Illini State Park

We stayed just one night in the Whitetail campground at Illini State Park. Our site was nice, quiet, and decently spacious. The electric situation is very strange, every two campsites share an electrical box. The parking pads are not close to the electrical boxes so bring an extension cord. I'd recommend bringing 50 feet, our 25 was too short. The tent sites at Great Falls are very nice and shaded with trees between them. The RV sites at Great Falls are on the river but very open. In Whitetail, the tent sites are very open but the RV sites have a bit more privacy, at least the sites in the loops. Great Falls had a lot of RVs, Whitetail had hardly anyone. There is a boat launch, lots of places to fish, and a consession stand with ice cream and other snacks. We brought our bikes and rode to the boat launch in one direction and down to the lock in the other. Round trip it was about 8 miles. Marseilles can be reached by long walk or bike ride and the town has some restaurants. We enjoyed our stay and will be back!

Beautiful camp with many sites located right along the Illinois River. We have been 1 of 4 campers seen during our stay. It’s a bit confusing, the IDNR website provides a link to “Reserve America,” & if you pick dates between November-April it appears that the park is “closed.” In reality, you aren’t able to make reservations during this time, it’s first come first serve. No water, it’s been turned off for the cold months. There is a dump area, but again, no water available right now. They offer recycling, which we have rarely seen when camping! There are 2 camping areas in this large park, but only one of them appears to be open. In the open area there are sites with electric ($18/night) and non-electric ($10/night). There is a shower house, but it’s closed for the winter. The pit toilets, are basic, but clean & well maintained. There are a number of day use areas with grills, shelters & picnic tables. We have found 2 hiking trails, as well as Lock #5 & a nice war memorial. We found the 1 geocache located in this park along one of the trails. It’s a nice easy walk over the bridge from the park into the town of Marseilles. The park ranger has made rounds. We will definitely come back here. Our cell service has been very good, so working remotely would be an option here!

We stayed in the wooded dry camping area of the Great Falls campground. It was $10. It would have been $20 with electricity. It was mid-week in October so it was pretty empty but most sites showed reservations for Friday and Saturday so be forewarned. We took a lovely 2.5 mile walk around the park which extends quite a ways down the river. Clean restrooms but low water pressure.

Stayed in the tent section with my teardrop. 50 is on a corner going in/out, but one of the larger lots. Downfall was it was basically dirt. Glad it didn't rain. Do not, I repeat, do not use the pit toilets in the tent section. Just plain nasty. I'll leave it at that. Down further by the RV section they have flush toilets and showers. Go there. In both areas, just a handful of sites that give you any room. The rest you are sitting on your neighbors lap. But will do in a pinch. Cool veterans memorial in the park itself.