Kishauwau Country Cabins

I have yet to be notified from them about making it right. Not sure Teresa really meant what she said!

We absolutely lucked out by finding this gem. The campground is very well maintained, the staff is friendly and accommodating, the cabins are clean and comfortable, and the location is perfect — away from the congestion around starved rock but still tucked away in nature. There is no doubt I will be returning here and recommending this spot to all! It’s really everything you could ask for and at a very reasonable price.

Fantastic, a true gem in the Starved Rock area. Our family of four enjoyed the peaceful property and our cabin in between hiking in the area.

Amazing! We came to the cabin in memory of my mother, Emma M Baez. We got the family together just as she would’ve loved and I’m certain she enjoyed every moment from above. Kishawau service was great. We didn’t feel like customers. We felt like family. We will definitely make a trip back. Thank you ever so much. No wifi was a plus although at times it made us say «d**n, it was much needed to be disconnected. HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM US!

My husband and I wanted a quiet getaway from all the hustle and bustle of daily life and we struck gold with this place! Not only are the hosts gracious and friendly, they grounds were kept well and the cabin was cozy. I loved that we could only watch movies and that there wasnt wi-​fi to distract us. We had a fire both nights we were there and grilled one of the nights. The kitchen had everything we needed and then some — likely things that others had left behind, like foil. It is quiet and the skies at night are amazing… crystal clear. All in all — it was a wonderful experience and one that I will repeat soon!

We had the most wonderful extended weekend here. We stayed for 3 nights, but wished it could have been longer. The grounds are beautiful and peaceful. The cabins are private and cozy. We stayed in their smallest option (one room with a full kitchen and bathroom) and it was plenty of space for two people. The whirlpool in the bathroom was actually big enough for two people, with room to spare. I was delightfully surprised.
You won’t regret booking a cabin here. We will definitely be back.

The wife and really enjoyed our stay in the bridge cabin! We had a very clean cabin and great guest service. The staff was very courteous and polite. The location was perfect!
We were close to all the state parks, local towns, museums, etc. but yet far enough away to really feel as if we were all alone. Great place to disconnect from everyday life.
Thanks for the wonderful stay!!!

We enjoyed our stay here very much, it’s quiet and serene. We wanted to get away from city life for a few days and we couldn’t have picked a better spot. It’s close to Matthiesen State Park, Starved Rock and downtown Utica which is a decent old downtown area. The owner was very kind and made us feel welcome, I sincerely can’t wait to go back, maybe as soon as next year.
Thanks for the great service and cabin grounds!

Roomy cabins with whirlpool and shower, full-​size fridge, linens, dishes, towels, soap provided. Large covered deck with chair and table, firepit. The cabins are secluded and not on top of each other. Friendly staff and great location near state parks and river rafting.

A wonderful little gem. We are here right now and it is absolutely beautiful and relaxing. A wonderful weekend escape great for the whole family. Even four legged family members are welcome and enjoyed every minute of the grounds, trails, and cabin.

This place is breathtaking! I have stayed here 3 times… twice with my our 2 small children and with just my husband for his birthday. We have had the chance to stay in different cabins all three times and we were never disappointed. The décor of each cabin is beautiful. We stumbled across this place looking for somewhere to stay near starved rock and I am more than happy that we took the chance and booked a cabin here. Kishauwau is a home away from home. The views are amazing and the staff was beyond friendly. They are the nicest people. We will definitely be coming back.

This is overdue and I apologize to the establishment for it.
This place is very inviting and just a wonderful place to unwind and unplug (cell phone reception is spotty at best). The grounds are well manicured and it’s easy to spend sometime just walking around the place.
We stayed in the Chippewa cabin and were not disappointed. The view off the back porch was amazing with the sound of a creek in the gully below. The cabin was well appointed and included a grill on the porch. A flat screen TV for viewing movies (no cable or satellite). A kitchen and a full bath which included a whirlpool tub.
Our only complaint is with the water. The cabin had low water pressure and the on demand water heater did not always deliver said water on demand, especially in the shower.
Other than the water we found the place to be a piece of heaven. It is located just a few minutes south of Starved Rock and the attractions of Utica.
We intend to return soon!

