Castle Rock State Park Campground

Located just 4 miles or so south of Oregon in north central Illinois, Castle Rock State Park is located along the snakelike Rock River, where Route 2 parallels a scenic drive full of nice foliage and heavily forested areas that are interrupted from time to time by deep gorges and ravines, sandstone bluffs, heavily forested dells and limestone-sheathed rock formations. If you’ve come this way to do some decent hiking, with more than 6 miles of moderate landscape, you’ll be rewarded for finding this place off the beaten path. And during the winter months these hiking paths make for great cross-country skiing and tobogganing. What’s super unique about this place is that you’ll discover in some areas of the park outcrops of the native forest, seemingly untouched over time, but yet, in others, the Midwest prairie sneaks up and surprises you just when you least expect it.

As for the campground itself, be forewarned, you cannot drive or even hike into this campground – as it is accessed only by boat along the Rock River. And while there is supposed to be a boat dock right in front of the Castle Rock State Park Campground (just look at the photo of the map), I never found one, and I careened up and down the Rock River a number of times, so be prepared to get wet and muddy when trying to access this very secluded and often sparsely populated spot. I could only speculate that as we were in shoulder season, they hadn’t put the dock back in place yet as perhaps it was taken down during the winter? In all, there are only 9 sites to choose from and while fairly well-maintained, meaning that the grass is cut and the shrubbery trimmed back some, this is a very primitive site with virtually nothing, apart from a few in-ground rectangular fire rings w/ grill covers, a handful of stand-up grills and a couple of scattered picnic tables to make use of. There is only a single bathroom that can be accessed and there are no showers.

From an historical perspective, you will find all sorts of rich Native American history up and down the Rock River, which in its original native tongue was called Sinnissippi, which is Sauk for ‘Rocky Waters.’ Here in this place, the Sauk and Fox tribes lived in peace until the advance of colonists in the early 1800’s, when the great Sauk chief, Blackhawk, led his and other tribes out of the area, only to return a few years later to ignite a series of battles called Blackhawk Indian Wars, which ended in less than a year and ultimately led to Blackhawk’s capture. If you have the time, I would highly recommend you drive further north just past Oregon where you can see the massive 10 story statue commemorating the Great Chief Blackhawk at Lorado Taft, which is another fantastic place to get in some hiking, explore nature and connect to this amazing patch of land.

Insider’s tips: (1) While you can’t hike or drive in to this campground, you can canoe or kayak in, and decide to hike out of the campground, where I would strongly recommend ascending the single gravel lane that takes you up to Route 2, where you can cross the road and access all of the great hiking trails that are, here including Pond Trail with 2 miles of easy-to-moderate trails and Oak Ridge Trail, which is a bit more challenging, but only a single mile in length, with Fox Trail the shortest at a half mile, but quite scenic. These 3 trails make up the South Trails; (2) The far better and more challenging hiking is to be had in the North Trails, where you’ll have to hike down along Route 2 for a bit or hitch a ride, but here there’s a total of 5 trails to choose from: River Bluff (.5 mile), Wildlife Viewing (1 mile), Heather Valley (2 miles), Timber Edge (1/4 mile) and Forest Ridge (1 Mile). These make up the North Trails; (3) There’s also a sweet little picnic area up here in the North Trails called Aspen Ridge that is nice, and closer to the river, near River Bluff trail, where you’ll see the picturesque Old Orchard picnic area, which I highly recommend; (4) When you head downstream to access the Canoe Campground, be sure to stay on the right, as you’ll encounter a number of islands in the river that will block your view, so row close to shore in order to spot the campsite; and (5) You’ll access the boat launch up river from the entrance of the State Park, which is just beyond the Castle Rock Scenic Overlook and Wayside Area, but before you reach Aspen Ridge picnic area.

Happy Camping!

