Crab Orchard Lake

TheeseRfacts

They'll charge you twice and then pretend like they didn't so I've got over $250 just up in the air until their bank says it didn't come through even though my bank shows it clearly did twice?! Sites are wide open and I'm backed up to a lake which is great except for all the geese droppings but I guess that comes with the territory and it's almost twice as much as giant city campground... the showers are much cleaner but in just repair and they leak all over the floor.

Michelle “Shelly” Callico

Our very first time camping here at Crab Orchard Lake this past weekend. It is my new favorite campground! The host were excellent in every aspect. The sites were great. When they say you can see water from most rv sites, they mean it! The bath houses were the cleanest I've ever seen at a camp ground. The fishing was awesome! We fished at night also but the catfish were of good size and kept breaking our lines. Next time I'm bringing a better pole. If you forgot something, they probably have it in their office/store. We needed ice and worms and of course the kiddo "needed" and ice cream sandwich. Yep they had it. I was gonna close up our lil travel trailer for the winter, but I think I'm going to convince the hubby of one more trip here before we do.

Abigail Bean

We stayed at a primitive site with 2 tents and 5 people. The GOOD: Beautiful location, there is a beach with a restroom hut with showers, a small store with basic needs, good quality firewood. The campground is quiet, fire pits and picnic tables are maintained. Could use a few more trees for shade in the primitive site. The BAD: Parking, trash, potable water, distance to restrooms, we think primitive camping here is a back burner for the management team. We were not very happy with the management. They were pleasant enough but when we asked about potable water none of them knew what we were talking about. Once we told them what it meant, they said we could go to a local gas station…. The primitive-only area shows a gravel road on the map that no longer exists. You are supposed to park your cars at a small lot and walk over to your site which technically makes it a pack-in because of the distance. The road used to be there but was grown over by grass under the previous owners and the “new” management never fixed it. We were told to park our cars on the gravel so we pulled onto the field area where the grown over gravel is and they came by later told us to move our car to a gravel parking area 100m away. They really need to re-gravel the existing road there. The closest restroom is a 6 minute walk away by the beach. Or a 7 minute walk in the other direction. But there is plumbing at a fish station by the primitive site, so I’m hoping they add in a single all gender toilet on the back of it. The paved roads by the rv/beach area are not super well maintained and can be a bit treacherous at night. The primitive site has holes all over the place , including an old culvert that was left there after the ditch was filled in which led to big holes, and tree stumps cut just above ground that weren’t removed making it dangerous to walk without a flashlight at night or even when you aren’t watching your feet in the daytime. There was trash that hadn’t been picked up all over our site, including glass pieces, a few deck screws, and various metal and plastic debris. Overall, we won’t be coming back here but we did have a good weekend.

Diane Schwinn

I'm not sure about the management of this place, but the weather has been beautiful and we are having a good time.

Adam Linnemann

Very nice campground! Each campsite is nice and level. Grounds appear to be well kept and has one of the most beautiful sunsets you can see while camping. Fishing off the banks right at the campground is a huge plus. My son caught a nice bass this evening around sunset. Highly recommend! Will be back!

Timothy M. Commean

Rude and unprofessional staff, and impossible to understand how they operate. Embarrassed me with one of my clients, we were just driving around a took some pictures. We left people alone. I really don't know what the big deal was and why the mangers were so bent out of shape over nothing. It's not worth their rude and crabby attitudes. If you want business you need to be user friendly not a complete crab case.

Christina

It is convenient to the interstate, but wouldn't want to stay longer than just a one night layover. Lots of mud following several days of rain. Some sites have picnic tables but not all. Looked like a lot of workers were using the campground while they're in the area. Very convenient to Marion Illinois and the Veterans Hospital.

Jay Clem

Beautiful area with great views, great bird sightings many different species. Seemed to be great fishing. Grounds clean except ditches along the path where i found several discarded black rubber gloves while walking my dog. Staff not friendly or engaging or informative when asking about camping. I was pointed to a bulletin style wall and told to take pictures of the map and which sites were First come first serve. A nearby tenting family was away from their site when the winds picked up started to blow the tent away. So I, knowing they require phone number at check-in, informed at the staff and asked them to call and let them know. They said they would. They showed up and had never gotteb the call. I stayed in site A11. Not level gravel parking for RV, was given minor unnecessary trouble from staff about the way I parked. Lake access from site is rocky. Would camp again if not for the very unprofessional and mostly unpleasant staff interactions.

Scotty Tucker

We loved our stay at this campground. We had a beautiful view of the lake. It was a very quiet campground. The restrooms were very clean. We wish we could have stayed longer. To see our adventures subscribe to SIMPLE LIFE BIG ADVENTURES on YouTube.

Beth Simondet

We just got here to the campground....All we can say is we are quite impressed! The office people are soooo friendly and go up and above to be accomadating, Prices are so cheap per night ( $25 for full hookups and $20 for water and electric sites) . Our site is so spacious which is great and the VIEWS from our RV are panoramic and Amazing of the beautiful lake!! It is so quiet here, which is so refreshing! You can hear traffic noise very lightly in the distance. Towns are close by in case you need to grab anything. Facilities are nice too. Only downfall that we see so far is they don't have Laundry here, so we will have to go yo town to do that. All in all we think it's going you be a great stay!!!