Pere Marquette State Park

stayed one night in a cabin, drove a scenic road through hiking area - no view of river, trees were so tall! would not return

We booked this campground for just one night as we wanted something about 6 hours from home for our first night out but didn't want to stay near St. Louis. This is north of there on the Illinois side. Other then our GPS not wanting us to travel RT 100, it was not hard to find.
The sites are a bit of a weird angle and not level at all. Most sites we observed that were being used needed blocks for leveling. We just fit but for one night it was fine. Sites are not tightly packed and there was a bit of space between us and our neighbors. Our site was quite muddy and with the pouring rain all night it was a bit sloppy for walking the dogs and hooking up in the morning. The trees in our site could have used some trimming but overall the grounds are kept up nicely.
There is a very nice lodge and the outside of the adjoining cabins are beautiful. We just spent about 45 minutes wandering and looking around inside. The dining room was open and the prices weren't too bad, but the menu didn't look super appealing but it wasn't bad, just limited. The main hall is a very interesting room to sit and admire the view. These old lodges are quite interesting to see.
The town of Grafton looked quite welcoming and appealing with shops and things to do. We could definitely see going back and staying an additional night just so we could go into town and explore.

We stayed here in a 24 foot travel trailer on Oct 16th. The River was flooded, so getting here the back way, while towing was highly sketchy, but we made it! Beautiful large park, nicely haded, but not too dark. The host gave us site 6, at first, but even though it was asphalt, we needed to level one side and our tongue end couldn’t go high enough to compensate for the slope, so we moved to the site across, gravel, but less uneven. There’s a beautiful lodge here. We had wine and a charcuterie plate, that was enough for six people. No WiFi here, unless you go to the Lodge! Bathrooms are okay, but i’m Glad I didn’t need to use the shower! Gross! I’d probably stay here again, nice and quiet, but that could have been because the road was closed.

Lots of shade and we saw no park rangers who cruise the park hassling people about minute issues like I’ve experienced in some other parks. Lots of hiking trails. Bike trail to Grafton would be much nicer if it was maintained better. Lots of debris on the path in spots or mud along the way and a few challenging hills.
If you want a water hookup pay attention to the map when reserving a spot. The spigots are spaced very far apart. We had to use our onboard water because the closest hookup was about 2-300 feet away.

Drive to the park was great, the view of the river was wonderful. Grafton as a town was great, not much for groceries or hardware, but plenty of restaurants.

Park and playground was full of mosquitos and came away with several bites. Site hosts were unwelcoming and didn't greet anyone. Just stated in their little camp area.

Playground was subpar and most things were broken, moldy, or for small small children.

Site was paved but had a heck of a time leveling. Had to move twice in the site to get it close to level with blocks.

Wife said she'd go back but I'm undecided.

This is a nice park. Heated bathrooms/showers were great on a cold November morning. My spot was level and I was told at the visitors center that they redid most of the campsites a year or so ago so most of them were level. It was quiet though looked to be busier for Thanksgiving weekend (based on reservation slips that went up on Wednesday).

Spent 2 nights at the campground. We had a very nice dinner at the Lodge. We were able to ride our bikes on the paved trail and visit the exhibit at the Pere Marquette visitor center. Early March and the water was on in the bathroom/shower area. Clean restrooms made for a pleasant stay. Hang out at the lodge and play some games. Be sure to check out the sunset over the water.

Great hiking trails!