Camp Aramoni

Two Nights at Camp Aramoni: Tents, Trails, and the Vermilion River

The golf cart wound through a stand of trees before the tent came into view, its canvas walls glowing under string lights, set back from the path as if it wanted to be found slowly. My mom and I had two nights ahead of us at Camp Aramoni, and neither of us had said a word about check-in times or luggage since we'd arrived. We just stood there for a minute and took it in.

Arrival

The Tent and the River

We'd barely parked before a staff member pulled up to drive us, and our bags, straight to our tent. Camp Aramoni sits on close to a hundred acres along the Vermilion River, and the golf cart ride gave us a preview of what we'd spend the next two days exploring. Trees crowded the path on both sides, and every so often we caught a flash of water through the leaves.

The tent itself surprised me. A real bed with good linens, a private bathroom, a mini fridge already stocked, and a personal fire pit waiting outside the door. It felt less like camping and more like a boutique hotel room had been set down quietly in the woods.

Once we'd settled in, we walked the grounds before dinner. The property's trails pass a couple of creeks and a small pond before opening onto the river, and we found a deck built right at the water's edge. We sat there for a while without talking much, watching the current and letting the drive out of Chicago finally leave our shoulders.

Day One · Starved Rock Country

Canyons, Bluffs, and a Cave Full of Wine

Starved Rock State Park is the reason a lot of people find their way to this part of Illinois, and it earns the reputation. We spent the morning working through several miles of trail, climbing in and out of sandstone canyons and stopping more than once just to look out over the Illinois River. From there, we drove a short way to Matthiessen State Park, where the canyons feel a little more tucked away, and the Vermilion River cuts straight through the park's dells.

By afternoon, we'd traded hiking boots for wine glasses at August Hill Winery, in the cave tasting room at their vineyard in Peru. The caves sit several feet underground and stay cool no matter what the weather is doing above, which made for a welcome break after a warm morning on the trails. A guide walked our small group through a handful of wines and the story behind the winery, a family operation that started with one grower's plot of land. We left with three bottles and a flight's worth of opinions about which one would make it home with us.

Day One · Evening

Dinner by the River, and a Walk Back in the Dark

Back at camp, we had time before dinner for a board game and a glass of wine on the porch. Dinner is served in The Barn, Camp Aramoni's main gathering space, at a table with a clear view of the river below. Bread came first, then my vegan pizza arrived alongside my mom's salad, both better than I expected from a campground kitchen.

We took the walk back to our tent slowly once dinner wrapped up. No flashlights, no rush, just the river somewhere off to the side and a few stray fireflies. We ended up sitting outside the tent for another hour after that, talking about nothing in particular until it got too late to keep pretending we weren't tired.

Day Two · Morning

Rain on the Canvas

We woke up to rain hitting the tent roof, the steady kind that makes you want to stay exactly where you are. We did, for a while, sitting on our porch and watching the storm move through the trees. Once it let up enough to walk, we headed to the main house for breakfast and got there early enough to sit in the rocking chairs outside, listening to the last of the storm roll out over the property.

Breakfast did not disappoint. I had avocado toast with a side of roasted potatoes, which I'm still thinking about, and my mom had eggs, toast, and fruit. We took our time over coffee before heading back out for the day.

Day Two · La Salle and North Utica

A Second Round at August Hill

With the storm behind us, we drove to La Salle and North Utica to spend the afternoon poking around. North Utica's Mill Street is home to August Hill Winery's tasting room, a separate spot from the cave we'd visited the day before in Peru, and we stopped in for a second round of wine and a look at the local art and gourmet goods they keep stocked alongside the bottles. From there, we wandered into a few shops along the street, the kind of unhurried browsing that only really works on a slow weekend with nowhere else to be.

Day Two · Evening

Fire Pits and Looking for Constellations

Dinner that night was a veggie burger for me and a pizza for my mom, plus one more game before we headed back to the tent. Every tent at Camp Aramoni comes with its own fire pit, and they send you off with everything you need for s'mores, so that's exactly how we spent the evening. We sat by the fire as it got dark, slowly, the way it does out there without streetlights competing for attention, then leaned back and tried to pick out constellations until neither of us could agree on which ones we'd found in the first place.

Day Three · One More Look

A Last Walk Before Checkout

On our last morning, we got up early to walk a part of the property we hadn't seen yet. Camp Aramoni has its own network of paths separate from the nearby state parks, and we found a corner of it that still felt unexplored, including a few old foundation stones left over from the brickyard that used to operate on this land. Breakfast was good enough the first time that we both ordered the same thing again, no debate necessary.

Before we left, we stopped into Gertie's, the general store inside the main house, and ended up talking with a few other guests who'd clearly settled into the same slow rhythm we had. Nobody seemed to be in any hurry to check out.

If you're already thinking about your next Midwest weekend, I keep a running list of favorites in my Midwest getaways guide.