Camping in Eastern Illinois: Eagle Creek State Park
Camp Illinois: I’m talking with Richard Glazebrook this morning. He is the Site Superintendent for Eagle Creek State Park in Illinois. How’s it going this morning, Richard?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, everything is going wonderful and the colors are beautiful out here, and everybody is enjoying this late fall color.
Camp Illinois: Perfect. So, how long has Eagle Creek State Park been there and how did it get its start?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, we’re located on a Core of Engineers’ lake called Lake Shelbyville, and we’ve been here since 1972.
Camp Illinois: Okay. And what types of camping do you offer there?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, we have group camping, we have tent camping, and then we have what we call the A sites, which are for RVs. But anybody can camp on them, but the A sties have water, showers. We have a dump station. Gravel pads. Fire pads. These types of things.
Camp Illinois: Okay. And what are the most popular activities for the visitors there?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, I mean a lot of people like to bring their bikes and just ride on the roads and enjoy that. We have nice trails that they can go on. It’s just kind of a peaceful place to go. There’s not a lot of structured activities. The biggest structured activity we have is we have an 18-hole championship golf course in the Park that people could camp and then go play golf.
Camp Illinois: Interesting. Are you a golfer yourself?
Richard Glazebrook: No, I am not. I enjoy looking at it. It’s beautiful. When they go out on the golf course, they’ll be able to see the deer, the turkey, geese – everything. And then of course we have a four-lane boat launching area for the people too. So, there’s a lot of fishing that’s done, golfing, hiking, bike riding, sightseeing and those types of things.
Camp Illinois: Okay, two more questions for you. If you were going to spend just one hour in Eagle Creek State Park, how would you spend your time, Richard?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, I would spend my time, this time of year, around a nice fire with a cup of coffee, enjoying the activities that’s going on around there, and then I’d probably go out and walk in the woods and see what the kinds of nuts are falling off and looking at the foliage and those types of things. That’s what I would do. I would just kind of relax and enjoy it.
Camp Illinois: Perfect. And if you could spend just one night in Eagle Creek State Park in Illinois, which specific campsite would you choose, and why?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, that’s a tough question. Everybody has their own feels for it, but the area that I like would be at the end of campfire, and that would be probably site 11. And it goes out in port. You can see it kind of at the lake when the leaves start getting off, so that’s the beautiful part of that park.
Camp Illinois: Great. We can offer a little inside tip in there for the best campsite to some of our visitors. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with us about Eagle Creek State Park in Illinois.
Richard Glazebrook: Thank you.
