Jeff wrote us a lovely welcome note! Great place tucked away. Very peaceful. Will be back!!

Just stayed here with a group of friends for tent camping! First experience ever camping and it was so much fun. Jeff, owner, such a nice person. You can tell he cares so much for the campground! Restrooms and showers in EXCELLENT condition. Our campsite area was so comfortable and it was just all around amazing! Thank you! We will be back! read more

Came here this weekend and was quite pleased with this place. Apparently they're expanding the camping facilities to put in more sites, though I don't know when that'll be finished. The camping sites are all on grass, far away from the horses - which is great if you have a dog. Our dog can't stand horses. It's an interesting setting for a campground - mixing a ranch with a farm with forest. It was so nice waking up in the a.m. to hear the birds peacefully chirping. They have a 24-hour bathroom facility, which is very nice. It's a pay shower - 50 cents gets you five minutes and you can go in 25 cent increments after that. The toilet and sink et al were very clean. They also have a store and kitchen of sorts. We didn't buy any food there as we were in a rush to get on the road in the a.m. - but I was surprised to see how packed it was and how chatty all the other campers were at breakfast time. It's also really neat that you have to on a hilly dirt road packed - which makes it really fun to get to. Especially if you live in Chicago and don't have access to hills other than the Hillside dump. :) As you are driving to the ranch, try to see the old pickup truck that'll be to your right. It's very old and it looks like it's just the front end. It should be in the small stream. But I think it's on private property so it's probably best not to stop and try to go over the fence for a closer look. read more

Great hidden gem for a couples getaway. Quiet, relaxing great views. Don't let the long gravel road fool you. Short drive to Galena and Elizabeth town center. Sharon, the host, takes pride in the campground and it shows. Well maintained and friendly. Thanks for a great weekend getaway. We look forward to our next visit. read more

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What a lovely little corner of the world! Vel Terra Campground is nestled amidst a farm/ranch where the corn and soybeans are your camping neighbors. What a quiet, peaceful place. The campgrounds are well manicured, and the shower/bath facilities are spotless. Campsites are level and free firewood is provided. The host Jeff, excels at friendly, helpful hospitality. It's a short drive to the charming town of Elizabeth, with two excellent eateries, and a cool Thrift Shop. It's only a 40 minute drive to Galena. (What a historic gem.) I hope our travels bring us back to Val Terra again. read more

A most excellent experience! We stayed just one night on our first trip to the Galena area. Vel Terra Ranch is a small independent campground with level RV sites, water and electric hookups, sparkling clean restrooms/showers, free firewood, free WiFi, decent Verizon cell service, and an owner who goes out of her way to make everyone feel at home. We'll return! read more

What a great little spot. Short drive to Elizabeth and 20 minutes from Galena. Spacious campsites on grass with partial tree cover. Full electrical and water service. Newly constructed bathrooms with showers + unlimied free firewood! The owners are extremely helpul and very friendly. We had a fantastic visit. Vel Terra Ranch is not situated on a lake or river so there no swimming. I highly recommend this spot for anyone who wants to camp fairly close to Galena amenties. read more

I didn't know what to expect of this place and I had never been in the Galena area before. This is a very quiet and quaint campground that is on a horse ranch. The property is very nicely laid out to the point where you do not see or hear the horses (or more importantly -- smell them) from the campground sites. I was very impressed at how clean and well maintained the entire grounds were. This is one of those places that you can instantly tell that the owner loves what they do. The owner, Sharon, personally runs the place and is very involved with everybody. Kind and personable, Sharon goes out of her way to walk the campground and interact with everybody. I will definitely be returning to the area and I will definitely be staying here. read more

We camped here in October and it was beautiful! We had 2 campsites with a total of 7 people and 2 dogs. We loved the fact that we were the only campers and we could stay up late or sleep in. We also liked the fact that the dogs never knew that their were horses near by as we were pretty far away from them. The only draw back that we saw was that there was only one bathroom and one shower. The bathroom was VERY nice. One of my kids said it was like using a bathroom in someones house. My concern would be that if the campground was full you would have a very hard time using the bathroom or shower. Even with just our 7 it was hard to get everyone ready in a timely manner. The owners were very nice and even chatted with my daughter who loves horses. We got to visit with some of the horses when the owners were around. It was a very beautiful campground and we will go back. It was located only about 20 minutes away from Galena but far enough away you don't feel like you were in a tourist attraction. read more

Tucked away in a beautiful and quiet area. The campground has very clean facilities, showers and other areas. Most campsites are shaded and have nice flat pads to tents. There is plenty of space for mobile campers too! They supply fire wood and there is ample amounts of dry wood. The owners also make this place a great find. Very personable! I would surely stay here again next time I would visit the area! Stay away from the crowds and stay here! It's a hidden gem!!! read more

It was our first visit to this campground and the Galena IL and Dubuque IA region. We really enjoyed our stay here. We arrived a few hours( before the normal check-in time) and Sharon (owner) graciously checked us in early, so we could start exploring the region. This campground is small, quiet, and in an off-the-beaten-path but convenient location. Clean and well kept. Owner is all about attention the details, which made our visit especially pleasant. Our visit was on a holiday weekend and even with a campground which appeared to be full, it was still quiet and all the RV and small and large group tent campers were very respectful of each other. We look forward to our next visit to this campground. read more

At the last minute we decided to go to Galena for several days. . .but where to take the motorhome that is not too far? So we called a couple places and fortunately, Sharon, the owner of Vel Terra, called us back the next day (TWICE). I could tell just from talking to Sharon that this was a campground we would enjoy and headed out early the next day. What a pleasant surprise: peaceful, clean, nicely arranged sites, rolling hills yet flat areas nestled for tents and campers. Sharon even helped us figure out where to go for dinner later one night when we came back from Galena a bit late and forgot to stop for dinner or pick up a meal. The food was delicious and only a couple miles back toward Galena. She is very helpful that way and became our "go-to" gal. She loves this place taking great strides to ensure its beauty, cleanliness and happy campers. So did we. Thanks, Sharon, and we will be back soon for sure. read more