Reviews of Mississippi Palisades State Park (Park)

Rochelle Judge

Don’t be fooled into thinking you can go camping here, enjoy a beer, and relax around the campfire- or you too will be the new owner of a $200 possession ticket! Illinois will stop at nothing to try and get their state out of debt. Bravo!

Mitch Miller

This is a park with a great view of the Mississippi. It's not a park for hiking with a view because the trees are very dense and that is mostly what you will see on the trails. I would say if you are in the area already , it is definitely worth checking out but I would not go to far out of your way as you may be a little disappointed if you were expecting more than the handful of outlooks.

amy pedicini

There a 10 trails to hike. The ones at the south side are much more challenging than the ones on the north. Don't let the short distances fool you, the are still somewhat of a challenge. You can wear gym shoes, plan on narrow trails. Pants would be recommended especially for the pine trail. The dump station in the middle of the park is one of the best we have ever used. Good water pressure and the hole is nice and low in the ground. It is unfortunate that there are many sites closed due to a mud slide a couple years ago. If you are a tent camper there are many excellent sites. Almost tempts me to haul the tent out.

Grumpy OleMann

A nice cool ride in the park was a welcome change from the hot cement highway.

Kathy Gibble

Nice park. Great place for a picnic. Play ground equipment . Very hilly great scenery.

Andy Lehmann

Great place, beautiful foliage, and nice trails. Don't miss the natural spring across from the river...it's a pipe that just pumps drinkable water non-stop.

Maggie Barthel

I got lost accidentally and ended up here. It was the most beautiful place I had the pleasure to go to. It is a great place if you want to go for a hike or just go for a picnic. The view is absolutely stunning.

Szymon Cebulski

Excellent excursion for family, brace for often rains.

Andrew Cuming

Gorgeous state park. It can get a little busy at times but the views are fantastic and you can drive almost all of it.

David Quist

Nice views. Not much for amenities. Worth the trip

Jeffrey Mitchell

Skip this park and go to Starved Rock instead. The gnats are awful and the view is not that great. It looks like they need some updates.

Allen Lane

Nice park. Clean facilities being a state ran park.

Trevor Volz

I think the lack of State Funding has contributed to the decline in maintenance and upkeep of the park in general but it is still maintained the best that they are able to. Still a beautiful area and a great place to camp or visit. Great lookouts, great location, great river views if your not from the area! Definitely recommend!

Curt Beile

Great place to visit!!!

Mike Gartner

We were just passing by, and drove up to Lookout Point. We'll make a return visit with more time to spend. A beautiful park.

Sandesh Sharma

Serene place and view points. Sunrise point is the best. Worth it to go for camping or sightseeing.

Tesesa Spielmaker

Great birding! Too many gnats. Had to leave early. Minimal amenities. Many sites are swamplike. Nice and friendly campers. Front gate personnel seemed reluctantly involved in providing campground info. No cell phone reception. The town of Savanna provided nothing in the realm of camping supplies.

Hunter Sheldon

The park does have beautiful lookouts, and friendly people, but if I knew how bad the gnats we're I would've kept moving.

Mary Alice Peterson

Easy to find, vehicle access and parking near the overlooks. Other walking/hiking trails we didn't explore.

Willa Hendricks

Absolutely beautiful! Worth seeing again and again.

Rusty Koll

Great spot for hiking-some fallen trees/logs make for interesting hikes!

Agnes Jones

Out there for water to find somebody tamper eater testing cause I have water from there that just was filling up for winter months

Jeff Spang

Well kept campground and hiking trail, amazing vistas. Be careful of the critters on the trails and bring netting for the mosquitoes and gnats.

Pauly D

Palisades State Park has some nice trails many that are tree covered and not well marked. Bring bug spray. The area around Palisades has many other parks that are good for hiking, camping and other activities. Area is along the Mississippi river.

johnny scoggins

Cool park on a hot day. Great trails

Diane Polenske

Mississippi Palisades in Savanna is a very special camping place for our family. We've been coming here for 44 yrs when our first born was 3 mo old. The roads are all black topped. If you are handicapped, you have a large cement area to put your camper and picnic table, fire pit and grill. Normal areas are gravel. There is tent camping too. There is only electric hook up, not water and sewer, but there is a dump station and water hydrants to fill up if needed. Hiking trails are beautiful and go on forever. There are many beautiful views of the Mississippi River from high cliffs.

