Reviews

Karla Bueso

It's a beautiful park. Nice hiking trails and many fishing spots alongside the Illinois River. The campground area is really nice but the pit toilets, the running toilets and faucets need to be updated and serviced. The faucets don't shut off most of the time, therefore thousands of gallons of water are being wasted every day. The lights in the woman's bathroom are burnt out excefor one, so bring your flashlight at night. Otherwise, the place is beautiful specially in the fall!

Jeremy Davis

Quiet State Park with beautiful views of the Illinois River. The area by Mallard Bay was especially scenic with many river access points and a hiking trail through the woods. There was hardly anyone else there during my visit. There's plenty of parking and the restrooms and the park itself were very clean and well taken care of.

Diana Hardegen

Nice park with view of the river. Some spots are a little too close but overall nice and quiet.

Kevin Crosson

We visited Illini SP for Spring Break again in 2025. The Forest Restoration work at the park is extensive. Much of the invasive Honeysuckle and Buckthorn have been cut down throughout the park. My family loves Illini SP. We come every year and camp in the Great Falls campground. We love the park as it is so beautiful, and we love the nearby communities of Marseilles, Ottawa, and Utica. Close to home, but what a great getaway to get closer to nature.

Dave Schurman

It is a great quiet campground. Only different thing is you're totally on your own with check in. There were no employees to help. That's definitely not a game breaker but without a campsite map it was challenging to find our site. Now that we know the layout we'll definitely go back.

Erin Raatjes

Camping was fine - the one bathroom with running water with two stalls for the entire camp ground - unless you want pit toilets. It was fine. Enjoyed being on the Illinois River. Driving in was very confusing - Google directions bring you into a closed road - people in "office" told us we missed signage... but were not helpful otherwise.

John Sefton

Great camping location. They have sites for tents, rvs, even a cabin or two. We have camped there a couple of times now, my sister and her family also camp there a lot. You can hike, bike, walk, fish, or boat. The concession stand has friendly and courteous people.

Michelle

It looks like a hurricane went through it. It’s dangerous. Don’t bring dogs or kids. I think the area in general is very stunning but I would say do not go here unless you brought a swamp boat, hunting gear and rock climbing gear. It looks abandoned after a hurricane came through it. Plus I live in the area and I always see cars trucks and other vehicles parked but never any people. And I drive a few times a week. Lastly I was going through the trails where I guess you can bring vehicles in and you can almost fall off the edge. No guard rails or safety. And I swore one time I saw a gator but maybe I was just shocked by the state of the place. It’s stunning area but just needs a lot of work. All in all I think it’s stunning place but I just get a bad vibe and feeling like something very bad happened and the exact feeling I get is, unsafe. If anyone wants to put a volunteer group to clean it up let me know. I just don’t like going there alone. I feel a tree could fall on my car literally or a gator could get me. Not saying there are gators there. It’s just the feeling I get.