Established Camping
Pere Marquette State Park Campground
About
State Park
Pere Marquette State Park is a nature lover's paradise. In addition to enjoying the spectacular views of the Illinois River and its backwaters from several points atop the bluffs, visitors can take advantage of a variety of year-round recreational opportunities, including horseback riding, camping, hiking, fishing, hunting and boating.
Pere Marquette's Visitor Center has a 3-D map of the park and wealth of other displays and exhibits concerning the Illinois River, wildlife habitat, local history and geology.
Fall color drives are popular along the wooded ravines and riverside roadways at and near Pere Marquette. In January and February, the park is a hot-spot for bald eagle watching. For many years, the park has hosted tours of the river bluffs and woods for visitors to get an up-close look at wintering bald eagles in the hundreds along the Mississippi River and lower Illinois River near the park.
Campers will find plenty to like at Pere Marquette, from camp sites and cabins to the popular Youth Tent Camp and three group camps. Campground reservations can be made at ExploreMoreIL.
The beautiful Pere Marquette Lodge and Conference Center is an ideal place to stay for a weekend or weekday getaway. Built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the lodge has been expanded and updated in recent years. The mammoth stone fireplace in the lobby soars to a roof height of 50 feet, and is said to weigh 700 tons. There are 50 spacious guest rooms and 22 stone guest cabin rooms.
While groups of 25 or more are welcome and encouraged to use the park's facilities, they are required to register in advance with the site office to avoid crowding or scheduling conflicts. At least one responsible adult must accompany each group of 15 minors. Pets must be kept on leashes at all times. Actions by nature can result in closed roads and other facilities. Please call ahead to the park office before you make your trip. We hope you enjoy your stay. Remember, take only memories, leave only footprints.
Location
Pere Marquette State Park Campground is located in Illinois
Directions
Pere Marquette State Park is located on Ilinois Route 100 (The Great River Road), about 18 miles west of Alton, Illinois. From Chicago: Take I-55 South to Exit 52 at Litchfield, IL Rt 16. Take Rt 16 West approx 49 miles to Jct of IL Rt 100. Proceed south on Rt 100 approximately 10 miles to the park. From St. Louis: Take I-270 North to US Hwy 367 North to Alton. Turn left on IL 143, proceed to 3rd stop light at IL Rt 100 and turn left. Take Rt 100 approximately 18 miles to the park.
Address
13112 Visitor Center Lane
Grafton, IL 62037
Coordinates
38.969900148013096 N
90.53786761212399 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
Stay Connected
- WiFiFair
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TGood
- T-MobileGood
Site Types
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Tent Cabin
Features
For Campers
- Market
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Firewood Available
- Phone Service
- Reservable
- Showers
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- Sewer Hookups
- Water Hookups
- Big Rig Friendly
Quiet Holiday weekend
We have tent camped at this quiet campground many times. We just recently purchased a travel trailer, and being only an hour from home decided this would be a good spot to test it out. Had a great weekend with our family and our two dogs and ran into some friends from home camping right across the street! Went down to Grafton for their fireworks last night too. This site has a very deep "backyard" perfect for dogs and shaded in the afternoon but no shade in the morning.
I have been going to pere since I was a little kid.
They have several attractions and plenty to do for young and old
Camping and hiking.
They have wonderful campgrounds and really great trails
Quiet campground in good hiking area
Lots of room between level sites, quiet campground, decent hiking, wineries and restaurants, antique shops nearby in Grafton. A great campground for our camp group to meet.
Spacious
Great room between campsites and water hook ups are not too far away. Bring plenty of hose length.
Beautiful place
Love this campground, plenty of space. Nobody right on top of you like most places. Friendly people.
Great First Camping Trip
I took my son here for his first camping trip and it was perfect!
Quiet Retreat
Nice RV campsites with electric and SHARED water. Bring extra hose because the water supply isn’t close for all sites. We needed 3 hoses to reach. We loaned ours to a couple others while there for 3 nights. Bathrooms/showers were clean. Drive along river road was nice. Cute town of Grafton has small shops, food, bars and winery. We enjoyed the trails and views. Not everything is open during the week, more of a weekend town.
