Wednesday we got a cancellation email (because of no call, no show). We called immediately and explained our mistake, they reinstated our Wednesday reservation and told us there wasn't anything available for Thursday night. However, they said they would try and move some things around and see what they could do. They called back a short time later and said we were good for Thursday night as well. So it all worked out. It's a clean park with a pool and playground. It's set back quite far off the highway which is a little different for a KOA Journey. Small park, maybe 40 spots and a decent little store as well.

We stayed a week to visit our grandchildren. Unfortunately it went on either side of the Memorial Day weekend. It is located near to family so is a convenience. We will try to avoid it in the future on a busy weekends. It is a typical KOA campground with full facilities. Unfortunately it was dusty when dry and muddy when wet. It was crowded and noisy. There was campfire smoke every evening.