My family, the 6 of us, stayed at the Illini cabin at the end of May. While the cabin does not look like much from outside, it is great on the inside. The cabin consists of one living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a small kitchen. The cabins are spaced out and have tables, chairs, and benches outside. There was a fire pit as well as a spot to grill. The couple running the cabin are super nice and were always ready to answer any questions we had.
The main cabin was always left open and you could borrow movies and books at your convenience. They used the trust system which was easy and convenient. There was also several shelves that sold things to make your stay more comfortable (insect repellent, Tylenol, etc). My favorite item was the s’mores basket which included everything you might need to make smores!
There was a phone in the main cabin to use for check which was useful since we did not have reception in the area. My one complaint was that the wifi password did not work on any of our phones which was unfortunate since we couldn’t check in with our family back at home.
Overall, the trip was relaxing and the owners were accommodating. Would definitely come back!

Great place to unwind and Unplug from the daily rate race. Our cabin was clean and comfortable and very inviting. Owners Teresa and her husband Jamie went all out to make sure are stay was memorable. Highly recommend for that special get away. We have already booked our next stay can’t wait!

We stayed here for 4 nights over Labor Day weekend and I can’t recommend Kishauwau enough! A family run operation, I found them by accident when looking for lodging in the area. There are different sizes and types of cabins, we stayed in the «Mother in Law’ cabin, it was super clean and it is fully stocked with cooking utensils, so all that you need to bring are clothes and your basic toiletries. Each cabin comes equipped with a couple of charcoal grills. The cabin ‘office’ is open ²⁴⁄₇ and has lots of movies that you can borrow (for free!) along with books and magazines. There are also available for purchase ice cream bars and pizza. Everyone here was friendly and helpful and again, I can’t emphasize enough the cleanliness of our cabin.
The cabins are within 10 minutes of Starved Rock and Matthiesen State Parks. Although there are like, some 20+ cabins on the property, we had adequate space between our cabin and neighboring cabins, it was very private and quiet. And the best part was that our cabin was dog friendly so we got to bring our best friend. Not all of the cabins are dog friendly, so be sure to check on-​line or talk with staff when booking.
Be aware that there is not an area on premise to swim (at least that I could tell), which is no fault of Kishauwau, but something to be aware of. Also, there is a guest book to sign about your trip and experiences. It was fun and interesting to read some of the other guests posts. Cell phone service is non-​existant, so be prepared to disconnect from the world for a while — which in itself is nice to not be tethered to a phone. A/​C worked great, it was hot while we were here and the cabin was a nice cool refuge.
I would like to visit again, maybe in the winter when the Eagles are on the River.

Great camp ground about a hour and a half south of Chicago. Went there for a family reunion. The cabins were nice and clean. Ours came with a bed, pull out sofa bed, full kitchen including pots pans and utensils, and a full bath with whirlpool tub and shower. Lot of tough nearby like sraving rock and outdoorsy stuff. Do recommend wearing shoes with tough soles as the gravel around the cabins is large and tough on feet. Staff is nice and has a real homey feeling to it. There is no internet serice and barely and cellphone. There are tvs with dvd and vhs players and they provide a wide variety to choose from for free.

