My husband and I have been seasonal campers at Hickory Shores Resort for almost a year. It has been and is a remarkable pleasant experience. Our grown children with their own families (our grandkids) rent spots during holidays and love coming back. The park is very clean. The crew cleans up after a storm the moment it is safe. The bathrooms and bath houses are always clean and free of trash. The new owners (they took over 5 years ago) are very attentive to our needs such as firewood, propane, etc. You always see them riding around the park waving and stopping to chat with campers. There is 3 playgrounds, a mini golf course, outdoor pool, game room with snacks and arcade games for the kids. We love this place! Such friendly folks throughout the resort. #Will.is.a.saint! Thank you for all you do! read more

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We were at Hickory Shores for a day in 2016 and it was HORRIBLE! Young kids swerving up and down the roads on golf carts and gators, people yelling at all hours, and so many drunken parties that we didn't stay. Fast forward to 2019 when we were looking for a place on Carlyle Lake. Someone mentioned Hickory Shores and we immediately said no thanks. But we drove by and saw big changes. A gate had been installed and we were lucky enough to meet the new owner. She took us on a tour of the campground and by the end of the visit, we were begging to put our camper there. We are now in our fourth year of annual lease at Hickory Shores and now it's a place that EVERYONE is trying to get into. The troublemakers were moved out when the new owners came in and it's more like a family now. The pool is great, the campground get-togethers are so much fun, and we enjoy every minute we spend here. read more

I visited here with family at one of the one bedroom cabins over thanksgiving in 2014. First night my fiancé and I found pubic hair and semen stains on the sheets of the bed and my brother found a semen stain under one of the couch cushions. To sleep we dressed till we were completely covered and then lay on top of the sheets all night cuddling for warmth and hoping not too much biological matter got in through our clothes. Next morning called Ralph the owner and he sent out clean sheets. Would have been nice to have those first. Hot water heater was a joke, the mattress and couch hurt my back even when clean, and the stove was from before my father was born. The one thing they had right was dish tv. Other than that was the single worst resort stay of my life. Pictures of bed spread and couch to follow. read more

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First- This is CAMPING, even if you rent a cabin and don't sleep in an RV or tent. Camping should ONLY be done with those you love. I was fortunate enough to camp with my cousins. I love my cousins. There are things very right with Hickory Shores. The cabins are cute, decorated in themes. Each cabin has a fridge, a cute little stove (or full-size if you rent a larger cabin, really a prefab home), a TV with Dish Network, dish towels, dishes, pots 'n pans, linens, towels. The whole family can sleep in beds and pull-out sofas. The back yard has a picnic table and fire ring. A tent can be easily accommodated in the back yard for extra sleeping space. You will sleep in comfort with a window unit air conditioner/ heater. There is a porch for sitting out. Have an RV? Rent a trailer spot. These have connections for water and waste, as well as complete hookups. They don't have much else, but then, if you have an RV or trailer, you're dragging it all with you, anyway. Roughing it? There are tent spots. Have the best of both worlds, such as real toilets. RV spot, cabin, or tent, there are the amenities. The pool is clean and well-kept (no lifeguard though). There is miniature golf. There are golf carts for those who can't hike around the complex. There is a family center to rent for your event. If the weather is nice, use the outdoor pavilion instead. There are THREE playgrounds. There is water for boating and possible fishing. Rent a paddle boat. Play tennis. Get an "almost" win in horseshoes, or get a shuffleboard tournament started. Start a camp fire when it's dark, roast some marshmallows, tell a few ghost stories. Drive to Carlyle, Breese, Beckemeyer, even St. Louis or Belleville. There's a mall in Centralia, and one in O'Fallon. However (and there is a "however"), we found some inconveniences in our stay, starting with reservations. I reserved a cabin between my cousins' cabins. I was called a couple days before our trip, with a request to change cabins. it seemed the maid hadn't had a weekend off in a month. I can understand that. I could NOT understand why management rented the cabin after telling me they preferred I change my cabin. So we had to warn off the kids from that cabin. And what happened to the maid's weekend off? Nobody was there when we checked in. Our GPS took us to a farmer's driveway, and we were not there precisely before 6 PM. I had to place a nonrefundable $100 deposit on the cabin, so it would have been nice to have a person on duty. HINT: Check the Jamaican Bamboozle Bar, as some of the Hickory Shores staff does double duty as bar staff. We were staying for 3 days, yet received ONE roll of toilet paper. I had to ask for more, which I was cheerfully given. Hot water would have been nice. There was a hot water heater, which did not work. When my husband asked for help, he was told there was nothing the clerk could do, as the manager was out. We spent three days braving the chilly shower, and heating water on the stove. I remember when thin towels came in boxes of laundry detergent. I really think the towels we had in our cabin came from that era. To be fair, the web site warns if you need more towels, to bring them. With the present price of $90 on weekdays and $100 for Friday and Saturday, decent towels should have been the norm. I can understand the dishes coming from thrift stores in the area. Hunters, children, careless people do not do well with fine china, particularly when one is camping. I could not understand why some cabins had decent ceramic coffee cups (my cousins) and some had small plastic coffee cups with hardly any capacity (our cabin). I also had a hard time figuring out why oh why our cabin was allotted 8 spoons but only one fork. Bring dish soap and a SOS pad, as the dishes need to be done before you leave. I would have rather had less decoration and more shelf space. I would have also appreciated cell phone service and a wifi hot spot. We had to run some three miles up to Route 127, just past St. Teresa Church, in order to connect. As my husband had need of at least cell coverage for work, and as we had a dire extended family situation, a phone in the cabin would have been good. If there was a satellite connection for TV, it would have been easy and cheap to install Vonage phones or a VoIP system. I don't know if it's really Hickory Shores fault there were SWARMS of mosquitoes. Nevertheless there were. Some mosquito abatement scheduled right before each weekend would have been a great idea. There is a Walmart and a McDonald's with wifi on Route 127 and William Road, near Governor's Run Golf Course. I would do my grocery shopping and internet connecting there. The canteen did not have much. Was it worth it? Yes. Does it beat staying at oh, say the Sunset Motel on Franklin? Maybe. Could it have been better for the price? Yes. read more

