Trail of Tears State Forest - Campsite 1

public land records

Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.

Trail of Tears State Forest campsite. The campsite NUMBER in this row's name is OUR sequence number (north to south), NOT an IDNR site number -- IDNR's GIS publishes these points unnumbered. Do not print it as if it were a signed site number. IDNR: "Both Class C (tent camping with vehicle access) and Class D (backpack) camping sites are available at Trail of Tears State Forest. Some locations have log shelters with adjacent privies." "Campers without a reservation may register upon arrival with the 'silent host' self-registration system." Backpack campers must pre-register with the site office at 618-833-4910. SEASONAL CLOSURE, IDNR's own words: "The forest's gravel roads are closed to vehicles from December 24 through the end of the spring wild turkey hunting season (generally the second week in May). All camping access is by foot only during that period (Class D)." FEE IS A RANGE, NOT A FIGURE: IDNR publishes no per-site class here, and the forest has both Class C ($10) and Class D ($6). Do not publish a single rate without confirming with the site office. IDNR's GIS carries 13 camp points inside the forest boundary spread over 2.2 km along the forest road, so each is its own row rather than a centroid. ~3,900 acres of hill forest north of Jonesboro in Union County, adjoining the Shawnee National Forest country. Source: https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/camp/park.trailoftears.html (read 2026-08-14). Camp class for this park is IDNR's own, from the Camp Classifications table at https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/camp/camp-classifications.html (data feed read 2026-08-14). NOT FREE. IDNR statewide fee schedule (https://dnr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/dnr/parks/camp/documents/campingfeeschedule.pdf, read 2026-08-14) prices Class C at $10/night and Class D at $6/night. Illinois residents 62+ pay $8 (Class C) or $6 (Class D); Illinois disabled with a Class 2/2A card pay $0. STAY LIMIT, from IDNR's own administrative rule 17 Ill. Adm. Code 130.60 (https://www.ilga.gov/Commission/jcar/admincode/017/017001300000600R.html, read 2026-08-14): between May 1 and September 30 "a camp permit may be issued for a period not to exceed 14 consecutive nights" and a camper is limited to "a maximum of 14 nights in a 30 day period" at a given IDNR facility. From October 1 through April 30 "a camping permit may be issued for an unlimited number of nights". Coordinates are IDNR's own, unrounded, WGS84, from the agency ArcGIS Online layer Campground_Types (https://services.arcgis.com/b9DHj1BjfdLLFv11/arcgis/rest/services/Campground_Types/FeatureServer/0), park attribution by point-in-polygon against IDNR IDNRSiteBoundary (https://services.arcgis.com/b9DHj1BjfdLLFv11/arcgis/rest/services/IDNRSiteBoundary/FeatureServer/0). Both read 2026-08-14. NEAREST TOWN: Alto Pass, IL -- 4.5 mi straight-line from the campsite to the town's internal point. Source: US Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer place files (https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_gaz_place_<FIPS>.txt, read 2026-08-14), restricted to FUNCSTAT='A' incorporated places across IL, IA, IN, KY, MO and WI. This is the nearest INCORPORATED place, which is not a promise that it has fuel, water or a store. Straight-line, not road miles. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.

US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.