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50 Campfires had the opportunity to speak with Richard Glazebook, the Site Superintendent for Wolf Creek State Park in Illinois. He shared with us about the size of the park, the ability to camp with horses – and best of all – his favorite campsite in the park. Listen to our full interview here:
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Camping in Eastern Illinois: Wolf Creek State Park
Camp Illinois: I’m talking with Richard Glazebrook today. He is the Site Superintendent for Wolf Creek State Park in Illinois. How’s it going, Richard?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, it’s wonderful. It’s a little dreary, but it’s a nice fall day.
Camp Illinois: Let’s start with how long Wolf Creek State Park has been there and how it got started.
Richard Glazebrook: Wolf Creek was started in about 1972, and we were located on a core of engineered lake. And the State of Illinois leased the property from the Core of Engineers, and that’s how the State Parks got started.
Camp Illinois: Okay. And what types of camping do you offer there?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, Wolf Creek has about three hundred sites.
Camp Illinois: Wow.
Photo credit: Tyler D Funk
Richard Glazebrook: AA sites, and then we have group sites, we have horse campsites, and we have tent sites.
Camp Illinois: Okay. Does horse camping tend to be pretty popular there?
Richard Glazebrook: Very popular, especially this time of year when it’s kind of cool and they can get out on the trails. So, we’re having a lot of people use the horse camp area. You could also day ride here, but we have a lot of campers come in. We have five sites that have electricity on it, and the rest are just kind of primitive type of camping.
Camp Illinois: Oh, okay. And in addition to the equestrian activities then, what are some of the other activities that the visitors enjoy there?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, in the summertime, we have a beach at Wolf Creek and we have a lot of people enjoying the beach. Again, we have fishing and boating that people love. We have a four-lane boat ramp for people to get in and out of. Large parking lot, so that helps them. And then we have other activities that are going to be going on right now. We will have deer hunting coming up here pretty soon. We have turkey hunting in the spring. We have game hunting in the fall also.
Photo credit: Greg O’Leary
Camp Illinois: Oh, okay.
Richard Glazebrook: So there’s plenty of thins for people to do. I mean they can ride their bikes, walk the trails. There are a lot of things that can keep them moving at the Park.
Camp Illinois: Okay. What’s your favorite way to spend time in the Park?
Richard Glazebrook: My favorite way to spend time in the Park would be sitting around a campfire, watching the campfire, talking to the people. Enjoying that type of evening.
Camp Illinois: That never gets old, sitting around the campfire, does it?
Richard Glazebrook: No. No. No, you can’t beat it.
Camp Illinois: And if you were going to spend just one night in Wolf Creek State Park in Illinois, which specific campsite would you choose, Richard, and why?
Richard Glazebrook: Well, that would be on the Fisherman Circle area. And again, this time of year, it allows you to be able to see the lake with the foliage going down, and that’s always kind of nice to see. The fog comes up in the morning and it’s facing the east, so you get to see the sun come up, the fog. You can kind of see the boat launching area, so that makes it kind of an interesting area to be in.
Camp Illinois: All right, perfect. Well, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to chat with us about Wolf Creek State Park in Illinois.