Sheryl Ward

Very scenic park. The campground itself is so-so. Bathroom/shower house old and worn. Nowhere to set toiletries in the shower. Water came out in a mist, Hard to rinse off soap and shampoo, especially if you're a short person. Need paint and a BIG makeover. Signage in park almost non-existant. Good thing it's a beautiful place, because the amenities need an overhaul. One more gripe, can't even have a beer or two around the fire. Alcohol strictly prohibited in entire park. We did not know this when we booked, as have never heard of this type of thing. Oh well, we survived for our two night visit.

Cathie Rouse

Beautiful state park

TLOWKK KINGS

LOVE THIS STATE PARK!!! USE TO ROCK CLIMB THERE OVER 20 YEARS AGO, BUT ROCK CLIMBING IS NOW PROHIBITED.... GOOD MEMORIES FOR LIFE PLUS IT'S COOL OVERLOOK ONTO MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS SWEET WATCHING TRAINS BEND ROUND RIVER FROM WAY UP TOP!!!

Richter Awning

My family has been camping here for years we absolutely love it

Tina Papa

We did not hike here, just drove around and checked out all the view points. Definitely a beautiful park. Well kept, super quiet and tranquil.

Jeremi Shearon

The day we went, (Jan 27, 2018) the weather was excellent. However, some trails were closed. We figured it was due to the freeze/thaw cycle, and that they weren't safe. However, the trail we took (High to Goldenrod to Aspen to Bittersweet) was near perfect. A bit muddy, but safe. There was a little bit at the end that was required careful placement of feet, but otherwise good.

Mario Yacuta

A wonderful place for the family or friends. Camping, trails and a park for the kids.

Lisa Poore

A wonderful place for the family or friends. Camping, trails and a park for the kids.

Tyler Hinspeter

Campsite was awesome for our class C RV, plenty of room, clean, and level. Park and trails were very nice! But the mosquito's were aweful :( Take only memories, and leave only with bug bites!

Chloe Simon

Absolutely breathtaking views! Be careful on the trails it gets a little sketchy, almost fell off the side of a pretty big drop. It's worth going and checking it out!

Carlos Campos

One of our beautiful state parks. So much to do.

Angela Balk

Beautiful park over looking the mighty Mississippi

the Practical Princess

Lots of places to pull off, nice water views, had lunch here under a covered patio. Quiet yet busy. There's a lot of traffic but because it's so late there are lots of spots for everyone to enjoy without being crowded.

Jon Stevens

Great spot for camping whether you're in an RV or tent. The facilities are great and plenty of parking, too. The gnats are plentiful due to it being river adjacent. Surprisingly I did not see one mosquito the entire time!

Michael Beebe

Been camping there since I was a child. Now half the sites are closed to the public. Dont drive there with making a reservation or turn around and go home like I just did. Thanks.

samar roy

Amazing views and beautiful hikes

Carol Kathrein

Had problems with electric and information never sent someone down to check. Had to use our generator to operate appliances and air conditioning. Very disappointed in this park

Renee Johnson

A great place for a day visit. Trails to the lookout points are not hard. (You drive your car past each short trail) Only need to spend a couple of hours here. There are washrooms and picnic areas, very pretty.

Jordan Corp

One of few parks in Illinois that can convince you you're in another, not so flat state! Loved the campsite. Sentinel hiking trail was stunning.

Utōoni

As beautiful as i remeber. A great park to visit and take the family for outdoors activities.

Douglas Larson

Great place to camp. Quiet and peaceful. This fact could be good or not so good. No phone, data or TV reception. Makes for a quiet weekend, kind of off the grid. Great place to hike or just take a walk. The park was well groomed and maintained. The park staff are working on removing scrub brush along the Waters edge and have made great progress. Wish there were more 50 amp sites. Maybe when the area that is closed off for repairs is redone, they will add more.

Kent Vock

Beautiful place any time of year. Best veiws of the river for a hundred miles each direction.

Jan Sears

Beautiful park!!

Lelo Rodriguez

Must visit. Great hiking and scenery. Historically overwhelming.

Adam Ciccarelli

Beautiful views of the Mississippi river from lookout mountain. Very nice place.

Heather H

Very pretty state park, lots of trails to hike

Dan Kuhfal

Great state park to get a eagles view of the Bald eagles over the river. And the view of the Mississippi river is great. Don't expect allot in middle of winter. We don't but it's clean and well maintained

Chris DeMarlie

Ticks are out already! Out of our group of 8, three got a tick to take home. Beautiful place to hike.

Critter Crazy

Sad to see the roads and look outs, have fallen into such disrepair... that's our government working for us

John Kokoris

A very pretty park in the hills overlooking the Mississippi. Very quiet and remote-feeling, and not too crowded. Was pretty in the spring; hope to see it again this winter. Really shows you how undeserved Illinois' reputation for being flat and boring is!

