Mississippi Palisades State Park

Mississippi Palisades is a beautiful state park. You can find wild flowers everywhere. Lots of good trails and overlooks to just sit and enjoy the views of the Mississippi River. Ozzie's has the best view at sunset. The campground has many sites, large and leveled. Some with partial or no shade, however. We've camped here many times and it's almost always full, yet pleasantly quiet and enjoyable. The restrooms are clean and in decent shape. The drawbacks: The mosquitoes do tend to get bad in the evening and there is little to no signal in most areas of the campground.

Truly amazing. The trails are on the campsite and in the State Park. The flowers, mushrooms, frogs, and bird songs labor day weekend were magically. Bathroom/showers were very clean and the hosts were friendly.

Went alone and still felt safe. Walked a couple of the trails and drove through the park. There are several 'points' where you can sit and take in the scenery. I still haven't made it through the whole park yet. I will be coming back to finish the rest of the trails.

We enjoyed camping here. The site is well maintained and the staff are great. They let our other friends on other site stayed in our site with no extra cost. Definitely we'll come back again and would recommend this place to other campers who love to enjoy hiking and nature watching.

Always worth the trip. Summer, fall, winter, or spring this park this park has excellent views and hiking to offer! One of the best free and top rope climbing areas in the Midwest. From the Sentinel to the Three Sisters you are going to find a challenge for almost every skill level.

Beautiful campground with all types of camping sites. Numerous trails and over looks with picnic sites scattered in. The camp host is super nice. The lower dump station doesn’t have flush water but the upper one does.

Some spots have electric connections. It’s a wonderful campground, you will love it.

Camping was very peaceful. The site was very level. Hiking the trails was beautiful. The lookout was worth the kike uphill. The dogs had a blast!

Great views. Trails are not marked that well, so I recommend downloading all trails app to help with navigation. Definitely wear your hiking shoes, sunscreen, and bug spray. Lots of poison ivy on this trail. Our crew hiked three of the trails in 3 hours. Bathrooms at the main parking lot were decent.

This is based on visiting over two days, but not camping. The trails at Palisades can be steep, but the lookouts are beautiful with great views of the Mississippi River and many preserve islands. Highway 84 and a much used rail line run along the Mississippi River, between the river and bluffs, so this can make it a little loud, but from some of the lookouts, still has the mystique of long trains winding along a majestic river. So... the trails! Most in the south of the park can be somewhat steep, but very manageable if you don't have mobility limitations. There are some beautiful trails, running along ravines, and under canopies leaves, and a moderate bug population. Not the most buggy of places we've hiked, but repellent is advised. One of the trails, Sunset, offers a moderate to challenging loop, but has a huge variety of terrain to make things interesting - in a good way. The northern trail set is mixed. Trails, such as High Point, are pretty much a gravel road through beautiful forest, ending at a shelter and fantastic lookout. There is a short trail to a rock outcropping, which offers amazing views, but USE CAUTION as it is at the edge of a drop-off. Other trails, such as Bittersweet, can be downright challenging, especially if it recently rained. Both sets of trails can keep hikers busy for a weekend, but pick and choose what you want to do! Not much flat space outside some of the camp space, so I hope you like hills! Objective word on the campsite layout - it looks like there is a fair amount of space between most campsites. Some can be grouped together (great if you know the folks in the next site), but most seem to have ample separation. Some of the tent sites look like they're actually nicely tucked away from the road, which is our preference. We'll have to come back some time to try camping, probably in the fall. Yes, as others have noted, the highway and rail line is not far away, but overall, it looks attractive.

Camped here for a single night. Long park that runs for what seems like a couple of miles along the Mississippi. Pretty views from the bluffs of the mud flats and the river at various points A ton of camp sites. Lots of pit toilets, but only 6 showers and 3 flush toilets. (for 270+ sites) Mole tunnels across multiple campsites. So many mosquitoes. My legs were a bloody mess from crushing them. Probably not going back to this one unless it's too cold for mosquitoes.

We had all three youth camp spots for 50 of us. Perfect. The showers and flushable toilets nearby were very convenient and clean when we got there. Good hiking trails for our youth group. However, THE TRAIN HORNS ALL NIGHT JUST ABOUT RUINED IT. Very loud. Lots of poison ivy, too.

Great spot to pull off the road and have a good look down at the Mississippi River, on the Savanna, IL side. There are a couple areas where you can walk out to the viewing spots, most are easily accessible for even the non-hikers. Definitely recommend it for the view, we might even try camping here some year too!

This is definitely a place that makes you feel like you're in the west coast and not in IL. The views are breathtaking and the trail is clearly marked. It has several amazing views of what's around and I cannot wait to return here!

Nice park for hiking and camping. Depending on the location on the campground it's very noisy due to the nearby passing train.

We stopped here to walk the Dogs and enjoy the breathtaking views of the Mississippi River. We checked out a few of the scenic overlooks and a couple paved paths. We will need to stop back to get a better feel for the overall accessibility.

