Swimming

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.

Lakeside Timbers RV Campground

126 RV Sites

Lakeside Timbers RV Campground in Neoga, Illinois, offers 126 full-hookup RV sites across 18 lakefront acres on Lake Mattoon, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 80 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year. Waterview, field view, and interior categories join a standard tier, with a marina, boat ramp, outdoor pool, and general store. One hundred twenty-six back-in sites run in 30/50-amp full-hookup, full-hookup field view, full-hookup interior, and full-hookup waterview categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, sized to 80 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Naming categories by outlook — water, field, or interior — tells you what you are booking, and 80 feet accommodates the longest coaches with a tow. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The store's provisions go well beyond standard camping supplies. A marina and boat ramp open the lake for boating, with an outdoor pool, game room, pavilion, dog park, swimming, and picnicking filling the rest. Wine and beer tasting is nearby. Pets are welcome. Lake Mattoon sits in the agricultural lake country of Cumberland County, where east-central Illinois's flatlands open onto one of the region's most productive recreational lakes. Effingham, Mattoon, and Charleston are all close, with I-57 and I-70 within a short drive. Summer lake season drives the heaviest demand. Reserve well ahead for June through August weekends.

from $35/night

Hickory Grove Campground & RV Park

11 RV Sites

Hickory Grove Campground & RV Park in Sheffield, Illinois, offers 11 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 90 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, in Bureau County's Illinois River valley. Back-in and pull-through categories join tent camping, cabins, walking trails, and a dog park. Eleven sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp in back-in and pull-through configurations, sized to 90 feet. The 90-foot capacity is generous for a park this size and handles a long coach with a tow comfortably. Tent camping and cabins round out the accommodations. Clean restrooms, showers, and laundry handle the practical side. At 11 sites, reserve rather than counting on availability. Pets are welcome. A playground, dog park, and walking trails fill the grounds, with hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, horseshoes, and picnicking from the area. Boating and a state park are nearby. Sheffield sits in the rolling agricultural and woodland countryside of north-central Illinois, between the Hennepin and Walnut river communities in the Illinois River valley's northern corridor. The Illinois and Mississippi Canal State Trail runs nearby, and the Bureau County landscape carries good hunting and fishing alongside day-trip range across the region. The campground serves the Illinois season, with summer travel and fall hunting both drawing steadily. Spring and fall deliver the most comfortable conditions in the river valley. With 11 sites, reserve ahead for holiday weekends.

from $63 $55/night

Camp Lakewood Campground

52 RV Sites, 3 Tent Sites

Camp Lakewood Campground in Effingham, Illinois, offers 52 RV sites and three tent sites within a mile of both I-70 and I-57, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 120 feet. Premium pull-through categories, including one with a patio, join full-hookup and water-and-electric back-in tiers, with an outdoor pool, boat ramp, and game room. Fifty-two sites span back-in 30-amp, back-in 30/50-amp, back-in water-and-electric, premium pull-thru, premium pull-thru with patio, and pull-thru 30/50-amp categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with site WiFi, sized to 120 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. One hundred twenty feet is among the most generous capacities anywhere and accommodates anything on the road. Confirm your tier, as the water-and-electric category does not carry sewer at the site. Three tent sites round out the lodging. A laundry, propane fills, dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. If you arrive after the office closes with a reservation, your name will be on an envelope with your site details. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a boat ramp for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing, and a game room, playground, and swimming filling the rest. Pets are welcome. Effingham is the crossroads city of downstate Illinois, where I-70 and I-57 meet — one of the most convenient overnight stops in the Midwest. Demand tracks interstate traffic rather than a season. Reserve ahead for holiday travel periods.

from $35/night

Terre Haute Campground

35 RV Sites, 7 Cabins, 5 Tent Sites

Terre Haute Campground in Terre Haute, Indiana, offers 35 RV sites, seven cabins, and five tent sites with 30 and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted to 89 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Every RV site is pull-through, including premium categories with patios, alongside an outdoor pool, fitness center, and clubhouse in Vigo County. Thirty-five pull-through sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 30-amp, 50-amp, and 30/50-amp service, sized to 89 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Premium categories add a patio. Every site pulling through means no backing after a long day on I-70, and the 89-foot capacity handles large coaches with a tow. Seven cabins and five tent sites round out the accommodations. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, RV storage, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, with WiFi throughout. Late arrivals are covered: if you have a reservation and arrive after the office closes, your name will be on an envelope by the front door. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a fitness center, clubhouse, and game room open through the season. Sports courts, basketball, horseshoes, walking trails, a playground, a dog park, and a community fire pit fill the grounds, with planned activities besides. Pets are welcome. Terre Haute sits on the Wabash River at the Illinois-Indiana border, on the US-40 and I-70 corridors. The Lincoln Heritage Trail and Indiana's covered bridge country are both within day-trip range. The campground serves both through-travelers and longer Wabash Valley stays. Summer is peak — reserve ahead.