Tim Schmidt

Wonderful park with wonderful people running it. I always tent no electric for $10 a night. Clean showers and bathrooms. Plenty of walking paths and bluffs over looking the Mississppi which is right across the highway. The city of Savanna is up the road about 2 miles it has good restaurants and bars and if you need anything a dollar store shopko and Sullivan's supermarket.

douglas becker

Great ride through this park on the motorcycle. Needed a bit of cleanup because of the recent storm, but a beautiful visit nonetheless.

Randi Wargo

We reserved our tent camping spot fairly late so our site was near the entrance. We were set back from the road and had little issue with traffic keeping us up. We also had ready access to a pit toilet and a bit of a walk to a bathhouse with three stalls and showers. The hiking had some great views, and though it was a bit cold we would definitely return. Sidenote: the park is near freight tracks so you will hear a good number of horns while there.

BONNIE JORDAN

Beautiful park. Lits of flooding in the area when we were there so mosquitoes were an issue but they cant help that.

Patrick McDougall

Really nice road passing through the park with nice views of the Mississippi

Mary Hildebrandt

This is a gorgeous, well-maintained campground with great hiking trails and lovely lookout points over the Mississippi river. Trains come by frequently, even throughout the night, but it didn't bother us too much. The fees are affordable, it's pet friendly and has electrical hook ups for the non-tent campers. There's fire pits with grates for cooking at every site, plus plenty of picnic shelters. The rangers are friendly. I loved my stay here!

M H

Awesome place to visit / picnic / Camp take in the sites at the overlooks and especially in the fall for the beautiful colors

Mike Richards

Good rappelling and climbing available. One spot is over 100 ft. The woman at the gate didn't see our group on her list even though we had already paid to park there and reserved a campground. Ultimately she just let us through. Since guy from the Illinois climbing club happened to be climbing nearby and saw us rappelling. He said "you know that spot is off limits for climbing right?" We did not know that. It was not marked in any way. All the signs said it was for climbing, so not sure how anyone would know that. Fun place. Great views. Bring lots of bug spray.

brad fox

Very nice park, not too well promoted, lots of camping if that is what you want to do. right along the mississippi. really geat place. we hiked and drove all around it. great place to check out.

Amanda French

Beautiful park and good place to camp that isn't too far from Galena. There were lots 9f mosquitoes, which of course isn't the parks fault but it did seem worse than some other places we've camped. Overall we had a great time!

Askren Ryan

Beautiful location with great birding.

Ashley Cohen

As a campsite most are nice, but for the price compared to other parks they had water and power at the site. Park was nice for hiking and if you have a boat for the river. There are quite few large bugs as most camping sites, but overall it was great.

Gulsat Aygen

Great park. But they should put more signs on the parhs. Be mindful of the horseflies on the lookout!

Rick Stone Travels

Love this place! Will definitely be coming back

Deborah St Pierre

Sure brought back memories of my childhood! My brother made it a day and took me there...all because of a birthday card I had made for him! We took pics of each other on the same bridge that our Mom had been on. Happy and sad memories, but it was a good day!

Todd McGowan

Very senic views of the Mississippi River and a great campground.

Susan Gendeman

Great views

Hotpepper gyrl

Loved it there. Very wet right now there.

Denise McMahon

Beautiful but the GNATS! Swarms of them during various parts of the day. Bring bug netting! They laugh at bug repellent. Apparently vanilla scented body spray helps some.

Kim Gossett

Clean campground but showers need updating. Bathrooms were really cold in early October.

Danette Connors

This is a beautiful park and very clean. There are great picnic benches and clean outhouses. We tried to get water from the fountain but it didn't work so not sure if there is water accessible. The views of the Mississippi are worth the stop.

Katharyn Hoffman

Hard for me to give 3 stars as I LOVE THIS CAMPGROUND and park. But sadly they have not kept it up at all. The fire rings are all but gone on almost all sites. The hosts use to drive around several times a day along with the State park police and now a Savanna officer drives through once a day. It's a beautiful park please please dont let the State of Illinois ruin it by not maintaining it.

Justin Tate

As a campsite most are nice, but for the price compared to other parks they had water and power at the site. Park was nice for hiking and if you have a boat for the river. Would like to see park store open up and money put into the boat dock area. Bugs are a large issue if that is problem for you.

Fee Li

It's great for camping, no phone or Internet service works out there. So be prepared

Timothy Knudsen

It's an awesome park with very unique terrain. Plenty of space to camp n trails to hike. It's infrastructure is sadly getting run down though, peeling paint in the bathrooms n a lack of hot water in the showers. Still a great place to visit.