Well kept park, plenty of spaces after 4th of July week. Vault toilets were unexpected in such a well kept campground landscape and somewhat gross. Took my 7 yr. old grandaughter for a shower and while bugs hovered outside facility, once inside motion sensored lights would not turn on for quite some minutes. This frightened her. Once inside showers had no bench and push button cold shower was awful! I could handle it but she freaked out. Cold showers, really? Beautiful place but facilities need update & upkeep badly.

What a great park to camp and explore. There are many different camping sections and beautiful scenery by the Mississippi. Just over the bridge in Iowa there are other areas of interest to see on the Island. One item worth mentioning is that when we visited there were lots and lots of mosquitos in the area. Be sure to bring your bug spray!!

From a camping standpoint, I would recommend passing on this one. Stayed in the front loop area one night and was unable to sleep due to the noise from the trains going by every 30 minutes starting around midnight. There's a grade crossing less than half a mile from the campsite and train horns every 30 minutes were a very loud and rude wake up. I can't imagine it was a whole lot better even in the back of the campground. Showers were cold, and the bath facility could use some updating. It was a pretty area, which is why I gave it more than one star.

Went camping here last summer with my fiancé. We spent three nights and four days, and had high hopes, as one of his coworkers had told him it was his favorite place to camp. Unfortunately, we were a bit disappointed. The campground is well-maintained, and the sites are large and grassy. We stayed in the front loop, and there was one other site (out of 10ish) that was occupied the Friday and Saturday we were there. The back loops were more crowded, and we quickly discovered why. The front loop is highway adjacent. There are train tracks that run between the Mississippi and the highway, and freight trains run every 15 minutes all night long, and the are required to sound their horn every time they cross the road. It was quiet and peaceful here during the day, and right around 11 PM, the trains start up. Don't expect a restful night's sleep! The hiking trails were not totally our style. We hiked the longest loop in the park (I can't remember, but I think it was only 3-4 miles). It was quite steep and VERY buggy. Even with a generous amount of bug spray, we were covered in bites. Many of the other trails are actually just staircases to look-outs. There is no access to swim or a beach. The whole campground was very buggy. We wound up purchasing a covered tent for the picnic table after camping here, but we've camped at a number of other parks since, and we have never needed it. We probably won't return. However, if you're looking for a not very crowded park within a reasonable driving distance to Chicago, you may like it. Just bring industrial strength bug spray!

This is a park I wished I had more time to explore today. I started my climbing adventure today at Charles Mound, then headed over here after a brief stop in Galena. The path area is extensive and the elevation swings are impressive. The only path I had the opportunity to hike was High Point Trail, which offered a pretty cool view of the Mississippi and surrounding area. Perhaps I'll get back someday to explore a little more. Cheers.

If you love the sound of train horns blaring past your campsite all night long, then this is the place for you! You are also right on the highway, so the semi trucks will keep you awake too! Do not stay here if you value sleep. Loudest campground I have ever been to! The trails are mediocre and the campsites all surround a parking lot and dumpsters so it is not incredibly scenic.

Beautiful Mississippi River views, decent short hikes, and clean facilities. I've watched people do some rock climbing here and it's as fun to watch as it probably is to do

I found this park to be good for a day or two. I didn't camp here, but I can see that as some people have said. the camp spots are fairly close to each other, so on a busy night, it could be a bit lacking in privacy. The camp spots are side by side with little or no separation (trees, etc.), but, I should say that there are a couple more isolated camping spots along some of the trails, that you obviously hike to to camp. These spots are clearly marked on the map, but are not big so I guess its random chance if you get there before someone else on any given day. What I actually did besides camping is spent the day hiking all the trails, which are typical landscape for this area of the country (southwest Wisconsin, eastern Iowa, western Illinois) as far as the types of trees, fauna, wildlife, etc. Parts of the park are trees / forest, and parts have you walking through patches of corn field. I was here in the Fall with the colors an it was nice. I assume Spring and Summer as good too. As for views of the Mississippi River, which I was looking for, there are a number of good spots from which to look down at the river from. These spots are easy to get to since you can drive and park and walk a short distance to the little designated overlook spots. Nice way to see the sunset!

Another great state park in the Iowa Illinois border region. The views from up top are beautiful. Make sure to wear good shoes because you will probably end up climbing lots of stairs, but the view is totally worth it.

Nice state park a few hours from Chicago. The camp is clean and peaceful. Hiking was good and there is a free boat launch across the street. Yes there is train noise. Didn't bother us too much.

Love this place ! An awesome view from Look Out Point . I got married there ( ONCE ) LOL ! Breath taking view of the Mississippi River . I love walking around the woods too . Make sure you stay on the paths . Watch out for Rattle Snakes too . Just the way it is in nature , there WILL be snakes ! Other than that you'll really love it there . Very romantic place to sit with your better half and just hold hands a while . Go there if you can .... PLUS ....... it's FREE !

This is a really great spot for hiking and camping (I have only done the former here.) It is only a 2-3 hour drive from Chicago, and the second half of the trip is pretty scenic. Located south of Galena, and very close to the little town of Hanover, there are a number of nice rustic trails, which on the two occasions I've been here, have never been crowded. The overlooks of the Mississippi tend to have more visitors and they can all be reached by car. The panoramic views are really quite stunning, so bring a camera. The camping sites are varied in terrain and size and they seem spacious enough so that you are not just re-creating some kind of Wicker Park density out here in the woods with tents and campers. And it is nice and quiet. Great for an overnight, but even doable as a day trip from Chicago. Drove out here around 8AM, Did a 5-mile hike and a picnic, and was home by 6PM. Nice quick Indian Summer getaway. Yea!

