Camping At Pharaoh Campground In The Shawnee National Forest
- Date Visited: October 4-5, 2022
- Address: Herod, IL 62947
- GPS: 37.60226, -88.37946
- Phone: (618) 253-7114
- Website
- Price: $10
- Reservations: No
- Pets: Yes
- Restrooms: Yes
- Water: Yes
- Trash: Yes
- Hookups: No
- Cell Service: AT$&T and Verizon
Pharaoh Campground is a primitive campground located in the Shawnee National Forest of Illinois.
This is a first come- first served campground managed by the US Forest Service and costs $10 a night.
There is a self-pay station located at the campground entrance. Find your campsite then grab an envelope and pay within 30 minutes of arriving in camp.
This is dry camping so no hook-ups can be found here. There are multiple vault toilets and a dumpster for trash though.
There is also a potable water station to fill up jugs. It’s this whole crank system and if you’re filling up more than a gallon at a time you are going to get a workout.
There are 12 campsites located here and camp only in designated sites. Each site comes with a fire pit, picnic table, and lantern post. There’s a limit of 8 people and two vehicles per campsite.
Pets are allowed as long as they are leashed and please pick up after them.
Quiet hours are 10 pm-6 am.
We had site #9 and it was really unlevel and it seemed like a lot of the other sites were as well.
Place campfires in the provided rings only and don’t leave them unattended. Be sure every spark is out before leaving camp or going to bed.
Collection and burning of dead wood found on the ground is permitted here, but the area was picked clean during our visit.
Always check fire restrictions for the area you are in when camping.
Now let’s discuss cell service.
We had pretty good service using our AT&T hot spot. Our Verizon worked here but was much slower. Service, when we were hiking trails in the area, was spotty at best.
All the sites are back-in sites, but all of the people camping during our time there were tent/car camping. We were the only people with a trailer.
I’m estimating nothing over 30 feet (I’m horrible at guessing these things) would fit and that is not for all the spots.
The spots had enough space between them that I didn’t feel like we were right on top of our neighbors.
If you need to run solar there are some spots where you’ll get plenty of sun. If you like it shady there are spots for that as well.
This campground is located right beside the famous Garden of the Gods Observation Point Trail. You can walk to the parking lot from the campground.
This trail should not be missed and let’s face it it’s the reason you’re probably camping here anyways.
Because of its proximity to this trail, the campground fills up fast. On both nights we stayed the campground was full by 5 pm. Most campers only stay the night and move on in the morning.
My suggestion is to head to the campground first, get your spot then go hiking and exploring in the area.
There are a ton of trails all within 20 minutes or less of the campground.
We hiked the Indian Point Trail, Rim Rock National Recreation Trail, High Knob Trail, and of course Observation Point. All of them were great trails and I highly recommend them during your visit.
Not far from the campground is the Garden of the Gods Outpost. They have ice cream and I can vouch for how absolutely delicious their hot fudge milkshake is.
They also sell souvenirs and a lot of Bigfoot merchandise. There’s a statue of Bigfoot across the street that makes an awesome photo-op.
We enjoyed our two-night stay at Pharoah campground. It was a cheap, quiet, and safe place conveniently located near a lot of hiking in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest.
I did forget to mention that the campground is located on the top of a mountain and there are little trails leading from the campsites on one side to the cliffs edge.
The views from these spots are pretty amazing.
Always follow the Leave No Trace Seven Principles and try to leave your camp nicer than you found it. Please research campgrounds before visiting. Rules and regulations may have changed since we stayed there.