Review Visit: October 14th, 2015…read more First impressions are hard to change... If you live in Illinois at all, you know of the budget cuts, budget cuts, tax increases, budget cuts. Jubilee College State Park is one of those that has been hit by budget cuts. Decided to check this place and Jubilee Cafe out in the same day. My first time there, I encountered a few areas that were closed due to inadequate staffing. So a lot of places have become overgrown and broken down. This state park is beautiful and it's a shame that it is in such a bad shape. While looking up some info on it to write this short blog, it appears that after 3 years they finally have a (volunteer?) Park Ranger and a volunteer group to help clean the place up and make it usable. Having never been here, I tried quite a few different places that I thought were openings to go hiking, but I really never could tell what was what since everything was overgrown. Now if this volunteer group is helping out and making the place a bit friendlier, I would love to go back and check it out again. Maybe even update this blog post. I just hope I don't have to mark it 'Closed'. It fills me with such sorrow that beautiful recreational places like these are cut short on budgets and fall into disuse. I won't get into politics, but I hope they figure something out and restore this park and all the other closed/understaffed to their rightful natural beauty.

I stay here a lot but the last few times there have been many unleashed dogs therefore I had to…read moretake my dog home because she is old and can't handle other dogs. We had many coming in our site , even though your dog is to be leashed no one was doing it and no park employee driving thru so it made it unsafe for my dog which is a bummer.

Nice park that has a good sized playground with many swings and slides and climbing areas. It's a…read moregood place for kids over 2 but also has baby swings that are good for infants. There's also a large grassy area that's used for soccer on the weekends and basketball courts. On the perimeter, there's a running/bike path that's probably 1/4 mile and is rarely busy.

Beautiful natural area, nature center is very kid-centered with friendly help, small gift shop,…read morebenches and picnic tables for resting!

Review Visit: September 29th, 2013…read more I remember coming here a few times as a kid on field trips. It was awesome as kid. They taught us about animals, bugs, nature and everything else outdoorsy. Then we got to hike a smaller trail as a group. Maybe this is what caused me to be such an avid outdoors person. Coming back here after about 2 decades was a huge nostalgic trip. Nothing had changed from what I remember as a kid. I'm sure things have been changed and updated since the early 90's, but it still retained that feel and look I remember as kid. The main building has set hours, but I do believe you can hike there before they open, as long as you follow the rule of 'no hiking before sunrise and after sunset'. Don't quote me on that. Inside the building is a small gift shop. There are quite a few learning activity areas to enrich yourself on local foliage and fauna. They hold a lot of events here, so you are surely able to drop in once a week and encounter some fun activity going on. There are plenty of trails to hike. If you want a quick hike, they have short trails. If you desire something challenging, you can hike some tough trails. Just be careful, I know a few people who have wandered off the path and ended up in a business area of Peoria Heights. The last time I was there, they had a 100-mile hike challenge. It was $10-15 to sign up and you record your hiking distances in a book there. Once you reach 100 miles, you get an award of some sort. I think it was a t-shirt and a certificate. Ive been wanting to sign up for it since I learned about it. But life gets busy. :/ Parking is plentiful but be warned; its a popular place, so there is usually a good amount of cars there at all time. But you shouldn't have a problem most of the time finding a parking spot. If you are native to the area and haven't been here, do yourself a favor and check it out. If yo are from out of town, also do yourself a favor and stop by for a quick hike. You won't regret it.

we stayed in a caboose for our anniversary...what a treat!!…read more everyone was soooo friendly and welcoming and that was before we got to the park!! haha!! the next day we visited the park and trails. we had a private feeding with Patrick(who was so awesome!)...unforgettable...if you have the chance, DO IT! so worth it!! we feed bears, wolves, and cougars...drove in the fields with the buffalo....WHAT?!?! who gets to do that?!? Patrick is so knowledgeable about the park and animals. everyone at the park with staff and volunteers were so great. we had a great chat with the volunteer in the old school house. that was such a treat. my favorite was Mr. B the badger...he was so rad! we will be back to explore more...two days weren't enough... thank you Prairie Park for the memorable weekend!!

We went to the park about 10 years ago and found it quite interesting. This time we found it overly…read morecommercialized and very rundown. Many of the enclosures were not maintained and many of them animals looked as though they needed attention by both park workers and medical intervention. It is very obvious that the park is not AZA accredited.

I've been going to this campground my whole life. great staff clean campsites swimming hole is…read moregreat in the summer plants/trees are always trimmed and kept up. Bathroom is clean water is hot.

We couldn't be happier with the accommodations of this park. Everything is as expected from the…read morewebsite. Water hook us are sparse so bring the extra long hose and a splitter. Clean lake and shower facilities. Staff is so friendly and knowledgeable of the area. We came down the weekend before the "season" began. Had our pick of sites, quiet, and very impressed with the trails within the park. Our new favorite home away from home!

Nice park with tennis and pickle ball courts, a baseball field, playground, grills, a shelter that…read moreholds 50 people and open space.

Beautiful area for a dog park Illinois River is right across the street. There is two enlarged…read morefenced in areas. Everyone picks up after their dogs so it is very clean. I travel across the United States and would rate this park a ten.

This fenced in dog park sits right on the Illinois River. It has both small and large doggie fenced…read morein areas, one picnic table in each area, poop bags are provided, and someone macgyvered a water station for our furry buddies. Not many people frequent this dog park so it is a great place to train your dog, but if you are looking for your pawbud to socialize this is not the place to go. We've been here multiple times and probably only ran into one other owner. This park doesn't get much shade at certain parts of the day as there are no actual trees inside the fenced area, but a few large oaks surround it. Great place to watch the sun set over the river while Mr. Sniff-a-lot enjoys the aroma of the park.

Very cool park - we just stopped by for a few minutes to look at the lake. It was clean and I…read morereally liked the easy access to the lake.

I love walking in this park whenever I get to go there and walk along the River and see boatsread more