What a great weekend getaway! I brought my 12 year old daughter and a couple of her friends for a fun mini vacation over the late summer/​early fall. Kishawau on the Vermilion was a great choice. With the brochures from the main cabin, and a little bit of asking around, we were able to find a horseback riding ranch about 15 minutes drive from the cabin. We also found an apple picking/​pumpkin farm nearby AND we had Starved Rock’s beautiful wood and river trails. For a break we took the girls out for ice cream at the Starved Rock lodge and walked by the Illinois River. A very fun weekend all around.
Kishauwau on the Vermillion was our homebase! Since our cabin had a large table and a full kitchen, we made big breakfasts in the morning. Afterwards we would go look at the songbirds at the main cabin’s bird feeders. There were so many and they were beautiful colors. I have lived in Northern Illinois all my life and had never seen some of these birds before. The owners, who are so nice and accommodating, said that the birds come by every morning. We would then swing on the treeswings and walk by the koi pond. Afterwards we would plan our day. Mathiesson State Park and Starved Rock are only a few minutes drive from these cabins. Also, the downtown Utica area is a fun way to spend a few hours. We wandered the historical museum and then walked over to buy some fun popcorn and chocolates a few doors away. When we were done, we headed back to Kishauwau’s cabins and fired up the fire pit logs outside of our cabin and had a wienie roast and smores feast! Since these cabins are in the country, we were able to do some great stargazing in a wide-​open, nicely mowed, open field next to our cabin. The girls saw shooting stars for the first time in their lives and said that they had never seen so many stars! Afterwards, we walked to the main cabin to borrow a couple of dvds. They had a great selection of family movies and the girls quickly found something that they all liked.
There were quite a few cabins to choose from when I called. Their website did a good job of describing the sizes of each. The cabins are close enough to see each other, but far enough away to give each cabin some privacy. Each of the cabins had a grill and firepit area and some tables and chairs outside. The inside of our cabin was nicely decorated and wonderfully clean. The wood burning stove inside was a nice touch too. You can tell that the owners really take a lot of pride in the upkeep and care of these cabins and the grounds. We have stayed here multiple times and my kids are always asking when we will go back. They never say that about Disney World! LOL. ;-)
If you want a place that is lowkey, fun and that your kids will talk about years later, this is the place for you. If I could give a 10 star review, I would! We love this place.

We were looking to spend a long weekend in the Starved Rock area and originally had booked a standard hotel room. But since we travel with a dog, a three year old and 9 month old twins we decided to look for something with more room to roam-​inside and out. A whole lot of googling later I stumbled on the website for Kishauwau.
We had great customer service from the owners-​I had several questions I asked during the booking process and my e-​mails were immediately returned. They were understanding of our concerns with arrival times and were very helpful when my husband needed office facilities for his work.
We rented a standard whirlpool cabin that allowed dogs and children. The cabin was great-​sure it was all one giant room and a bathroom but it was spaced nicely. The whirlpool tub was huge! HUGE! The kids loved the tub and that was great since it rained almost our whole visit! But the rain wasn’t such a bummer because the cabin had such nice views and you could sit out on the covered porch on the swing or chairs and still enjoy the scenery. If we had all been crammed in a normal hotel room we might have lost our minds!
There is no internet, spotty cell service and not great television reception but the main office has a large DVD selection. I kind of scoffed at the idea when I read that they had a lot of DVD’s and VHS tapes on-​line but the reality is they really do! I was surprised at how many new releases they had! It was like having a mini-​free Blockbuster Video. The main cabin is left open so we were just wondering up all the time to grab a new movie, check out the fish tank, etc.
There was a charcoal grill, picnic table and fire pit. In the main area they had some swings for the kids and we enjoyed playing in the big grassy area.
So many nice things to say about this place. Perfect location-​close to the parks and Utica. We will be back!

We booked a cabin for two couples and couldn’t wait to go on our trip but in a couple of days our friends had an emergency and we had to re-​schedule the trip. So we called the place and asked to move the reservation to another date and even were willing to take two separate cabins instead of a one. Unfortunately the owners weren’t willing to do that (they didn’t have anything available) nor did they want to return the money back ($ 440). The only thing they offered was to pay again, half a price and make a new reservation but we already lost $ 440 on a trip we never went to and didn’t really like the way the owners treated thire potential customers… They could have been a little more flexible and understanding. So beware of the 21 days cancellation policy and, another drawback — Sunday check out time 11am!!! (everywhere we went to before we could at least enjoy the whole Sunday out!).

My husband and I recently visited Kishauwau cabins for the first time. We were celebrating our 16^th anniversary and I was looking for a quiet getaway near Starved Rock.
This really was the perfect place to go. Convenient because there is a full kitchen, and can deal with food sensitivities (if you have them, by bringing your own food). And just a beautiful and peaceful setting. Cell service is spotty — which again, makes it a perfect quite getaway :-)
After a full day of hiking, it was soooo nice to settle into generous jacuzzi tub. We definitely plan to return again!
Go check it out!