Lowden Memorial State Park

Note my review is of the campground and not the rest of the park.
Had a free weekend day and thought it would be nice to take one of my kids for some cool Autumn camping. I use Unilocal a lot to help me make decisions, especially because I’m relying on previous visitors to shed light and info where I’d need it most.
My review isn’t a good one for the campground. I have 2 issues: no hosts and no privacy.
Reading the other reviews here kinda misled me. It’s a clean and easily accessible campground but that’s about it. We arrived at 2pm; that means three hours of light left and then 5 hours of cold darkness after that before bedtime. The camp host was nowhere to be found. Not knowing the rules, and understand that some camp hosts can get pretty ornery if you go against the grain, I decided to park by their «office» and wait. 30 minutes later still no sign of the camp host. Precious daylight was dwindling and I needed to pick a spot, get set up and ready for dinner and the night. I also needed FIREWOOD because you can’t bring your own firewood, because it was going to be in the upper 30s at night, because I needed to cook, AND because we had five hours of darkness before bedtime… so a campfire was more than just ambience, it was needed! Well no host meant no firewood. I got lucky and found five small branch pieces and some twigs around my site and made a fire to at least knock out my cooking task but after that, without a couple of bundles of firewood, it was going to be a cold, long, dark night. And indeed it was.
At around 11:50 PM I heard a fairly loud diesel pick up truck rumbling through the campgrounds. I peaked outside and watched the truck circle around and then pull up to the camp host spot. They finally arrived! But I was already down for the night. I guess no firewood for us. ;-(
This was a major breakdown in process. Instead of leaving the sign that reads «Open», flip it around so it reads «Closed». Put up the sign that reads «We will be back at _​_​_​_​_​_​» and write in the time. The signs were THERE but just not used. If you’re gonna be gone for 9+ hours, leave a note and maybe put the wood on the honor system.
The second part of my complaint, err, I mean review, is around campsite privacy. Not much you can do here without planting 125 evergreen trees (and that ain’t going to happen given Illinois’s poor economy). You could easily walk the 15 feet from site to site. There is zero privacy here. I’m not looking for nooks cut into dense forest, but maybe I am! I guess I’ve been lucky at other places I’ve visited. In fact it’s so open here it’s hard to tell where one site ends and the next begins.
Sure I’m a bit salty having just arrived home but I’m trying to not give off a negative tone and just state facts. Take it for what it’s worth. But there are too many other campgrounds that I can visit to even remotely justify coming here again or recommending it to anybody else.

I love the peaceful serenity here. Lots of mature trees and scenic views of the Rock River from high up. The campground hosts are very friendly and helpful and the grounds are very well kept up. The bathrooms/​showers are always clean.

We went to what was called the eagles nest a former artist colony where Chicago eccentrics escaped the summer city heat a century ago. One of them had the dream to construct a statue of an unnamed native American looking out over the river valley to remember what once was.
We walked the steep wooden staircase down to the shore of the Rock river and then hiked up to the spring on the border of the park.

This is a very nice campground that is only about two hours from Chicago. The main campground is for RVs with most sites being fairly open with electric service. There are showers and toilets along with a convenience stand here. The statute is in this part of the campground and worth a look.
The White Oaks campground across the road is has fewer sites, is non electric and has pit toilets. The sites are much more secluded and spread out. In addition, there are eight walk in tent only campsites that are very private and not that far of a walk. You would not need to backpack in so you could bring all your normal camping gear.
There are a few miles of trails in the park, but I would recommend you go to the Lowden-​Miller State Forest a few miles away for better hikes.
I stayed in the White Oaks part of the campground and really liked it. Quiet and clean. Supplies were easy to get because Oregon, Illinois is only two miles away. Proximity to the state forest meant lots of trails to hike. In addition it is close enough to Chicago that the drive is easy, but it doesn’t draw crowds like Rock Cut State Park. Next time I am going to use the walk in sites, they were very nice.

One of my favorite campgrounds.
Not because it has over the top frills, but instead supplies a quiet beautiful getaway where you can enjoy nature and take it easy.
No Jellystone type camping here, where everyone is tossed on top of everyone. Camp sites are nicely spaced and secluded. There is some sites that enjoy a few drinks at night… but nicely keep things under control or are friendly should you want to venture out.
Great family campground, have camped here twice and looking forward to our next time around!
Oh and I didn’t mention… the absolute best toliets I have ever used at any campground. EVER! Even for pit type potties.
And for only $ 10.00 a night… this is a steal.
Check it out if you’re in the area, and Oregon is a nice town great for a weekend get away.

I went camped at least twice… maybe three times during the summer of ’09. I liked it a lot… probably because there isn’t much to do there except relax and listen to the silence.
This park was donated by a family that had their country estate on this piece of land along the banks of the Rock River. The grounds was also used by the family as an artists retreat. The most famous resident was Lorado Taft. (Lowden is a former governor of Illinois)
At some point Taft was inspired to create a statue of a native american on top of a bluff on the property overlooking the river. His creation is still there and gives the park it’s claim to fame. The statue is the largest statue made of concrete in the world (or something like that). The view from the statue is beautiful, but to get a good look at the statue, you need to be on the opposite side of the river. They have lights on it and it looks striking at night.
Most of the trees at this park are huge as they were well taken care of when the property belonged to the original owners. There are signs of the old owners and artists everywhere. It almost makes you feel like you are someone’s guest instead of a park visitor. See if you can find all of the posts that have been carved into mushrooms.
That’s pretty much the park if you are watercraft-​less. There are some hiking trails, but nothing to really write home about, which is probably why the park is relatively quiet. If you have a watercraft there is a boat launch about ½″ mile south of the park entrance. I have not been on a boat on the Rock River, but considering the amount of vehicles parked at the launch on a nice day, I guess it is fun.
There are two campgrounds at the park, neither of which I have ever seen full to capacity. The main campground accomodates larger RV’s with plenty of pull-​through sites and electric service. There are some tent sites at this campground but they are in sloped areas and not that awesome.
There are fire grates which were in good shape as were all of the facilities. Most of the bathrooms were vault toilets, but they had a shower building in the main campground. The building looked relatively new and the showers worked well.
There is another campground across the road from the actual state park and has no electrical service. This place IS awesome! The sites are big and there is plenty of room so there aren’t people on top of each other. Since this campground isn’t a part of the main park, there aren’t many people passing through either. The only problem is if you want to shower or use a flush toilet, you will have to go to the campground at the main park.
If you are a person that needs to be really active on their weekends, then this probably isn’t the best place for you to stay, but if you just like to camp and yearn for some piece and quiet Lowden is your park. It is close enough to easily get there and set up before dark after work, but far enough away to keep the riff-​raff to a minimum.