Beach

Sankoty Lakes

Sankoty Lakes Resort in East Peoria brings a genuinely exceptional resort experience to the Illinois River Valley — built on the crystal-clear waters of the Sankoty Aquifer, one of the deepest and cleanest natural water sources in the Midwest, where spring-fed lakes have the remarkable clarity of a mountain trout stream in the flatlands of central Illinois. Twenty minutes from Peoria and two and a half hours from Chicago, Sankoty Lakes offers resort-quality amenities and a natural setting that consistently surprises guests who didn't know this caliber of Illinois camping experience existed. Accommodations range from glamping safari tents and well-appointed RV sites to upscale lakeside cabins sleeping up to eight guests — each with fully equipped kitchens, decks, and outdoor fire pits — and the exclusive 1840 Ranch House, a private guest property suited for larger groups and special occasion gatherings. The Woolly Bugger, Sankoty's signature on-site restaurant and bar, provides full-service dining and evening atmosphere that sets this resort clearly apart from conventional campground food. A beach pavilion and bathhouse, outdoor fireplace, free bicycles for guest use, picnic spots, a 24-hour front desk, and a coffee shop deliver service quality alongside the outdoor recreation. Pets are welcome at Sankoty Lakes Resort. The Sankoty Aquifer lakes provide a water recreation environment of genuinely unusual quality — the kind of visibility that makes kayaking, canoeing, and swimming feel like engagement with a natural aquarium rather than typical Midwest lake recreation. A dedicated fly-fishing trout stream on the property adds a specialty fishing experience alongside the lakes' broader angling, birdwatching, and hiking trails that keep guests occupied from dawn into the evening hours. Peoria, 20 minutes from the resort, offers more cultural depth than its Midwest city reputation sometimes suggests. The Caterpillar Visitors Center chronicles the engineering achievements of one of the world's great manufacturing companies in an interactive exhibition that resonates well beyond industrial tourism. The Peoria Riverfront Museum combines natural history, art, and a giant-screen theater in a well-funded facility anchoring the riverfront. The Peoria Zoo and the Historic District's restaurants and live music venues fill an evening excursion with ease. Starved Rock State Park, roughly an hour east, provides the Illinois River's most dramatic canyon scenery with 18 canyons, waterfalls, and trails for a full day of hiking. Sankoty Lakes Resort operates through the Illinois camping and resort season, with summer representing peak demand for the lakes' swimming, kayaking, and fishing recreation. The Woolly Bugger restaurant and the resort's premium amenity level have created a devoted local following — Sankoty lakes guests often describe the resort as a destination in its own right rather than a base camp for elsewhere. Reserve early for summer weekends and cabins, which fill ahead of RV and glamping tent availability.

Sun Retreats Rock River

44 RV Sites, 52 Tent Sites, 7 Cottages

Sun Retreats Rock River in Hillsdale, Illinois, offers 142 RV sites, seven cottages, and 52 tent sites on the Rock River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 55 feet behind a gated entrance. Deluxe waterfront and 50-amp pull-through categories join a splash pad, beach, mini-golf, and fitness center on concrete pads with patios. One hundred forty-two sites span deluxe water-and-electric 30-amp, deluxe water-and-electric 50-amp, deluxe water-and-electric 50-amp pull-through, and deluxe waterfront categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with site WiFi, sized to 55 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Seasonal concrete-pad sites with patios are the property's signature. Seven cottages and 52 tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, restrooms, showers, firewood, RV storage, and boat storage handle the practical side. The property was formerly Sunset Lakes RV Resort. An outdoor pool and splash pad anchor the summer, with a lake, beach, and boat docks supporting boating, paddle boats, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. Mini-golf, a fitness center, craft room, library, jumping pillow, gaga ball, tennis, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and corn hole fill the grounds, with walking trails, a playground, dog park, snack bar, and on-site dining besides. Pets are welcome. The Quad Cities sit 15 minutes south, with the Rock River's limestone bluffs framing the property. Summer is the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $45/night

