From the write ups for the campground in southern Illinois it seemed that there would be camp sites with electrical and other services and basic sites without utilities. What was unclear was that the basic sites were on the other side of the park with no ability to park at your site. And it had latrines – not very well cared for latrines. Nice flush toilets and showers were located next to all of those sites with full utilities for all the people who already have flush toilets and showers in their rigs.
We choose a spot in the basic area and just set up in the parking lot. It was almost dusk and there was no one else there when we stopped on a weekday in early June on our way to see The Arch.
Cost for a basic site was only $8. Paying for the site can be a challenge though. There are no envelopes or collection box at the site. No one was at the Camp host site at the other end of the park when we stopped. Another camper in full-services section said someone would come around to collect. I guess they were not concerned with anybody stopping at the basic camping area because no one came around.
There are hiking trails and lake for kayaking. We did not check these out though as this was just an overnight stop for us.