from $40/night

Lost Acres RV Park

72 RV Sites

Lost Acres RV Park in Monticello, Indiana, offers 72 full-hookup back-in RV sites within a half mile of Indiana Beach Amusement Park, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 40 feet. A renovated outdoor pool, mini-golf, disc golf course, craft room, and library sit under mature oaks in White County's lake district. Seventy-two back-in sites run in 30-amp and 50-amp categories, both carrying water, sewer, and electric, sized to 40 feet. Note the 40-foot cap before booking a larger rig. A general store, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The office is open 9am to 5pm daily. A renovated outdoor pool anchors the summer, with mini-golf, a disc golf course, game room, arcade, clubhouse, craft room, library, billiards, basketball, volleyball, pickleball, corn hole, a pond for fishing, and a playground filling the grounds. Planned activities run through the season. The craft room and library are unusual finds at a park this size and give guests something to do on a rainy afternoon. Pets are welcome. The setting is distinctly Midwestern: wooded campsites under mature oaks, Lake Shafer and Lake Freeman a short walk away, and the rumble of Indiana Beach's roller coasters carrying across the water. The amusement park is a half mile off, which makes this practical for families who want to walk rather than drive and park. Summer is decisively the season, tracking the amusement park's operating calendar. Reserve well ahead for June through August weekends.

from $47/night

Sun Retreats Rock River

142 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 $49/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

NorthWoods RV Resort

100 RV Sites

NorthWoods RV Resort in Garden Prairie, Illinois, offers 100 full-hookup premium pull-through RV sites on the Kishwaukee River with 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet. An outdoor pool, spa, clubhouse, game room, and jumping pillow serve a riverside retreat between Chicago and Rockford. One hundred sites are premium pull-through throughout, carrying water, sewer, and electric on 50-amp, sized to 50 feet. A single-category, all-pull-through layout means no backing at any site and no guessing about what you are booking — every guest gets the same premium spec. Service is 50-amp, so bring an adapter if your rig runs 30. A laundry and propane fills handle the practical side. An outdoor pool and spa anchor the property, with inflatable water toys and a jumping pillow for children. A clubhouse, game room, billiards, basketball, horseshoes, playground, and snack bar fill the grounds, with fishing on the river and planned activities through the season. Pets are welcome. The Kishwaukee's wooded riparian corridor is the property's defining feature — a tree-canopied river environment that sets it apart from the open farmland of most of Boone County, and a genuine escape from both the Chicago and Rockford metropolitan areas without a long drive from either. Summer is the season in northern Illinois, when the pool, the river, and the activity program are all running. Reserve well ahead for July and August weekends, with easier availability through the spring and fall shoulders.

from $55/night

Jellystone Park™ Lake Monroe

103 RV Sites, 10 Cabins, 14 Tent Sites, 2 Onsite RV/Trailers, 7 Lodges

Jellystone Park at Lake Monroe in Bloomington, Indiana, offers 105 RV sites, 17 cabin and lodge units, and 14 tent sites with 30 and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted to 61 feet. Two swimming pools, a splashground with water slides, a jumping pillow, laser tag, and boat rentals deliver the full Jellystone family program beside Indiana's largest lake. One hundred five sites run in full-hookup and VIP full-hookup configurations carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 61 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Seventeen cabins and lodges — including a cottage in the woods with a loft — plus RV rentals serve guests without a rig, and 14 tent sites cover simpler camping. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, with WiFi throughout. Recreation is the product. Two swimming pools and a splashground with water slides anchor the summer, with a jumping pillow, laser tag, gem mining, and pedal carts besides. A recreation center, craft room, ball field, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, horseshoes, and gaga ball spread across the grounds, and boat rentals put guests on the lake. Golf cart rentals cover the property, with a snack bar, bar, and visiting food trucks for meals, plus a pavilion, playground, and walking trails. Pets are welcome. Bloomington sits on State Road 46 in Monroe County. Lake Monroe is the largest lake entirely within Indiana, Indiana University's campus is in town, and Brown County State Park's covered bridges and fall color are close. Summer families and IU parent weekends drive demand — reserve well ahead for both.

