Clinton Lake State Recreation Area

Access from I-74 is about 7-8 miles, Hwy 54 is rough. Did not have to stop at office, drove to site and our tag was there. Site E2 is on a 6 site loop. Well spaced from your neighbors. The full hookup utilities (30 amp, water and sewer) worked well. Water pressure was low 30 psi.

Lots of hiking trails in the state recreation area. From the paved bike trail to trails in the woods. No noise except one night a group of raccoons showed up, and the dog didn't like them. They were making enough noise to wake me up.

AT&T cell service was fair, 3-4 bars of 4G changing to 2 bars of 5G. We needed the WeBoost to stream.

We had a fairly large space on A loop. Considerable clearing of brush had been performed since our last visit Memorial day. Did not use toilets or showers. One of 2 dump stations was closed off, don't know why. Park is not heavily used on weekdays, making for a quiet and peaceful experience. Do come well stocked as it is 10 miles into town.

The spots are decently sized with concrete pads. Our pad was at the edge of the loop so we did not have people on both sides, but the tall weeds right next to us housed bugs. We used our fogger and that cut down the biting and itching. Our pad had some mud build-up in the corner that we had to avoid, but the other pads looked mud free. There is little privacy between sites, but there is plenty of trees between the loops. Having a sewer hook-up at our site was a game changer. No waiting in line for the dump station. The bait shop and restaurant were convenient to have nearby. I used the trails every day for a run or hike. It was our primary route to get to fishing spots along the shore. The trails were my favorite part of our stay. I did not use the shower house, but the restrooms were clean. Some of the other loops seemed louder, but ours was pretty quiet.

We have camped here previous years and had a good time. However we it here for the first time this year and man has it gone down hill. The host is crazy and can be rude, he didn't even ask who we were. Just tried to be funny. Our campsite was dirty. We had to pick up a bunch of trash. On the way to the bathrooms we had to step over dog poo. The bathroom in c loop should just be torn down. The brick is falling apart. Hubby said someone pooped on the floor in the stall on the men's side. We went swimming and there were people drinking and smoking weed on the beach and not even trying to hide it. Funny they closed the bathrooms at the beach at 6:30 to clean. That man did not clean them. He just locked the doors and left. Went to shower after swimming at the shower house by the host and hubby says it smells like sewage and there was poop on the floor in the shower house as well. Probably will find somewhere also to go the rest of the season. We camped at Clinton Lake State Recreation Area in a Travel Trailer

I have stayed here dozens of times over the years its always a good time. the beach in the summer time is always a good time. there is a very nice boat ramp in the park. lots and lots of miles of hiking trails in the park and down by the lake. Clinton lake is a fantastic lake for fishing boating and water skiing. If you are here for the camping and just the camping there are a few sites that are full hook ups. its a grate place to go but there is not much around if u happen to things from the grocery store. the closest Walmart is 30mi away give or take. the one in Clinton was closed. pay attention to which loop you stay in many of them have different rules from no alcohol or 24hr quite hrs... there tend to be 6 or 8 host on site when the park is hoping there is at least one loop open year round but when its off season there will be no host. some weekend there are big groups like Boy scouts or family reunions.

I’ll qualify this by saying I don’t typically stay in state parks or campgrounds where the main occupants are people with RVs and travel trailers. If that’s your thing (as it actually used to be mine in a former life), then you’ll probably like this place. If you’re traveling through Illinois and somewhere in Central Illinois is about where you’d like to stop, then this might be okay for you too. That’s what I was doing and it worked ok for that purpose. If traveling through this area again, however, I think I’d try Weldon Springs and see if it has a more chill vibe.

Also—they do have alcohol free sections of the campground and that would have been ideal for me, but those spots were booked.

The good news is that there’s a pretty awesome 10mi hiking trail loop about 10mins drive away, as well as a place to launch a kayak or SUP (or canoe). I took full advantage of its proximity to the North Fork Access area.

This campground was so peaceful. Much larger than we had anticipated. We’re able to get in on a Monday evening with no reservations. We understand this is not the case on weekends. Just here overnight so didn’t get to experience the lake. Host got us all checked in, very helpful and suggested a good site for us. We would stay here again.

Stopped in for just one night on our way South. What a great spot, we will have to come back and spend more time. The park is surrounded by wetlands and prairie with loads of wildlife- within a few minutes we saw deer, rabbit, snakes, birds, even a group of Turkey Vultures along the shore of the lake. Being a Monday, even though it is still August, there is hardly anyone here, they do have events here and it is a big area for hunting, so I imagine they get very busy on weekends and while schools are out during the summer. Vault toilets, but we didn't use either those or the shower rooms. They have some full hookup sites for $25, but just for the night, we opted for a large site down close to the water with only electric. Not a sole in our area at all, we had the place to ourselves. Driving through the park, it appears that all the sites are large and there is lots of room between campers. The camp host is very nice and helpful. We also stopped down at the beach area to grab dinner at Boondocks, a little grill with inside and outside seating near the boat ramp. Lovely place in general, especially for the price. Lots of bike/walking/running trails wind through the area, and easy access for water sports, we saw several pontoon boats the evening we were there. It is tucked out of the way, not right on the interstate, but both google maps and excellent signage on the roads got us there very easily.