Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area

A bit off the beaten path just over the border with Wisconsin. Was here on October 13. The hard wood trees were putting on a colorful show. Mid week and there were about 10 or so other RVs. All the sites in this campground, Hilltop, have electricity. Some have 50 amp . Water is available through out the park at various spigots. Dump station and shower use include with camping fee. Both were well kept and clean. Roads are paved. Sites are mostly flat with gravel. A few of the sites, especially the ones away from the center had slopes to them. But for the most part you could back in and not have to do much or anything to be level.

I spent a lot of time in Lena during my childhood, so Lake Le-Aqua-Na has special significance. My family used to get ice cream flurries at the Lena Drive-Inn down the street, then drive slowly through this park at dusk, looking for deer at the salt licks.

The campground is spacious, $20/night, electric hookups at every site. Most sites are not super level, but many have shade. There’s a separate campground for tents.

They’ve temporarily drained the lake to clear out some of the silt and are planning to do major repairs to the roads over the next year, so many areas may be closed in the near future.

Sweet Gum Trail is a nice walk. Just enjoy the vibe of this special park!

I stayed here on the weekend before Memorial Day and there were only about 12-15 other campers here. I was a nice campground--lots of grass and trees. The electric-only sites were reasonably spaced apart, but somewhat unlevel. There was a fire pit/grill at every site. Very quiet and the camp hosts were very nice. They had some maps and firewood for sale. Good dump station. I didn't need water so didn't use any of the sources available. The bathrooms/showers were very clean and the hot shower was good. The hiking trails were nice but none are near the water. The park road going to the campground was pretty rough. Overall it was a good experience.

Lake Le Aqua -Na State Recreational Area

This is a pretty state park area especially in the fall. Summer could be busy as it is near the Lake. I was there in September and another time in October so really not that many campers. In 2012, the summer was a hot one in Illinois, and many lakes including this one had green algae so no swimming. This may be one of the reasons it wasn't quite so busy. I probably like some of the end sites best.

Hiking trails from campground were nice and hike at Apple River Canyon! Kayaked the Pecotonia River (Farwell Bridge to Sumner Park). At Sumner Park there is a dam, but several of my crazy friends went down it without injury. Since Q-dog would probably follow me over it, I just put out before the dam.