Muncie RV Resort

40 RV Sites, 2 Cabins, 10 Tent Sites, 2 Yurts

Muncie RV Resort in Anderson, IN, offers 40 full-hookup RV sites, 2 cabins, 10 tent sites, and 2 yurts, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 100 feet. Site categories cover back-in 30/50-amp, back-in 50-amp with a deluxe patio, pull-thru 30/50-amp, pull-thru 50-amp, and pull-thru 50-amp with a deluxe patio, plus ADA-accessible sites. All carry water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. The resort is rated big rig friendly, and at 100 feet the pull-thrus take anything on the road. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, a dump station, and propane fills handle resupply, and there's a storm shelter on the property. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. The resort sits on about a mile of White River frontage, with a lake, pond, and beach for swimming, boating, kayaking, and paddle boats, plus an outdoor pool, a water park with inflatable toys, mini-golf, a clubhouse, on-site dining, volleyball, a playground, and walking trails. Hiking, fishing, and birding fill out the rest. Anderson sits in Madison County along the Mounds State Park corridor in north-central Indiana. Rates for every accommodation type are on the booking page. Deluxe patio sites are limited — reserve early.

from $27/night

Jellystone Park™ Pittsfield

90 RV Sites, 52 Cabins, 5 Tent Sites, 4 Glamping Sites, 6 Cottages

Jellystone Park Pittsfield in Illinois offers 90 RV sites, 52 cabins, five tent sites, and four glamping sites on a private lake, with 30 and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted to 60 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year. Back-in and pull-through categories at both amperages join a splash pad, beach, jumping pillow, and boat rentals. Ninety sites run in back-in 30-amp, back-in 50/30-amp, and pull-through 50/30-amp categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, sized to 60 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Fifty-two cabins, five tent sites, and four glamping sites make the lodging inventory unusually deep. A general store, boutique shop, laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. Day passes run 11am to 6pm and include the jumping pillow, wibit, pool, slide, splash pad, paddle boards, and kayaks. A splash pad and outdoor pool anchor the summer, with a private lake, beach, and boat rentals supporting swimming, boating, paddle boats, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, inflatable water toys, and fishing. A jumping pillow, arcade, game room, gem mining, sports courts, volleyball, gaga ball, horseshoes, golf cart rentals, walking trails, hiking, biking, a recreation center, playground, pavilion, dog park, bar, and snack bar fill the rest. Pike County sits where the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers define the western Illinois landscape. Summer is decisively the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $43/night

Natural Springs Resort

98 RV Sites

Natural Springs Resort in New Paris, Ohio, offers 68 RV sites across 46 acres around a 12-acre spring-fed lake, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 72 feet. Full-hookup and water-and-electric back-in categories at both amperages join a water park, splash pad, beach, and boat ramp — with scuba diving on the lake. Sixty-eight back-in sites span 30-amp, 50-amp, water-and-electric 30-amp, and water-and-electric categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 72 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Confirm your tier before booking, as the water-and-electric categories do not carry sewer at the site. Seventy-two feet is generous for the region. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. A water park and splash pad anchor the summer, with an outdoor pool alongside. The spring-fed lake is the property's centerpiece, with a beach, boat ramp, paddle boats, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, and scuba diving — the clarity of spring-fed water makes diving viable here in a way it simply is not on most Midwestern lakes. Basketball, volleyball, biking, golf cart rentals, and a playground fill the rest. Pets are welcome. New Paris sits in Preble County's western Ohio countryside, a few miles from the Indiana border and within comfortable driving range of Richmond, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus. Summer is decisively the season. Reserve well ahead for June through August weekends.

from $48/night

Pin Oak RV Resort

144 RV Sites, 5 Cabins

Pin Oak RV Resort in Villa Ridge, Missouri, is a full-hookup resort with cabin rentals, an outdoor pool, a lake with a beach, a recreation center and mini-golf, 40 miles west of St. Louis on the historic Route 66 corridor. Sites take rigs up to 65 feet, and each site allows a maximum of eight people. Full-hookup RV sites accommodate rigs to 65 feet. Cabin rentals serve guests traveling without an RV, and personal mailboxes and on-site laundry support the longer-stay and seasonal guests the resort draws. A general store stocks camp basics, propane fills and firewood are available, and bathrooms and showers are on site. WiFi reaches the property. No wristbands are required to use the amenities; visitors pay $10 per car and check in at the office, and they are welcome to use the pool and other facilities. On-site recreation is the resort's strength. An outdoor pool and a lake with its own beach cover the swimming season, and fishing is available on the property's lake and pond. Mini-golf, a ball field, sports courts, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes and shuffleboard spread across the grounds, with an arcade, ping pong and a craft room in the recreation center for indoor days. Walking and hiking trails run the property, a playground and a covered pavilion serve families and groups, and a fenced dog park is on site. Pets are welcome. Meramec Caverns is 10 miles east in Stanton — a 4.6-mile cave system with five stories of limestone formations and the barn-billboard advertising legacy that made it Route 66's most pre-advertised roadside stop. The Meramec River sustains one of Missouri's most actively paddled float corridors, and Hermann's German-heritage wineries are 35 miles west. Pin Oak operates year-round. Spring and fall are the most comfortable seasons for Route 66 driving, cave touring and Meramec floating, and the winter months carry steady snowbird traffic using I-44 south. Reserve ahead for summer peak and for the April-to-October float season.

