Lowden Memorial State Park

It is the middle of the week. There are very few other campers here, but on the weekend all the reservable spots are reserved. Cost is $20 with electric hook up. Water and dump are available but not to hook up to. Some walking trails. The trail to the river is .3 miles and has a pretty steep hill for this area. The river has a muddy bank with some frogs to catch and release. There is also a small dock out into the water. We dangled our feet into the water to cool them off.

Verizon voice was fine, but data was spotty. I teach online. I was barely able to teach my classes. I will plan our next visit when I do not have classes.

There is not much space between sites and no privacy, but there are many trees and shade. We did not use the restrooms to know about them.

The park is a nice little retreat away from every day life. The sites are a little tight so scope out the trailer placement well before backing it in. I pulled in close to dusk and was unfortunately setting up at night. I backed in a little closer to the fire pit than I had wanted to, Measuring it off my steps, I was about 8ft away from the fire pit. We kept the fire to one side and one, two logs at the most. The little food stand in the park had reasonable prices, and good root beer floats. The trails in the park from the ones we traveled were well marked and easily navigated. However we did see some trails that were marked a little tougher of a trek but having a double stroller we did not go down those trails. The fellow campers around us were very kind and respectful. It was great to meet other fellow campers and have some coffee with new friends, at a 6 foot distance, but it was a normalcy that has been missing for a few months during this pandemic. I look forward to returning

Exceptionally nice state park. Very clean. Close, but just far away enough town. A lot of shade, don’t plan on your satellite dish working. The western section of the park has smaller, uneven sites that can be difficult to get into depending on length. The online map doesn’t show any of this. The eastern side of the park (closed during the winter) has sites that are easier to back into that are level. Fantastic area to walk and for kids. Park staff put considerable time into maintaining its beauty. The downside, there is a lot of vehicle traffic that goes to the overlook/statue as well as to Taft Campus. As much as I dislike speed bumps, this park needs them. We stayed in March, I’m sure the traffic gets worse as the weather gets better Would definitely stay again. 40’ Class A

Reserved site 54, sight unseen (you often have no information when reserving thru Reserve America, unless you had previous experience with the campground).
Was the most awful site to try to get into.
Husband tried to back in, however, there was a sign post directly across site, that almost hit the truck. Could not get in. (host said that was the most difficult site they had, duh)
Was given the option of two other sites that were uneven and muddy as h**l. (sites 66 and 68)
Would probably not ever camp there in an RV. The sites were extremely close together as compared to other Illinois state parks.
Had it been any day other than a Friday, probably would have had other sites as options...
Forfeited fees paid. Since were were on our last leg of trip, headed home.
Host couldn't ( or wouldn't) refer us to other campgrounds in the area.

Nice drive through the country to Lowden Memorial State Park. Friendly staff, very clean park with nice clean bathrooms and showers. We loved all the beautiful, mature trees. We had to do some jockeying to get our 38' Monaco Knight into our site between the trees, but it was worth it. We caravanned with friends, we were in site 50 they in 52, both 30 amp sites (as were most). The primary things to do are easy hikes on beautiful trails, seeing the Blackhawk statue, taking the stairs down to the Rock River and water sports. There's not much privacy between sites, but we always set out extra chairs to meet people anyway. It's a beautiful, inexpensive place to stay and we'll be back .