Stayed here over fathers day weekend and liked it. It is a cabin or lake property home. Could have been cleaner but "lake property home". If you want posh this is not the place. Lake property home or cabins not five star accommodations. Price was great got the big house 3 beds 2 pull out love seats $165.00 per night with a built in pool, Older appliances yes who cares where the dishes come from? This is a lake property home . Make memories with your family and not be so worried about the negative and you will have a good time. Go to the west marina and rent a pontoon boat and enjoy. P.s. I seen a review complaining about the cleanliness of the cabins we cleaned a little when we got there and when we left it was slightly cleaner than when we got there. If every one done this their would be no complaints about it being clean. read more

in defense of all the other reviews hickory shores now has new owners and they are fixing all that was wrong from before nice updated park and they are working on all the things that the previous owner was unable to update. The new owners would never allow you to sleep on dirty sheets and the cabins are cleaned really well between customers. If you are a disgruntled customer of this campground, please give them another chance to show you how well they can make your stay better. They also are working on making the security better in the park. read more

We camped here on September 3-5th, 2010 for labor day weekend. It had been almost 10 years since we camped at Hickory Shores Resort. We had fond memories of previous trips with my in-laws who were once members. We were expecting the park to be busy and crowded since it was the biggest camping weekend of the year, but we were shocked to see how much this place had changed for the worse. Apparently people now live there year around and have permanent decks, sheds and full size refrigerators and BBQ grills out on the decking. They also allow gasoline powered 4 wheelers (Gators) to run all through the park at all hours of the night and what was really shocking was most of them were very young children driving them around all day long like it was a go cart track. This is a place for people to party and drink all day long it was so rowdy that even during the day I would not let my 5 year old ride her bike for fear the gators, golf carts and 4 wheelers would hit her. We camped on a sight right beside people who had a permanent residence and all day long whenever the man had to use the restroom he walked out 5 feet behind our sight and urinated in the tree line it was so gross, I can understand if your in the boondocks, but we were at a resort paying $32.00 a night to camp. We were shocked to even see and smell people smoking pot right across from our sight. We went up to speak to management at the office about the underage children ridding the carts, manager was not available the desk clerk response was "Well we are short on staff and they are allowed to have the carts and this is the last weekend of the season and were all getting laid off." We called ahead about fire wood and was informed they do sell wood at the resort, so after checking in we purchased the fire wood and was told that the wood is not bundles just pick out your own pieces (8pc.-$3.00) We had to go back up to the office they were completely out of firewood and I and several others had to be refunded our money she said I don't know if we are going to get anymore in or not. So we had to take a 20 min drive into town to purchase firewood. They did have a very nice pool, and my daughter enjoyed fishing in the pond and playing put- put golf, but was really disappointed she couldn't really ride her bike or play much in the camp ground due to such rowdy people. This place has turned into a trailer park where management is never seen in the park nor enforces any rules for safety. We will never, ever camp at this place again. read more

I have camped here a lot in the past and have no real complaints. The pool is nice, but the hours for it being open are kind of short, in my opinion. Another thing nice about the resort, is the lake. When I camped, I would wake up and drive to the boat ramp right down the street. Can't beat the location of the place, if you're a fisherman. Besides the pool not being open long enough, the only other complaint I have, is other campers. A lot of the other campers party and booze it up all night, which can be a real nuisance if you have to get up early in the morning, or enjoy peace and quiet in the night. Then again, it all depends on the location you camp at. Overall, the place is a decent campground for the price and I'd recommend for a weekend getaway. read more

As we drove along the road lined with infinite fields of various crops, we looked forward to a campground in which we would have the ability to leisurely eat our meals and sleep in. Our GPS finally uttered that our destination was on the left. However, the only thing that graced our eyes was a brightly colored "Jamaican Bambooze" sign. After searching the cluster of advertisements around this truly charming sign, we located the Hickory Shores Resort sign that was roughly the size of a newborn kitten. We drove in, camper in tug, and checked in at the shabby campground office. Our campsite was fairly hard to find, and once we found it, we had to move the heavy picnic table out of the way before it was possible to back in. Our lovely neighbors were-simply put-loudmouth drunks. Unfortunately, we didn't get to sleep until approximately 4:00am, the same time the neighbors decided to stop yelling and go to bed. We brought a bulk pack of trash bags from Sam's Club, but there weren't enough of them to pick up all the white trash in that campground. Not to mention the campground office worker who rudely pointed out out southern accent. We left the next morning and luckily didn't get any burns from this Hell on Earth. If you haven't yet got the point, DON'T GO HERE. read more