We came here to camp but the rain forecast scared us off. So we hiked around instead and had some trouble finding the trails but the roads made getting around very easy.

I have camped at this park for many, many years. I camped here with my parents as a child, into my teen years, and now I go back with my children. The showers are clean, and the facilities are well taken care of. Generally, the people who camp here are nice :) Over the years I have met and talked to a great many nice folks at this campground. I plan to come back many more times!

This was am amazing day! Coming up on a year now since my first visit I cannot wait for the warmer weather so I can go back! April 16th 2017, it was Easter and it was 70 degrees outside! Spent about 2 hours getting familiar with some of the park. After seeing the view from the Bluffs and we then took a break and decided to drive along the Mississippi into a couple different towns, came back and spent two to three more hours at the Palisades. I loved that there were different types of trails too. It was my first experience on a single-track trail which stretched high and low. It was a little intense at times but very exciting:) we spotted what we believed was a fox going into one of the caves too, a soaring hawk, and a cute little monarch followed next to me the entire time I was there! I can't get over the views and the Bluffs... I loved how quiet it was that day. .we only saw maybe four to six people total. Magical time. Can't wait to go back

Just made a visit recently during the day and I was a bit disappointed. While we did not stay the night, I still have experienced better day visits. There were barely any signs for trails and it did not say how long the hike would be to our destination spot. There also were no pictures of what we were visiting, such as indian head rock. Pretty disappointed.

Nice park with views of the Mississippi River

Overall a nice place to camp. Stayed here May 16th - 18th. Stayed in a tent on site 166. This is a very large campground with over 200 sites. The pads for the RV's are crushed gravel while the rest of the sites are grass. My wife described it as camping in someone's yard. Fresh cut grass and all. Some are spacious while others are on top of each other. An odd layout of quite a bit of non-electric sites (tent) stacked behind electric sites. So you better be real friendly with your neighbors since you will be waking thru their sites frequently. I guess I am more used to Michigan campgrounds and their layouts. Shower houses were nice even after multiple boy scout troop visits. Lots of room to bike, run and walk. Not much of a park for the kids, just some swings. The camp store was not open and I think they are looking for someone to run it. Went into town (savanna) for wood. Definitely a biker town. Very clean though. Did a bit of hiking on sunset trail. Nice if a bit overgrown. Now for the not so nice. Just one issue and I have seen it mentioned before. The TRAINS! Or more specifically the freight trains. 24 hours a day, in both directions they come. Sometimes as frequently as every 15 minutes or so. Mostly every hour. Yes that includes 2 in the morning. Just the sounds of trains would be fine but there is a crossing just by the entrance of the park. So train comes, gates come down and train blows horn. Always. Even at the farthest reaches of the park you can hear the horn loud and clear. If not for that it could be a better campground but I think I will look elsewhere for my camping enjoyment.

Staying at eagle ridge in galena. End of march 2013.. Weather was mid to high 40's and mostly sunny. Drove to palisades because we were looking for some good hiking and since my husband stayed here as a kid we went to revisit...he remembered a stare case to a lookout so we went to see what it was like. Since it was still a little wintry things were not fully accessible... We went to the south gate and found the stairway! we went up and found a totally awesome path up the cliffs and through some woods for an authentic climb/hike with no paved paths... We had to climb rocks and over fallen trees and up and down hills that looked like only the wild animals would be on! It was great! Not too challenging that we (amateurs) would have problems with? Found a great stick to walk with! That is what hiking was supposed to be without treking miles into the wilderness! Excellent !

This is what state parks should be. Not only is it very picturesque and very clean, it's pretty quiet even if the campground borders on full. Trails are very good and fairly well maintained in the north end of the park although the ones in the south end of the park can be a mess (especially in early spring) to the point they border on being extremely difficult (not entirely a bad thing unless you have bad knees or little kids). This is a fantastic last-minute 2 day getaway especially if you go during the week. Most campsites are quite nice, level, and roomy. This is the perfect place for someone's first camping experience and a more-than-decent place to test out new equipment in one of the three backpacking sites (yes, you will really hike up and in) in the far northern part of the park. The park doesn't sit on the Mississippi River (access is right across the road) but there are some amazing panoramic views of it from the overlooks on the bluffs. The picnic shelters up near the bluffs are also a great place to cook and eat if it is raining. The only thing that people might find off-putting is that there are train tracks just outside the park, but after six hours or so you won't notice the trains.

I called the Mississippi Palisades State Park on Fri Oct 30, 2015 to check on the trail to the famous Upton Cave. They called me back today Nov. 2, 2015 and said that the trail to the cave is closed due to a lot of rock slides and is unsafe. I do have pictures of the cave from past visits. So that is fine. But it's good to know that you can't go on that part of the trail. The rest of the trails are great. I have many pictures of my visit.