Sand Ridge State Forest

Sand Ridge State Forest is a 7,557-acre forest in Mason County, about 14 miles southeast of Canton.

Its trail network totals roughly 50 miles, according to the park.

Reserve Your Campsite If you and your family are interested in a rustic setting for camping, Pine Campground is the place for you. It contains 27 Class "C" sites featuring water, pit-vault toilets, fire pads, and a place to park two vehicles. Oak Campground provides open space, water, pit toilets, and council rings for organized group camping. Horseman's Park offers a staging area for equestrian camping and horseback riding activities and has hitching rails, water, pit toilets, and a shelter area. Oak Campground and Horseman's Park have shelters and campsites that can be rented by using the ExploreMoreIL™ website. If you are unable to reserve a campsite for the date you want, contact the site at 309-597-2212 or by email. Backcountry camping is available at 12 primitive sites along 55 miles of trail, providing a true wilderness camping experience. Users must obtain a camping permit prior to back-country use from one of the following: forest headquarters, campground host, silent host, or ExploreMoreIL™. Groups of 25 people or more must obtain a group use permit from site staff. Activity permits are required whenever a non-traditional use of any facility is requested and/or any activity that might increase potential liability to the Department. Horseman's Park Campground offers Class C camping for the equestrian community.

Equestrian Trails Horseman's Park Campground offers Class C camping for the equestrian community. The 50 miles of trails and more than 120 miles of fire lanes offer the average equestrian excellent opportunities (Equestrian Regulations). For a horse to cover all the trails and fire lanes, it would take a good weekend's worth of riding. Fire pads, hitching rails, picket-line posts, and pit-vault toilets are provided for visitor use. A shelter for day use can be reserved using ExploreMoreIL™. Day use for the equestrian community is provided at Mockernut Meadow Day Use Area, which has fire pads, tables, and tethering posts. The brome grass provides a great cover for horses and sand to meet the day-to-day demand. The water buffalo keeps the horses watered, and a hand pump across the road to the south provides water for human consumption. Horses are not allowed in the hand pump area. Sand Ridge Equestrian Regulations & Map Hiking Trails 55 miles of marked trails, ranging from 1.5 to 15 miles each, and 120 miles of fire lanes offer unequaled opportunities to the hiker, backpacker, horseback rider, or snowmobiler. Sand Ridge Trail Map

​Accessibility at Sand Ridge: • Parking - Office parking lot is tar and chip, and other site parking lots are either gravel, tar and chip,or sand. Park does not have sidewalks. There is an accessible parking space at the site office, and there is a 30' distance to the office. • Restrooms - Accessible vault toilets are located in the group and equestrian campgrounds. • Hunting - Accessible hunting requires a standing vehicle permit, which is issued by the site office.