from $40/night

Jellystone Park™ Mark Twain Lake

7 RV Sites, 33 Cabins, 12 Tent Sites, 1 Lodge

Jellystone Park at Mark Twain Lake in Monroe City, MO, offers 7 full-hookup pull-through RV sites and 34 cabin and lodge rentals, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 45 feet. Every RV site is a pull-through carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. With 34 cabins against 7 RV sites, this is a cabin resort that also takes RVs, so book the pull-throughs early. Laundry, a general store, a boutique shop, firewood, golf cart rentals, and both RV and boat storage cover the practical side. Pets are welcome. Your per-person camping fee includes access to the Water Zone, the RV park pool, theme weekends, and hourly activities listed in the campers app. The recreation is the full Yogi Bear program: a water park with a lazy river and splash pad, an outdoor pool, mini-golf, laser tag, a jumping pillow, gaga ball, a recreation center, sport courts, volleyball, basketball, horseshoes, corn hole, gold panning, a snack bar, a bar, and live music. Monroe City sits on Mark Twain Lake, an 18,600-acre reservoir on the Salt River in the northeastern Missouri prairie. Rates are on the booking page. Seven pull-throughs at a resort this size means they go first.

from $25/night

Fireside Resort Campground

15 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 2 Onsite RV/Trailers

Fireside Resort Campground in Greenville, Ohio, offers 17 RV sites and a cabin in Darke County's western Ohio farmland, with 30 and 50-amp water-and-electric service and rigs accepted to 50 feet. A pond with a beach, a jumping pillow, and — unusually — an on-site storm shelter round out a small wooded resort, with RV rentals available for guests without a rig. Seventeen sites carry water and electric on 30 or 50-amp in back-in and pull-through configurations, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Note there are no sewer hookups at the sites, though a dump station is available. Transcend and Zinger RV rentals plus a cabin serve guests arriving without equipment. A general store, laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, and a storm shelter is on site — a genuinely reassuring feature in western Ohio. An emergency phone sits in the camp store hallway by the restrooms. Check-in is 3pm and check-out 11am; all guests must stop at the camp store before going to their site. A pond with a beach anchors the on-site recreation, with swimming, fishing, and a jumping pillow for families. Sports courts, basketball, walking trails, hiking, biking, and picnicking fill the grounds, with a community fire pit for evenings, on-site dining, and planned activities through the season. The dark rural sky makes for good stargazing, and the property also serves as a wedding venue. Pets are welcome. Greenville sits in the upper Great Miami River valley, with Annie Oakley heritage sites, Fort Jefferson, and Fort Recovery all within day-trip range. Summer is peak — reserve ahead for weekends at a 17-site property.

from $36/night

Rossburg Acres Campground

24 RV Sites, 12 Tent Sites

Rossburg Acres Campground in Rossburg, OH, offers 24 RV sites and 12 tent sites, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 70 feet. Sites come in two categories, back-in 30-amp and back-in 50-amp, each carrying water and electric with a fire pit and picnic table. There's no sewer at the site, so plan on the on-site dump station. At 70 feet the sites take a long rig. A bathhouse with showers and a playground are on the property, and pets are welcome. The recreation punches well above 24 sites: mini-golf, a beach, a pond, sport courts, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, gaga ball, swimming, fishing, biking, and planned activities through the season. Rossburg sits in the quiet farmland of Darke County in western Ohio, roughly equidistant between Dayton and Fort Recovery. The campground has been family-owned since 2003 and runs on the tagline "Where Friends and Memories Are Made." Rates for sites and tent spots are on the booking page. Summer weekends and event weeks book first.

from $45/night