Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 81 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Devils Kitchen Campground and bathhouse are closed this season due to infrastructure repair needs. The group pavilion is closed to camping but open for day use activities as a first come first served picnic area. Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion is situated in the south central portion of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion sits on a small peninsula giving your group solitude to enjoy a front row seat to view numerous species of waterfowl and shorebirds, also giving you the serene view of sunrises & sunsets on the lake. Keep reading
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, located relatively close to the confluence of two of the Nation's great rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi, the refuge's 44,000 areas is ideally situated to provide a migration haven for the thousands waterfowl and other migrating birds that journey the Mississippi Flyway each fall and spring. The refuge has many faces. On the north side of the refuge Crab Orchard Lake is an outdoor enthusiasts dream come true. This 7,000 acre lake offers two campgrounds, marinas, and several boat launching ramps. Throw in fishing sites, hunting opportunities, picnic areas, and swimming and you begin to understand why this refuge is one of the top ten most visited in the Nation. Drive the roads on the refuge's south side and you discover a more solitary portion of Crab Orchard NWR filled with the pristine Devils Kitchen and Little Grassy lakes, nature trails with waterfalls, and a National Wilderness Area offering a place to seek relaxation, adventure, or something in between. On the refuge's east side, you will find great opportunities for wildlife viewing, photography, biking and educational activities at the visitor center and you may find yourself coming back again and again.
Recreation
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is host to a multitude of recreational opportunities including hiking, picnicking, photography, boating, hunting, fishing, camping, wildlife observation, and environmental education. You can enjoy fishing on our three lakes, and five ponds. Crab Orchard NWR is popular spot for crappie, bluegill, and bass. Be sure to follow all State and Refuge regulations. The Refuge has six trails that offer visitors numerous opportunities to experience the beauty of the refuge. A portion of Southern Illinois' River-to-River trail runs through the southern portion of the Refuge, this is the only trail that allows horseback riding from 01 May - 31 October. Bicycles are allowed on roads and designated trails. Fruits, nuts, berries, and fruiting bodies of mushrooms may be gathered by hand for personal use or consumption. Collection for the purpose of commercial use is prohibited. Disturbing, or collecting animal and plant specimens, natural rocks, stones, minerals, or objects of antiquity is prohibited. Gathering deer antlers and/or skulls is prohibited. Grab one of Crab Orchard NWR recreation brochures for more information and a map of the Refuge!
Facilities
The group pavilion offers group primitive camping for events like family reunions, stand up grills, covered picnic tables, a boat ramp, and a bathhouse with hot showers and flushable toilets within a minute drive from the peninsula.
Natural Features
Devils Kitchen lake has breathtaking views. With rocky bluffs hanging over the lake, and the rocky bluff hiking trail. Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge has various habitats; lakes, ponds, creeks, wetlands, grasslands, and forested areas. All within the 44,000 acres upon which the Refuge was established. If you enjoy being surrounded by nature, and feeling as though your farther away from civilization than you actually are, Devils Kitchen is where you want to be. There are towns within 30 minutes from the lake, but Devils Kitchen has a way of making you feel as though that was not the case.
Nearby Attractions
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Rocky bluff and wild turkey trails
What the agency tells you
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge requires a vehicle and vessel pass when you are anywhere on the refuge other than the campground. We honor the Federal Duck Stamp and the America the Beautiful passes. You can purchase the Refuge passes here on recreation.gov.
Dogs must be on a leash that is no longer than 10 feet. They are prohibited from roaming free. All domestic animals must be confined, and are prohibited from being left outdoors without owner present.
All-terrain vehicles are prohibited.
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Only dead, fallen timber may be gathered for firewood.
Don’t Move Firewood! Please help protect our forests from tree-killing insects and diseases by obtaining your firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is also illegal in some states. For more information visit http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8 · 1 group, 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 8 of 8 campsite records
- Showers
- Seasonal Showers
- SHOWERS (SEASONAL) on 8 of 8 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 1 of the 8 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 15
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
All 8 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 8 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 1 | group shelter nonelectric | $45 |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 2 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 3 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 4 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 5 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 6 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 7 | type not stated | |
| Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion | Group Shelter 8 | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Makanda, IL
Typical weather
Typical October night 44°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Devils Kitchen Group Pavilion is in Illinois’s 12th congressional district. Its representative, Mike Bost (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →