Camping in Illinois is often a disheartening experience. Most campgrounds consist of unshaded grassy expanses, and though Starved Rock State Park boasts scenic gorges, its campgrounds are amid fields and woods a few miles away, where the views are mostly of RVs.
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Chain O’ Lakes State Park (Spring Grove, 847-587-5512) is popular thanks to its rowboat rentals, bobber fishing, and proximity to Chicago, which attracts campers with loud stereos and crowds on summer weekends. Yet sandhill cranes grace the park’s marshes, and the Turner Lake South campground features some secluded sites with dense vegetation.
Perhaps because it’s part of the Vermilion County Conservation District (vccd.org) and not a state park, few people know about the Forest Glen Preserve (Westville, 217-662-2142). Located about 170 miles south of Chicago along the Indiana line, the park includes a rugged 11-mile backpacking trail that traverses woodlands and prairies. A 72-foot-high observation tower overlooks the Vermilion River valley; the east camp offers three secluded sites on a tall ridge. Don’t let the flatlands on the drive down fool you; the trails are relentlessly steep.
Sand Ridge State Forest (Forest City, 309-597-2212), south of Peoria, has a 44-mile network of trails on sand dunes. Backpacking on sand makes for some serious trudging, but if you like solitude this is the place: I hiked 14 miles on a March weekend and saw only one other person. There is a car-camping area on the site; in addition to the sand prairie and mixed woodlands, the vast pine plantations evoke the north woods of Wisconsin in places. The Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge in Havana is a short drive away.
