Shawnee National Forest places to stay

Our family of 4 and furbaby enjoyed our stay as always. We love fishing and kayaking the pond. The deer were great greeting every morning with such peaceful sunrises. Can't beat the nightlife either, evening bonfires with a sky full of stars. We were even lucky enough to catch the northern lights. We will see you all next year!

The Hygge Cabin lives up to its name. I wanted a place that was quiet, peaceful, and relaxing. This cabin was all that and then some! Finding the cabin was quite easy with Jess’s instructions and my navigation app. Getting inside was simple and straight forward. The cabin itself, was perfect: clean, functional, and very relaxing. Kudos to Jess for the very comforting green/tree theme throughout the cabins. Likewise, it’s the little things that bake a big difference: a pizza pan and cutter. Sturdy, real silverware. Spices in the cupboard. Real toilet paper and paper towels. Simple to use instructions for all the amenities. I wish all Air B&B rentals were this common sense and easy to access and enjoy. I especially enjoyed the hot tub and made use of the gas grill. The bed was very comfortable and the gas fireplace did a great job of warming the entire place. Not to mention the Old Cemetery walking trail just 100 yards down the lane! Loved my stay. Eager to return! Thanks Jess!

This place serves very well as a home base for hikers visiting the Shawnee National Forest

This is a perfect little cottage near the lake. It had everything we needed, including nice outdoor patio spaces for eating and a big firepit. You can't see much of the lake from the cottage, but it's easy to get to - across a quiet road and down a very long flight of stairs. There's a nice big dock for fishing, swimming, star gazing at night, boating, and just relaxing and enjoying the view (it's a particularly scenic section of the lake because there is no development on the other side of the water - just forest!). We loved having access to kayaks and enjoyed fishing off the dock. Would love to return in summer when we can swim and do even more water activities!

Great little cabin! Perfect distance from many hiking trails. The cabin was ready and clean for our arrival. Everything was as described.

We were surprised by the amenities and care that Mary took to get the place ready for our stay. She had all the essentials in case you missed packing something and more. She was very responsive when we asked for dinner recommendations. The cabin is right at the entrance to Godwin trail and 1.5 miles from the cross. It is walking distance to the cross as well.

We loved Geloria’s hummingbird cabin! It had all the things we needed and was very private and peaceful. We loved the hot tub and the deck right next to the water. The place was well marked and easy to find. There were lots of thoughtful touches throughout the cabin that made us feel right at home. We would definitely stay there again!

My son and I really enjoyed “Beck’s Hideaway.” The house had everything we needed and is located in a lovely setting (which happens to be close to lots of the activities that we wanted to experience).

We enjoyed our stay here. The house was exactly as described and in a quiet neighborhood. The house was also very clean, from the bedrooms and living room to the kitchen, which had all of the utensils, pot and pans you'd need for cooking. We also unexpectedly needed to stay an extra night and Lori quickly responded and made it happen seamlessly for us.

This home is an absolute GEM! From the time we booked our trip to the time we checked out, Wes and Janet were so thoughtful, kind, responsive, and helpful. From the decor to the amenities, and everything in between (e.g. ice stocked in the freezer, tons of appliances, amazing shower products, notes all around the house with details, toys for children upstairs), they have truly thought of it all. Their house was an absolute pleasure to stay at. It was child-friendly and we all (two families staying together) felt right at home. It truly had everything we could possibly have needed. Wes and Janet are incredible hosts, and this is an amazing place to stay! Highly, highly recommend!

The cabin was so comfortable and we felt right at home. The view of the lake was beautiful from the deck. We loved starting our day sitting out there enjoying our coffee. There was so much to do without leaving the resort: swimming, fishing, kayaking, basketball and games on the deck. We had family ranging from 10 to 86 years old. Everyone was happy! The staff was so welcoming and helpful. We couldn’t have chosen a better place for our family to meet.

Lovely spot on the lake. Felt like we were staying with family

We loved the little cabin and every place around that we tried was phenomenal! The cabin itself is cozy, clean, and private makes you feel right at home even if all you’d like to do is stay in and watch a movie.Marilynn is super helpful and super sweet we loved meeting her at the fish house! If you have a chance, definitely give crazy Joe’s fish house a try everything we got was delicious. We also loved how close it was to Ava and to the national forest, gave us so much to do and explore without driving hours to get there. This really was the perfect get away and we hope to stay again when we have time to go again!

This is a great house with awesome hosts. We were immediately greeted by one of the hosts and he was helpful to orient us to getting into the house. The house was easy to get into and was extremely clean and had great space. There were lots of little extras, like spices in kitchen, detergent for laundry, s’more kits, snacks, a sewing kit, etc. The house is across the street from the marina and has water views which are peaceful! This is an older home with a very nice updated kitchen and baths. There are steps that go into both bathrooms and the stairs upstairs are narrow for anyone with mobility issues. They did have smaller steps to make it easier to get into the bathroom and bedroom upstairs. Overall, this was a perfect spot for our needs. I would definitely return in the future.

It was lovely having a calm neighborhood. It’s so relaxing. There is enough for our guests to visit!

Once again we stayed with Jordan for our hunt in Illinois. And it was perfect again. We loved the new camp grill setup this year. We are already Planning for next year.