from $45/night

Elkhart RV Resort

36 RV Sites, 22 Cabins, 4 Tent Sites

Elkhart RV Resort in Granger, Indiana, provides full-service RV and camping accommodations in St. Joseph County's northwestern Indiana landscape — a campground positioned at the intersection of South Bend's urban amenities, the University of Notre Dame's nationally significant cultural and athletic presence, and the broader northern Indiana recreation corridor that encompasses Amish country, the St. Joseph River, and the Indiana Dunes coast along Lake Michigan's southern shore. Granger's suburban position adjacent to South Bend gives the resort a practical accessibility that suits both through-travelers on the Michigan-to-Indiana highway corridor and destination guests arriving specifically for the Notre Dame experience. Full-hookup RV sites, premium tent sites, and cabin accommodations give guests a range of lodging options within a well-maintained campground that takes practical hospitality seriously — an on-site restaurant provides sit-down dining without requiring a vehicle trip to town, a convenience store handles snack and supply needs between outings, and free Wi-Fi, clean restrooms, and showers address the daily infrastructure needs of guests on extended stays. A swimming pool provides warm-weather recreation on camp, and the playground serves traveling families with younger guests. Pets are welcome. The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, three miles south of Granger, is one of the most architecturally distinctive and culturally significant university campuses in the United States — the Golden Dome, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Touchdown Jesus, and the broader campus's Gothic and collegiate landscape are worth a walking tour independent of any game-day visit. Notre Dame football home game weekends are among the most intensely anticipated events in the college football calendar and drive accommodation demand across all of northern Indiana's capacity — campground sites for home game weekends require advance reservation months ahead. Shipshewana, LaGrange County's Amish community hub approximately 40 miles east of Granger, is the center of one of the largest Amish settlements in the United States and provides a genuinely different pace and character from the South Bend area's urban energy — the Shipshewana Flea Market, horse-drawn buggy traffic, and the handcraft tradition of the LaGrange County Amish community have made the area one of Indiana's most consistently visited tourist destinations. The Indiana Dunes National Park on Lake Michigan's southern shore, accessible west of South Bend, adds one of the most surprisingly dramatic landscapes in the Midwest to the day-trip roster. Elkhart RV Resort operates through the Indiana camping season, with the combination of Notre Dame football in September through November and the broader Amish country tourism through spring and fall creating a multi-season demand structure that distinguishes northern Indiana campgrounds from purely summer-seasonal operations. Notre Dame home game weekends require the earliest advance planning of any campground booking in northern Indiana. The summer recreation season — Lake Michigan beaches, the Indiana Dunes National Park, and South Bend's River Lights district — drives June through August peak demand through a different visitor demographic than the football and Amish country audiences.

from $45/night

Muncie RV Resort

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

Muncie RV Resort in Anderson, Indiana, sits along a mile of White River frontage in Madison County — a campground with spacious full-hookup RV sites, cabin accommodations, and direct river access in north-central Indiana's Mounds State Park corridor, giving guests the combination of developed resort infrastructure and immediate natural river character that the White River's wooded Anderson-area banks provide in the agricultural Indiana landscape between Indianapolis and Muncie. The resort's White River position in the Tipton Till Plain's modest but genuinely pleasant wooded river valley creates the specific camping setting that distinguishes a riverfront property from the surrounding flat Indiana agricultural landscape's typical campground environment. Spacious full-hookup RV sites and cabin accommodations give guests the complete accommodation range from self-contained RV travelers to guests arriving without equipment for the Madison County outdoor and cultural experience. The mile of White River frontage gives the resort its defining natural amenity — river fishing, morning walks along the bank, and the sound of moving water that river-adjacent camping specifically provides — in a stretch of the White River that the surrounding conservation land and the nearby Mounds State Park's protected corridor keep in a natural character appropriate to its proximity to a major Indiana metropolitan market. Pets are welcome. Mounds State Park, immediately east of Anderson in Madison County, preserves 10 earthwork mounds built by the Adena and Hopewell cultures between 160 BCE and 1200 CE — the most accessible and most historically significant prehistoric earthwork site in Indiana, where the Great Mound's 9-foot height and 384-foot-circumference ridge earthwork represents a specific ceremonial landscape whose astronomical alignments and geometric precision reflect sophisticated cosmological knowledge. The park's 10 miles of hiking trails through forested ravines along the White River's scenic character give the historic site a natural recreation dimension that extends the visit well beyond the earthworks' historical interpretation. Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, 30 miles southwest of Anderson in Hamilton County's Noblesville, is the most immersive and most visited living history museum in Indiana — a Smithsonian Institution affiliate where costumed interpreters in the 1836 Prairietown village and the Civil War Journey exhibit engage visitors in first-person historical encounters that the museum's research-driven authenticity standards make more substantive than typical living history presentations. The adjacent Balloon Flight experience above the Hamilton County countryside provides an aerial perspective on the Indiana landscape that gives Conner Prairie a physical adventure dimension alongside its educational programming. Muncie RV Resort serves guests year-round in north-central Indiana's four-season climate, with the spring and summer season from May through September providing the most comfortable White River outdoor recreation conditions and the fall foliage season adding color to the river corridor's hardwood forest from October through early November. Indianapolis, 40 miles southwest, provides the major metropolitan entertainment access — the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the May racing season, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis (the world's largest children's museum), and the Indianapolis Symphony's Hilbert Circle Theatre programming — that gives the Anderson campground base a practical metropolitan day-trip dimension. Reserve sites ahead for the Indianapolis 500 in May and any major Madison County event weekends when north-central Indiana camping demand fills available accommodation.

from $27/night