Cedar Lake Campground - Vienna, Illinois

Rick D.

We found Cedar Lake on our search for a camping spot during the recent Eclipse. The campground has 200+ sites many of which are yearly sites that are occupied by families many who are horse lovers. We found all of the campers there to be friendly and welcoming.
There were still plenty of electric/water hookup site choices for us with our 25’ camper trailer to chose from. There are also lots of nice primitive spots around the 25 acre lake which were nice.
The campground has lots of open space which made it very nice for the eclipse viewing.
Jessica, who manages the campground, was very friendly and helpful in showing us our spot.
It is located in the Shawnee Forest and is close to many nice hiking trails, nice bike trail and several wineries.
If/when we return to the area we would definitely stay here again

Paul S.

Stayed here 4 days in an RV for the 2024 eclipse. The sites are roomy. The hookups are in pairs and we needed an extra hose and extension cord to get hooked up. Some of the sites like ours didn't have gravel and took a little more care than usual to get level.
The owner Jessica was very helpful and pleasant to work with. She seemed to be working hard to make sure the guests were taken care of.
I only saw one bathhouse, but didn't really use it. The showers didn't have a place to set a bag outside the bathing area itself. There was a hook on the wall beside one stall.
There are horse facilities and a show area in the campground. We are not horse folks, so I can't really provide a review of those.
There is WiFi available at the office. Some of the close campsites might be able to use it, but I think most of the campground would be out of range. Cell service was intermittent at best.
There are at least 3 state parks within 30 minutes and several other Shawnee Forest sites to see.
The Tunnel Hill Bike Trail is about 4 miles away if biking or walking is of interest. There are other bike / horse trails close by as well, but I didn't investigate them in detail.

Momzah M.

Love camping here with our horses!! Great sites, easy in easy out. The best host!! Very accommodating!

cale L.

We stayed here for the proximity to Camp Ondessonk. We are tent campers. The campground was nice enough for a nights stay, but it's really geared towards campers, not tents. It's also geared towards horses. There is a horse arena where an event was held while we were there. That was a little loud, but it didn't trim too late.

My biggest gripe was our site's placement next to the road. We had a hard time falling asleep with the traffic noise. I'm not sure how much soundproofing a camper has, but a tent obviously has none.

Grant W.

Came for the eclipse. Stayed for the week. Worked from here all week. Great location. Friendly helpful staff. We will stay here again. Note....if you want to work from here Starlink is your friend.. if you are looking for an RV Resort. This is not it. It is A nice laid back campground.

Erica W.

Though they were very friendly to speak with, we were sorely disappointed after driving 8 hours to get there. We arrived and there was noone there too greet us because, unbeknownst to to us, they closed at 2pm. I called and spoke with the male owner who apologized, though admitted he wasn't sure if the cabin had been cleaned, and said he'd send someone up to take us to the "cabin". which turned out to be three brick buildings. Upon going in, the smell of mildew\mold was over whelming. The "cabin" hadn't been cleaned and one of the beds had stains on the side of it that could be seen through whatever cover was on it. We were supposed to have been provided with linens and bedding but there were none to be found, aside from a pile of, I'm assuming dirty, blankets on one bed. The lady and her husband who took us back to the cabin were also very friendly but had no idea about the linens or anything to do with rental really but they tried to help. Thank goodness we have friends down there who allowed us to use their camper for the night and we were able to secure a hotel room for the next two nights. We did lose our $25 deposit, which was a given to me, but it was worth not being uncomfortable all weekend. This may be a good campground for those with their own campers but we 10\10 do not recommend renting a "cabin".

Frank H.

Spent three nights there over Labor Day weekend, 2020. Had two sites for three families, one RV and three tents. Sites were clean, but the electric/water service was in an awkward location, had to string water and electric cable across walking areas. (Other sites may have had better placement.) we didn’t use any of the public facilities, do we can’t speak to the cleanliness of the restrooms, etc.

We wore masks when we went into office to register, and the desk had a plexiglass shield, but we didn’t see a single mask or any social distancing the entire weekend. It sometimes made us uncomfortable.

I don’t know if it was because of the “rodeo” events that Labor Day weekend, but there were hundreds of horses (that’s a guess) and we were the only tent campers and hikers seen in the camp. That being said, everybody that passed our site was friendly, including the owner(?), who was very helpful in directing us to hiking trails in the vicinity and adjacent to the campground.

We hiked the forest next to the camp and most of our party backpacked overnight. Great area, but some of the trails were chewed up and muddy from the horses (go figure!).

It was a great experience, and we’ll be back when we’re in the area again.

Julie M.

We stayed here for 3 nights at the beginning of June. The owners are very friendly and accommodating. The campground is centrally located to many state parks and other areas of interest. Campsites allow for privacy and plenty of shaded sites, quiet and bathroom/shower facilities are clean. We would stay here again if we come back to this area!