Fort Massac State Park

For $20 it is a pretty good deal as you get electricity, a nice, non sketchy level place, plenty of trees, a dump station, you can fill your water tank. However I found that most of the bathrooms were locked, they were kinda dirty, and the water was COLD! I had really been looking forward to a hot shower, so other than that it would have gotten 5 stars.

This was the first time we've ever used our camper and I couldn't have hoped for more! They have both 30 and 50amp sites. You should be able to tell by the size of the hookup.

BOOKING- If you book online, you must do so 3 days in advance. If you're a drop in, find a spot without a "card and date" at the site, and keep an eye out for when the host is on site! They'll have you pay then:) great for last minute stops

Showers are CLEAN AND HOT!!! All 5 of us showered without losing an ounce of hot water. We were greatly impressed by that alone.

Lots of trails and sites to see. Highly recommend stopping here!

Arrived in dark, host colected fee next morning. No reservations in January eploremoreil.com reservation site showed camp sites were walk in only this time of year.
Picked #13 turned out to be 30amp. Did find maybe 8 sites(8,9,16,18,31,34,42,45) that were 50amp. See reservation site details filter for 50amp if this is what you need. Most sites are paved but some gravel sites remain. Some water access spigot placed among camp sites or also near waste dump.

Very nice State Park by Illinois standards. It is obvious the state has allocated funds for updates here recently.

The CG roads and most of the sites have fresh asphalt giving you a nice level parking pad. The handful of sites which are not paved have fresh gravel…still giving you a nice level spot.

Shower house appears to be newer as well. Very nice and clean facilities.

I only stayed here one night after exploring the Shawnee National Forest. This was the last CG on my list to check out.

The park location is a bit odd as the entrance is right off Highway 45 going through Metropolis, however I will admit once you’re in the CG, you quickly forget how close to the main road you are.

No large amounts of road noise, etc to speak of.

Sites are electric only. Seems like several reviews were surprised by that…FYI most Illinois State Parks are electric only.

Fresh water fill up and dump station available on site.

We arrived right after sundown, hooked up to 30 amp (50 is also available scattered at various sites). Park was very empty, maybe only 8 total tent and RVers plus camp host. Sites mostly paved, some gravel, space wide enough to park your tow vehicle which was very nice. Groomed park like setting with many greenery and overhead trees. Comfort station although we did not walk into it. Potable water spigots throughout park. Large dump station with marked potable water. Camp host was not home the following morning so we dropped off our payment of $20 at the park office. We could not book online since it’s peak season and reservations are blocked 3 days ahead of time. Walk in’s are welcome though, just pay attention to any reservations forms clipped on site numbers. In response to the last reviewer, the noise you were hearing were the cicada’s among the trees I believe. Walk to the river and watch the barges, lots of trail options for a nice walk. Adding this location to my favorites.

After reading all the reviews here, I noticed no one mentioned anything about reservations. So I went to their website, where there was very little camping information. 'Click here for reservations'. So I did and it took me to ExploreMoreIL.com. When I went there, it said you needed to reserve at least 3 days in advance. Well, it was exactly three days in advance, so I tried. It showed every campsite open at $20 ea...until you entered dates...then it showed no campsites open! 'Unavailable'. So I tried other dates. All unavailable. So I called. Got a park employee that said the 3 day advance notice was for peak months, that right now it was first come, first served. That's why the reservations website wasn't working. He told me $30. I told him the website said $20 (plus some $5 surcharge thing). Asked about senior discounts. He didn't know anything about either one. So I went to the park, expecting to have to argue over $20 vs $30.
The campground host told me $20. Relieved. No arguing. Then he looked at my age on my driver's license and said, "$15 Mon thru Thur for seniors, $20 on weekends. $30 is only during holiday weekends." So I signed up for 3 weeknights, $45...and wound up staying for 9 days. It is that darn nice here.

Small, compact campground at only 50 sites plus maybe 10 more tent sites. Most sites are fairly close to your neighbor but there's a few with more space between. Lots of mature trees. Forest on 3 sides, more open state park grounds and the Ohio River on the other side. Nice, new, clean bathrooms which consist of 8 separate rooms. Yes, 8. Shower, sink and toilet in each room. You can lock the door and take as long as you want. Sites are either 30 or 50 amp. At least some of the sites are marked if they are 50. Small children's playground. Can't hook up to water, must be shared with other campers. LOTS of squirrels. 8 different times, day and night, 2-4 deer came into the campground. You learn to watch where you step! And thats it. Very simple, small, clean campground. In the woods...in a state park...within 500 feet of the Ohio River...with two trails, 2.5 and 8.7 miles long...with the remains of Fort Massac and a replica next to it...and a Visitor's Center/Museum...and a trout pond, aptly named 'Trout Pond'. And if that isn't enough, you can take the gravel road along the river, which goes under I-24, take a short hike or bike ride down to the river and view all the graffiti that generations of teenagers have displayed underneath the bridge. And if that isn't enough...yes, downtown Metropolis, Superman's home is less than 2 miles away with the 15 foot statue, streets named Truth, Justice and American Way, the Superman store and Museum, a few other stores with Superman items and other antiques, the Chamber of Commerce with its own museum/collectible/memorabilia that also sells Dippin Dots, the Noelle Neil/Lois Lane statue, the now vacant Metropolis Planet, a nearby cemetery where the Birdman of Alcatraz is buried and Harrah's Casino, right on the river...this is all within 4 miles of the campground...biking distance. Even closer...Big John grocery store with another big statue to rival that of Superman, Subway, Sonic, Dairy Queen, Hardee's. There is so much to see and do here, that I extended my stay from 3 to 9 days.

And there are few bad points...
- The showers are heated by tankless water heaters, so it takes time for the showers to heat up. The first one I went in was cold, then lukewarm, then cold again, then finally hot. The next one went from 5 mins of cold to all hot.
- No trash cans in the bathrooms. You're expected to bring your trash to the garbage cans outside.
- Despite the river being 500 feet away and downhill from the campground, during very heavy, extended rains, the river has come up and flooded out the campground.
- Homeless people live in the park. I was walking my dogs at 9:30pm and 6:30am, in the dark and was freaked out seeing a lone figure standing by a fire he had started at a park pavilion...right across the road from the campground.
- Hunting is allowed in certain areas of the state park, so take care if you are here Oct thru January.

That's really about it. 4.5 stars. I love it here.
I will be uploading many pictures.