Dena Olson

It is a beautiful park. The views from the points are spectacular. This part of Illinois is worth the trip. Along the Mighty Mississippi. There is camping, hiking, picnicking or just relaxing and enjoying the solitude.

Silas Pepple

Great state park. Beautiful hiking trails overlooking the Mississippi River. One of the best spots to watch a Sunset in Illinois. Wonderful park for photographers looking for landscapes of the Mississippi River.

Susan Gray

Wonderful memories of the years and I love this time of season.

Heather Perry

So many things I enjoy about this park. I get the best ever drinking water here.(I am in no shape ,way, or form suggesting that you should drink it just merely stating that I choose to) I enjoy the wide variety of birds. The turkeys, butterflies, deer, & other little cuties I spot are a real treat. Hiking the trails or just walking the hills is a great workout for my glutes. The only downfall. The litter on the trails is a big disgrace but not the fault of the park. People need to be respectful & pick up their trash.

Chris Mahoney

Great place to bisit, but be ready to go in your tent when the sun goes down. No amount bug spray will keep the mosquitos off of you.

Kristopher Hill

Beautiful nature. One of the best views of the Mississippi river. Great hiking trails. Seeing the twin sisters was difficult but totally worth it once you have found it.

David Camp

Great lookout points. Every time I go to Galena I visit this park.

Vincent Lopez

Wonderful park

Maria Pankova

Some lookouts are overgrown with trees so you can't see the river well

Kayann Johansson

Very nice. Some trails are hard to follow.

Jill Sykes

We took a hike on high point trail on the north end of the park (1.5 mi there and 1.5 mile back). It was very steep for the first 10 min, but leveled off and was much more manageable. The visitor center was not open on Labor Day Monday, but there were maps available which helped us out!

Michael Geiger

Great views of the Mississippi River with some easy hikes and nice picnic area.

Tasheba Fair

Beautiful park with scenic overlooks and awesome hiking trails. The primitive camp sites are the absolute best. It’s also right next to the Mississippi River which is great for fishing. Definitely worth the visit.

A dub

Nice campground. Trains were an issue when I visited. Ran all night.

dino pedicini

Nice place for hiking, some trails are pretty overgrown. Map was not very good. Trails not marked. Half of the campground is closed due to a mud slide.

Bruce Biggers

Large hilly park. Great to cycle around. I’ll be coming back.

John Kling

Beautiful park. Stayed in back, quiet, no cell or TV. Power went out twice. Moved South to Thompson Causeway.

Tsg Glo

Look out porch

Michael Larter

Beautiful park. Great views! Nice walking paths. Great place to bring the dog.

Maria Duryea kmiec

Trails good for hiking. Views outstanding of Mississippi. Great camp grounds.

Will Shimkus

Great place for eagle watching

Bill Zeitz

The trails are in a natural condition so wear appropriate shoe absolutely beautiful place clean bathhouses close to Galena

David Hahn

Great park with excellent camping. There are many good trails with good views of the limestone/dolomite cliffs and Mississippi River. I can't wait to come back and do a few more trails. We saw several Bald Eagles this week when we were hiking, including juveniles.

Wendy Arbogast

My family and I love the nature trails and excellent views. Lots of birds to admire. Clean restrooms

robert roque

Love the place. A wonderful view ,breath taking hikes,outrageously swarm of mosquitos...

William Sanders

Nice view. Excellent place to explore nature.

Timothy Smith

Absolutely amazing views of the river and so much more

Mike Foy

Stayed for a night on a motorcycle trip. Cant wait to go back

CARMEN Sander

What a beautiful view! So worth visiting

Tom H

Great views. We were rushed so did not get the whole experience.

Rhonda Goode

It's was a wonderful place to camp I really enjoyed it

Ron Larson

Great place to visit!

B-RAD Huber

Fun fishing

Corey Brashinger

I am not a photographer. I am a hiker and lover of nature and would recommend this park as a place of beauty with easy to moderate hiking. There is an abundance of interesting vegetation, birds and bugs (Bees! Spiders! Butterflies!) and hikes range from small loops to longer, hilly treks. We went just before rain hit but it was still very peaceful and picturesque. Highly recommend!

Rollie Littlewood

We went to several of the lookouts to the Mississippi. Wonderful views! Virtually no other people there on a Wednesday afternoon.

heather adams

I loved it. It was so beautiful

BRUCE KAMER

Terrible! They don't cut down the trees to see the river!

Tori Gray

It was beautiful! Absolutely breath taking! But you couldn't really find a clean bathroom...

