Pine Campground — Sand Ridge State Forest

We absolutely love this place for a family camping/hiking/backpacking spot that's close to home. It's the largest state forest in Illinois and is a mash-up of the southwest and Midwest. Most of the trails are almost completely sand, and there are some trails with steeper elevation gains and falls, making for harder hiking than what you can normally find around here. It's a great place to train if you're readying for a backpacking trip in more challenging areas of the U.S. You can find prickly pear cactus everywhere (in the warm weather months, you can see them blooming). The Pine Campground is beautiful and normally where we camp as a family. It's full of tall old pine trees (so always plenty of firewood nearby), has clean bathrooms, and water access via pumps throughout the grounds. It's hardly ever crowded (in fact it's almost always completely empty in cooler months). Parking spots are right next to camp, and each site has a fire slab and a built-in grill. Sites are big enough for several tents (four campers are allowed at each site). Reservations can be made online in advance on Reserve America. There are also Backcountry sites available that you can reserve and backpack in to. Word to the wise: ticks are pretty terrible here after it begins to warm in spring. Wear repellent, the right full-cover clothes, and check yourselves regularly. We normally visit in late fall through early spring.