Campgrounds and RV parks near Okawville, IL

Water recreation is the main draw. Washington County Lake supports boating, bank fishing, and a trail system that circles the water. Carlyle Lake, reached from Eldon Hazlet State Recreational Area, covers 26,000 acres and supports sailing, plus fishing for white bass, channel catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, and bluegill. Shooters can book range time at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex, which offers trap, skeet, sporting clays, cowboy action shooting, and archery across 1,600 acres. The complex is home to the ATA Grand American World Trapshooting Championships each summer. Hiking, hunting, birdwatching, and playgrounds are available across the state sites, and St. Louis attractions are within about an hour's drive.

The camping season in southern Illinois runs primarily April through October. The shower building at Washington County State Recreation Area operates April 1 through October 31, and camping reservations at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex are accepted April 1 through October 31. The park concession store at Washington County SRA also operates on that April through October window. Spring brings the wettest stretch of the year, and lake levels often run high through May. Summer is warm and humid, with July and August averaging highs in the mid-80s Fahrenheit and roughly 22 days per year above 90 degrees. Sites fill quickly on holiday weekends and during the Grand American Trapshooting Championships, which historically runs across the first couple weeks of August and fills the WSRC campground. Fall offers milder temperatures and drier weather, making September and October strong choices for RV trips. Eldon Hazlet's Illini Campground is open year-round, though most amenities scale back after Labor Day.

Shady Rest at Washington County State Recreation Area offers electric RV sites, a shower building open April through October, and a dump station and potable water fill at the campground entrance. Two rustic campground cabins with heat and ceiling fans are also available, though no cooking, pets, or smoking are allowed inside. Eldon Hazlet's Illini Campground has 328 Class A electric sites with 30 and 50 amp hookups and 36 walk-in tent sites strung along nearly a mile and a half of Carlyle Lake shoreline, with three shower buildings, a campground store, a swimming pool, playgrounds, and a sand volleyball court. Twenty lakefront cottages are also available. The World Shooting and Recreational Complex provides 50-amp service at all 1,001 sites and a central shower building with 20 private stalls, four of them accessible. Tree cover is limited on the former strip-mine ground, so plan for sun and bring shade.