Illini State Park, IL

Illini State Park is open all year. Reservations at ReserveAmerica.com are available April 1 – Oct 31st. During the winter months, all campsites are first come, first serve with payment due at the camp office drop box. In 2020, Sites without electricity are $8 and sites with electricity are $18 per night.

See our Winter Camping experiences at Illini SP.

Named for the native Americans who once inhabited the area, the 510-acre Illini State Park is located south of the Illinois River in Marseilles, IL. I80 has an exit. In the mid-1920s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a barge canal to bypass the rapids. The canal borders the park, and visitors can watch as large barges pass through the Marseilles Locks.  Less than a mile north of the park is the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal, completed in 1848 when the section from Marseilles to Morris opened. 

This time lapse video is mainly to show the campsite layout. We were on the Great Falls Loop, site 029. This site has a distant river view and is pretty private. The Illinois River front sites are the ones to have if you can reserve them. They are primarily camper sites without tree barriers. So, if you are tent camping like us, you might want to be on our side of the loop.

We have a tradition on these 1-night outings of picking up dinner at Wild Pita in Glenview. Such great camping food because its light, flavorful, doesn’t get cold and easy to eat at a campsite. We leave the city after work and as you can see, even the longest day of the year gets dark before we finish. Ryan started his Vegan eating at about this time and now we both get the Vegetarian Platter, A+. We highly recommend Wild Pita as a camp dinner. http://www.wildpitamediterraneangrill.com

Breakfast is pretty simple; coffee and oatmeal. These are hot summer days with a hike, so food is not the priority. Breakfast is usually a nice and relaxed time.

A few minutes along the Illinois River. See the Marseilles Dam as well as the river front camp sites along the Great Falls Loop. We are walking along the Marasottawa Trail.

The Marasottawa Trail along the Illinois River at Illini State Park and Campsites of the Great Falls Loop.