I took out an inflatable kayak to test it out, and loooved the rock formations on the river. Definitely a special sight because I usually stay closer to Chicago, where I haven’t found such impressive geology. It was tough paddling upstream when I returned to the boat launch after camping, even after a dry spell. That said—I’m pretty weak so if I can do it, it’s not impossible! There are about 8 nice campsites right on the river. Despite being what the park calls “primitive” sites, there were picnic tables, fire pits/grates, and a cute little outhouse. There were 3 other parties there, and it was fun chatting with them. Be aware that the sites cost $6. I didn’t know this despite looking online and calling for info, I only had $5. Carry cash to leave in the envelope. There were a billion harmless tiny white moths by the river. There are 2-5(?) miles of trails (mowed prairie, dirt/gravel hills). The ONLY downside was the park staff person who gave me a hard time about the cash and sort of belittled me for being a solo female adventurer (at least that’s the feeling I got). Regardless—I will be returning soon!

I LOVED this experience. We did an overnight canoe trip through White Pelican rental which I highly recommend! It was a couple hour paddle, plus we made a pit stop at the castle rock overlook, before we got to the canoe in site. Site selection is first come, first serve and the registration and payment is done on the honor system, and they do have rangers that monitor. Someone came fairly early in the morning to check and make sure everyone paid and that we actually canoed in and didn’t park off a road somewhere and walk in. I can’t quite remember how many sites there are, I want to say about 5-6 and then a group site. We were wondering if we might be the only ones there because we saw a review from two weeks prior where that was the case but it was actually a pretty popular night, there was a Boy Scout group in the group area and two of the other single sites were occupied. Bathroom situation here is a porta potty, but it was pretty clean during our visit. There are a couple mowed walking paths in the area. Then we had a couple more hours to paddle down the river to our pick up spot. My boyfriend did get a horrible case of poison ivy following this trip, though we can’t figure out why or how because he didn’t really get into any greenery other than grass. Our best guess was that maybe the site next to us burned some because they had gathered wood and debris to burn from the area for their fires.

Located about 100 miles West of Chicago, Castle Rock State Park features one of the ONLY campgrounds that I've visited this close to the city in which I was completely alone. That's right; I had the entire campground to myself, with the exception of my husband, friend, and dog friend. The reason this campground is so empty is because it can not be accessed by car. It is accessible only by canoe/kayak and is meant for people canoeing along the Rock River. Sites can not be reserved and are first-come, first-served. Sites are $6 per nite and each site allows up to 4 adults. There are approximately 9 individual sites and a large group camp site. Sites include small grill-pits and picnic tables and trash/recycling bins are available. A very clean portapotty is also available. Please note that water is not available at the campground and must be boated in. A small park-information stand contains the "permits" that you can purchase on-site and money is collected via the honor system.

For our trip, we parked at the Castle Rock State Park boat launch site, where overnight parking is permitted. From the launch, the canoe campground is approximately 2 miles south down river, located on the west bank. It's a beautiful and easy paddle to the sites. We spent about 40 minutes getting to the campground while also enjoying the unique rock and sandstone formations along the way. The dock at the campground was well-maintained and getting in and out of the water was a breeze. Campsites were also well-maintained, grassy, and shady. At night, we heard screech and barred owls and also observed tons of glow worms hanging out in a small creek that runs into the river. In the morning, the river was bustling with sounds from kingfishers, herons, and flycatchers. Highway 2 which runs nearby was sometimes loud during the day, but quiet at night and easily tuned out. A small road just west of the campground is gated, but can be walked to Highway 2. We used this road to hike up to the scenic overlook.

Paddling back up river was not easy, but it was not impossible. It took approximately 3 hours, allowing for a few breaks to rest. It's definitely a small price to pay for a secluded campsite.

Pros

• beautiful scenery while boating down river
• secluded (on Labor Day weekend no less)
• inexpensive
• quiet
• well-maintained sites, dock, and porta potty
• lots of nearby hiking

Cons

• no water on site, so allow room on your boat for plenty of water
• paddling up river might be difficult for some