Illini State Park — Attraction in Illinois

Great Get-Away 11/25-11/29/2020 Located directly on the Illinois River, this state park is one of the forgotten about step-children of the state IDNR. I rate it with five stars knowing that it is an electric only campground. The campground is indeed open. You can't make reservations from November 1 through April 1, but the sites are first come, first served. We camped for four nights and there were only ever two other campers at the park. We camped at site #17, right along the river. Thirty amp electric is nicely placed at the site and the site itself is gravel and pretty level. We enjoyed watching the barge traffic on the river, right from our window. The cost per night is $18/electric and $8 for no electric.All site hate a firepit/grill and a picnic table. There is a shower house, but it is closed from 11/1-04/1 each year. Sites are electric only. No water or sewer, but there is a dump station available. During the non-winter months there is also a water station available. There are pit toilets that are open all year as well as the shower-house/restroom that is open in the summer. We spent our days hiking at the "Dayton Bluffs Preserve," visiting the Marseilles Lock and Dam, hiking through the state park, going on adventures through the closed portions of the park, and visiting the "Illinois Fallen Soldiers Tree Memorial," outside the gates to the lock and dam. We also did some geocaching. If you visit this lost gem, please go to the park office after you set up to pay your fees. Payment is on the honor system, but a IDNR staffer does drive around a couple of time a day. They will post your receipt on your site pole. We felt very safe while camping here. We camped in a 30' class "C".Note to the weary...there is a train line that can be pretty loud, the barges can be loud and there is some road noise. If none of those things bother you, this is a diamond in the rough. Come on out! Also, there is a home right across from the entrance to the park that sells bundles of firewood (on the honor system) for...

I have never taken my family camping before but this was our first experience. We were here for 2 and 1/2 days. The first 2 days went well and $20 a night so we can have electric to plug in at was wonderful. I picked a spot with a very large hill as my 4 year old has a lot of energy and loves to run up and down them. We'll on the 3rd day we had already paid for another night stay yiu have to have the money in if you are going to stay another night by 3pm. Well before my husband left to go to work he helped me move the tent over into the shade for our daughter who was really tired at the time and wanted to napped it was very hot but not bad at all when in the shade and the fan on inside. Well the old lady manager comes storming up saying we are not allowed to move our tent. Also yells at me and my daughter for walking partial way up the hill says its not allowed but their are no signs or rules about that that I noticed. That was the entire reason I chose that spot as she has a lot of energy and likes to run. There were a few other stupid things they wanted to nit pick about also and even got an attitude with my 12 year old son. Why she felt the need to talk to him and not directly towards me pissed me off also and at that point I was just ready to leave. I felt as though I was being singled out as I heard her talking to other campers and making sure they were having a wonderful time but not oncevwas i ever asked if we were and was even given a dirty look everytime i tried to wave or smile at her. Everytime she came to us it was to complain and its not like we are wild or party. Yes we had our kids but is that a problem? I would definitely say that experience ruined it for me and was very upsetting for my son as well so thanks for ruining our first family camping trip. I would give the hospitality of this a -20 but I give the campground a 2 because it was nice and a lit bigger than I had expected. Nice place too bad its ran by nasty people who don't like...

BRING EAR PLUS! VERY NOISY FROM THE NEAYBY RAILROAD Bring YOUR OWN DRINKING WATER

We chose to stay at one of the non-electrical sites in Great Falls because its easy access to the shower building. The non-electric portion of the campground is nettled in the woods and away from RVs or motorhomes. Every non-electric site is shady although not much of privacy. In terms of location, its riverfront sites (electric sites) are pretty cool. We were super excited when we saw the approach of a barge on our first night of stay. Many excellent bank fishing spots are up and down the river. However, there were two major issues with this campground when we stayed there recently - (1) a freight train railroad runs parallel to the river located just across the bridge. It blares it horn for like 2 minutes when it crosses the main street of Marseilles . For some reason, the freight train runs more frequently at night. I was waken at least three times throughout the night. It was louder than anything I had ever heard in Chicago in the middle of the night (trust me, the neighborhood I came from, people would cruise the streets blaring loud music out of their cars. But not three times throughout the night!). (2) There is only one "potable water" spigot throughout the campground. Black-ish water was coming out of the spigot on the first day we arrived. The water used to flush toilet (coming from the same source) was black with some black sediments. There was no signage anywhere in the campground to explain whether the water was safe to drink or not. Because it was early morning when we first needed the water to make coffee/tea, we boiled the water for extra time. The water left a film of deposit in the pot. Needless to say, we immediately went to a nearest grocery story to buy drinking water. However, the water coming out of the spigot seemed to return to the "normal" color the following day. I will not drink water from this campground again because it can...