Cedar Lake Campground

Friendly staff and nice camp ground with parking on the grass.
The restrooms could use some tender, loving care.

Campsites are simple with gravel base and small corrals for each site. People are super friendly and there are lots of woods surrounding the facility. Very quiet at night. Water pressure can be very low at peak times in late afternoon. We use the internal pump of our camper to help out. Have heard lots of birds and have seen lots of butterflies. Good location with most shawnee national forest sites within 20 to 30 minutes. Great place for a fall campout.

Word on the street is that this is the biggest horse-friendly campground in all of illinois, I can't confirm that as my tape measure isn't big enough, but the place is definitely big. Jessica is wonderful and always on top of things, the lake is beautiful and the hiking likewise. Would definitely recommend this place for anyone looking to have a nice relaxing time.

Made the reservation, received no confirmation. Contacted them 2 weeks prior to our stay to make sure we had reservations, as they had charged my card, but no confirmation. Received as email that we did have reservations and she said she was sending confirmation. Again, no confirmation as to what site we were supposed to have. We got to the campground at 3:30 in the afternoon. No one in the office and no cell service. Asked a friendly couple if they could help us. They tried contacting Jessica, but to no avail. We went up the hill and finally got cell service. A friend contacted a friend who knew someone at the campground. Found out we were supposed to be in 127. We parked. We were there for 2 nights and in that time period we never saw a person. Office was never open when we drove through. Getting to the dump station was a challenge as there was a 5th wheel parked in the area. The sad part is that this campground could be a beautiful campground, except the sites are way too close together. It definitely was not worth $36+ per night. Grassy sites, but level. No we won't be staying there again. Found a state park not too far from there that is much nicer and for less money.

Stayed here 4 days in an RV for the 2024 eclipse. The sites are roomy. The hookups are in pairs and we needed an extra hose and extension cord to get hooked up. Some of the sites like ours didn't have gravel and took a little more care than usual to get level.
The owner Jessica was very helpful and pleasant to work with. She seemed to be working hard to make sure the guests were taken care of.
I only saw one bathhouse, but didn't really use it. The showers didn't have a place to set a bag outside the bathing area itself. There was a hook on the wall beside one stall.
There are horse facilities and a show area in the campground. We are not horse folks, so I can't really provide a review of those.
There is WiFi available at the office. Some of the close campsites might be able to use it, but I think most of the campground would be out of range. Cell service was intermittent at best.
There are at least 3 state parks within 30 minutes and several other Shawnee Forest sites to see.
The Tunnel Hill Bike Trail is about 4 mi away if biking or walking is of interest. There are other bike / horse trails close by as well, but I didn't investigate them in detail.