Good location, not much privacy
This was a good layover campground after being on the road. Close enough to St. Louis for a visit to the Gateway Arch and Cahokia Mounds. Showers were clean. Sites are pretty close together with little privacy. Our site (74) was not level. Most other sites seemed level.
Good St Louis area camping
We spent a couple nights here at an electric site near the playground. We really enjoyed the hiking and views. The facilities were fine, consistent with IL state parks. There is a vault toilet by the playground and a shower house on the other side of the campsites.
Great place!
Very clean and well kept. The campsites, the showers, everything. Very affordable. I will definitely go back.
Nice campground
Campgrounds close to Pere Marquette Lodge. Is located just north of Grafton that has many food and drink and antique shops. Campground is on the Illinois River with the Mississippi River nearby. Park has a boat launch and harbor. Campground has electric only and has a dump station. Most sites are spacious. Sites can be reserved on Reserve America.
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Wine time!
Great CG near Grafton! Easy drive and several winery’s. Nice trails as well!
The bonus is the fried chicken
Great little campground just outside of Grafton, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. The campground is located in an open grove of old trees. There were owls when we were there. In winter there are a lot of eagles feeding in the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers which meet at the park. The Lewis & Clark expedition started nearby. Most of the sites were fairly level, but I didn’t see any pull through sites. Lots of hiking trails, and the lodge has one of the best fried chicken dinners around on Sunday.
Great trails, historic lodge
Pere Marquette has many options for your stay. The campground may need a little attention and some lots are not level, but the area is worth the hassle. If you prefer, The Lodge has great character and a wonderful great room. There is a restaurant inside the main building with decent food. I prefer to stay in a cabin room which sleeps 4-6 and affords you more privacy. Outside, the hiking is worth the effort. The views from the bluffs are gorgeous.
Absolutley love it!
Great hikes! Very strenous in some locations, but well worth the effort for the views! Overall well kept and have have an incredible lodge! Just down the road from Grafton IL
Quiet, mature trees, open space
Larger sites but no pull through sites. 2 Handicapped sites next to the restrooms/showers. Electric only in the RV sites, but water available to fill your tanks. Dump station in the park also.
Campground has a Host on site 1 to register, or you can go to the visitors center ( around the corner) if you need to pay with plastic.
$20. Per day for RV sites, $10. Per day for tent (no electric) sites. We also have 2 Cabins (basic w/beds & electric) at $45. Per day.
Open space
This campground is right across the street from the Mississippi. Predominantly RV campers and families, along with some local fisherman.
Great Terrain for Illinois
This park has great hiking for Illinois. The campground has 88 sites total1-85 are either 30 amp or 50 amp electric sites. These are the class A sites $20 a night, they also have about 15 Class C sites for tents with no electric for $8 a night. The campground is doing some upgrades as of October 2017 and probably will be adding more 50 amp, water and sewer to some sites. There is also intel that says they are adding more sites plus more tent camping sites.
I camped in a motorhome and did not try to fight the crowd for the shower house. It is a busy campground, but I did visit in the summer busy season, so it may have less traffic in the fall. There are great hiking trails and the scenic drive to the park by the Mississippi and Illinois rivers is worth the trip alone.
I will return here for hiking for sure! I had some good luck fishing in the river near here too.
Pere Marquette state park
Wonderful park on the Great River Road along the Illinois River. Great hiking in the park, and a bike trail passes by the front. Lots of historical buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. Camping is divided up into an RV section, tents only section, and group tent camping. One shower house serves all, but it is well maintained even though it is an older building.
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Pere Marquette
Have been to Pere Marquette State Park with Scouts. The camp sites were sandy grassy ground, kind of hilly, and the sites were kind of close together but not bad. Each site had a picnic table and a fire ring. Beautiful hiking on dirt trails with gorgeous views of the Illinois River. The lodge has a restaurant and giant chess board!
Quick trip from St. Louis!
We visited the state park last year while visiting my wife's parents who live outside of St. Louis. We were looking for somewhere to do a quick get away, and to do some hiking. We were pleasantly surprised with what the trials had to offer. We did a 7 mile loop that led us to an amazing overlook. Excited to go back!