Camping & Cabins

Pere Marquette State Park has an 80-site Class A campground with electric hookups, reservable through ExploreMoreIL, at $20 a night ($30 on holiday weekends). Tent campers can also use the walk-up Class B area next door, and two rustic Rent-A-Cabins sleep six for $45 a night. IDNR warns that sites go early in the fall.

Class A Campground

• 80 sites, two of them accessible, all reservable.
• Electric only: every site has 20, 30 and 50 amp service. There is no water or sewer at the site.
• Shared facilities: drinking water, a sanitary dump station and a shower building.
• Price: $20 a night; $30 on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends; $5 per reservation. Illinois seniors and veterans can get discounts outside holidays.

How to Reserve

Book on ExploreMoreIL (camp.exploremoreil.com) or by calling (618) 786-3323. IDNR says reservations open up to 180 days ahead (about six months) and must be made at least three days before you arrive. Fall weekends fill first: IDNR's own note is that sites "go early in the fall months".

Class B Tent Camping

The Class B (primitive) tent area is just north of the Class A sites and cannot be reserved. Show up, find an open site and set up your tent. Then take your driver's license and license plate number to the campground host at Class A sites 1 and 2, or to the Visitor Center a quarter mile west on Route 100, to pay. Class B campers can use the same shower building.

Rent-A-Cabins

Two wooden Rent-A-Cabins sit on sites 13 and 15 of the Class A campground.

• Sleep 6: a full-size bed in the front room and two sets of bunk beds in the back.
• Inside: lights, outlets, a ceiling fan, a table, two chairs, an air conditioner and a heater.
• No water inside: there is a spigot between the two cabins, and the shower house with flush toilets is close by.
• Outside: a charcoal grill, fire ring and picnic table.
• Bring: your own bedding, pillows, cooking gear and food.
• Price: $45 a night, $55 on holidays, plus a $5 transaction fee and a 2.2% convenience fee.
• Not accessible, and pets are not allowed in campground cabins.

For hotel-style rooms and stone cabins with linens, see Pere Marquette Lodge, a private concession in the park.

Youth and Group Camps

• Duncan Hill Youth Tent Camp: a separate area for youth groups, popular with scouts, with a picnic shelter, tables, pit toilets and drinking water. $2 a person a night, $20 minimum; book online.
• Organized group camps: Camp Potawatomi holds 60 campers; Camp Piasa and Camp Ouatoga hold 120 each. All three have equipped kitchens and dining rooms, lighted sleeping cabins with cots and mattresses, and restrooms with warm showers. Piasa and Ouatoga have seasonal swimming pools.
• 2026 season: IDNR listed Camp Piasa open May 27 to October 16 and Camp Potawatomi June 13 to October 16, booked by lottery starting March 18. Check IDNR for the next year's dates.

Firewood and Campground Rules

• Campground hosts at sites 1 and 2 sell firewood for $6.
• No firewood from outside Jersey County, Illinois.
• Dogs are welcome in the campground on a leash.
• At least one adult must accompany each group of 15 minors.

Plan the rest of your stay with hiking, eagle watching or a run into Grafton.