Sand Ridge State Forest — Attraction in Havana

One of the very few places in Illinois that you can legally walk into the woods and go camping and have a quiet night of relative isolation under the stars (that is, you're not right next to a weekend-warrior family with barking dogs, crying babies, and/or ill mannered adolescents). I'm so happy that Illinois has a place like this that I'm almost reluctant to write a negative review, however, I found that this place seemingly suffered from a cycle of neglect. We were there on a friday night in mid August (peak traveling season, if you ask me) and the entire place was damn near empty. That certainly seems like a plus, because, the "backcountry" camping and getting away from humanity is pretty much the only reason I went here. However, very little foot traffic on the trails means that they are overrun with knee-high grass. During the hike in to our campsite, the only thing I could think of was "How many ticks am I gonna have on my legs?"

We stayed at the backcountry campsite no.1. It was maybe a 20 minute walk to the campsite. When we got to the campsite, there was a 50 ft trail leading from the main trail to the campsite. This sub-trail was so overrun with thorny vines that I'm not exaggerating to say that you needed a machete to access the campsite. At the campsite, the conditions were similar. There was a small concrete pad for campfires, and the whole rest of the campsite was just completely overrun with vines that there was little place to pitch a tent other than right next to the fire-pad. The trails ran right next to private land, and all night someone had a diesel engine for a tractor-trailer or farm-equipment running, which kind of ruined our night and killed any sense of isolation...hardly the fault of anyone at the park, but it still sucked. It seemed to me that this park suffered from a lack of interest, which led to neglect... and then, when someone like myself comes along, the neglect causes them to not want to come back. I'd hate to suggest paver stones for the trails, but it seems almost necessary...not because of the sand, but because of the overgrowth. I suggest bringing a weed-whacker with you if you want to access your campsite.

Pros: -"Backcountry" (term used loosely) camping in Illinois ! A rare breed indeed (the main reason I give it three stars) -Super friendly guy working the ranger station answered all my questions and provided good suggestions -Nobody else in the park -Far enough away from Peoria to get a good view of the night sky, but close enough to most central IL locations to still be worth it (I came from Champaign, and it took only an hour and a half to two hours) -Pre-assigned campsites mean you'll know the campsite you're hiking to will be available

Cons: -Trails are overgrown with grass and vines (this situation would probably be better in late-spring, early summer...we went in mid-August) -Backcountry campsite was almost inaccessible -Small park, not enough of a "buffer zone". You can still hear all the traffic on the county roads and whatever is going on on the farms surrounding the park -If you're used to hiking/camping in the Sierras or the Rockies, this place will be a...

We absolutely love this place for a family camping/hiking/backpacking spot that's close to home. It's the largest state forest in Illinois and is a mash-up of the southwest and Midwest. Most of the trails are almost completely sand, and there are some trails with steeper elevation gains and falls, making for harder hiking than what you can normally find around here. It's a great place to train if you're readying for a backpacking trip in more challenging areas of the U.S. You can find prickly pear cactus everywhere (in the warm weather months, you can see them blooming). The Pine Campground is beautiful and normally where we camp as a family. It's full of tall old pine trees (so always plenty of firewood nearby), has clean bathrooms, and water access via pumps throughout the grounds. It's hardly ever crowded (in fact it's almost always completely empty in cooler months). Parking spots are right next to camp, and each site has a fire slab and a built-in grill. Sites are big enough for several tents (four campers are allowed at each site). Reservations can be made online in advance on Reserve America. There are also Backcountry sites available that you can reserve and backpack in to. Word to the wise: ticks are pretty terrible here after it begins to warm in spring. Wear repellent, the right full-cover clothes, and check yourselves regularly. We normally visit in late fall through...

TICKS everywhere! 2 adults 2 kids and a dog. The first half mile we were all COVERED in ticks. Permethrin spray helped but we easily pulled 40-50 ticks off of us. And when we got home there were more of them still on us. The poor dog had about 5-7 latched on. This place would be awesome is the colder months when the ticks aren’t so active.. if we ever come back we will be covered with pants gaiters and tall boots and we’ll probably leave the dog home. Most of the ticks were lone star ticks and a bunch of little tiny baby ticks that almost looked like gnats. There wasn’t many people tho. The campground was empty on Memorial Day weekend. Kind of odd I thought. Maybe everyone else already knew about the tick problem. Trails appeared to be well marked. Unmaintained trail gives this park a real forest feel. Very primitive. This is the type of places my family looks for. If it wasn’t for the ticks we would definitely be back. We might try again after a frost or two...