Kelly Robinson

Great place to camp and hike never crowded lots of space

Roman Buchberger

Very clean and quiet campground minus the occasional train. Lots vary in size and some require you to level. Staff is friendly and the night sky is just great. Lots of hiking trails but almost zero cell or satellite signal due to so many trees. Definitely not a complaint just a statement.

Eyad Shalabi

Breathtaking view of the river. Perfect place to watch the sunset!

Larry Bienz

Woah, Illinois is this beautiful? Had a great time here and found the facilities and campsites to be well maintained and suitable for the cost. Lots of beauty all around. Definitely recommend!

Rich Schurter

Nice camping. Beautiful area in the fall.

Kevin Tracy

Great overlook along the Mississippi. Worth the drive to the top of the blue for this one!

sandi Malone

Beautiful park

juan topete

Great site, breathe it in!!! :)

Cathy Hale

This is a very good place to go hiking and it’s very pretty!

Leesa Hebert

My favorite hiking spot. Beautiful views and several lookout points. Whenever I have visitors from out of town this is my go to spot.

SVE PJANO

Beautiful nature but need better presentation.

Jeff Mannen

Beautiful ride from where I live.very well kept park.

Ashley Aarseth

We went on our annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip, but we like to go somewhere new each time. We picked this place because the reviews seemed decent. However, I would have to disagree with their experience. Although it does have a lot of hiking trails and fishing, the bugs (gnats and mosquitos) made it impossible to do anything! There was such an overwhelming abundance of them you couldn't even be outside for 30 seconds without being attacked. I had to go for a jog rather than a walk just to evade them. A ton of the sites had reservations, but they were empty. All the picnic pavilions were empty and never have I seen that over a holiday weekend. We saw one smart family that had bug nets over their heads to protect themselves. Definitely will not be coming back. Everyone left with a ton of bug bites despite spraying ourselves with deet a couple times a day!

Brandon Lyon

Great park. Lots of nice trails and the views are spectacular. The mosquitos were kind of thick when I last went and I forgot to bring some repellent but I don't think they are always all that bad. Definitely worth a visit.

kelly whitehead

Beautiful place to be. Hiking is excellent. Geocaching while in the area. Fun!

Brian LuGrain

Lovely Place to go

Elise Raz

Great weekend camping trip! Just enough to do leisurely over two nights. Beautiful campsites and the bathrooms are kept up well. Overlooks on the Mississippi River are great picnic spots! Hiking is great for intermediate level hikers. The trail on the furthest overlook was not updated on the map we received though so be careful if you try it! Hosts were incredibly friendly and helpful!

Kenny Webb

This is a really nice park if you like hiking and enjoying great views of the Mississippi River and surrounding areas. There's a few trails that are in need of repair and I wouldn't recommend for kids but there's so many other trails that are very family friendly.

Tom Sheppard

Loved the hikes. The Sunset trail was the best! Huge boulders and rocks and great overlooks of the Mighty Mississippi river!

Martin Daniels

Very beautiful state park over looking the Mississippi River

Joe Tabone

Nice park but no phone or tv reception.

James Zaworski

Mississippi Palisades is nice, but bring bug spray in the summer and watch out for poison ivy. Admission is free and there are many hiking trails and scenic overlooks.

Michael Carlson

Beautiful area Lots of gnats around the camp sites

Jeremy Patnaude

Really cool park. Has a number of different outlooks over the river valley. Great views.

Kelly Foster

Well arranged trailer and tent camping. Lots of great trails both easy and difficult. Lots of great views of the Mississippi River!

Terry Bouchez

Very nice place to came and hike

princess house 10

Beautiful place for the family nice views to river

Michelle Fredericks

Beautiful . Free . Awesome views ! A must when u have the opportunity to go !

Nate Mcclintock

A picture is worth a thousand words, But Actually being there will leave you speechless

greg thomas

Beautiful Park !

betty man

Very nice place to visit

Sherry Hood

Love the overlooks and views are spectacular

Volker Elzner

Just been here briefly to take in the views from the lookout points, but there are also many small campsite areas that are very inviting. A great place to check out if you are coming through the area.

Cameron McNamara

Pretty neat! Has some decent trails and views considering it's in IL.

Scott Holst

Nice camping. Beautiful scenery. Handicap camping sites.

Ryne Obenauf

This place is a gem. It is a gorgeous park.

Sara Page

Friendly foxy friend :)

Tina Baker

This place is my heaven. Fresh air and endless beauty.

Patricia Boley

I love nature, and taking my dog there to let her run