By Campers, For Campers: I-55 RV Park Opens Near Edwardsville

EDWARDSVILLE - Two lifelong campers have completely transformed a few acres of their family’s farmland into a temporary home for fellow RV travelers making a stop in Madison County.

The brand-new I-55 RV Park & Campground near Edwardsville, built from the ground up by "RVers" Jeff and Kim Bladdick, is now officially accepting reservations.

The campground sits on three acres of land at 4260 Blackburn Road, just off Highways I-55 and 143 at Exit 23. Its proximity to Edwardsville and downtown St. Louis makes it an attractive stopping point for travelers coming to, or through, the Metro East region.

Not only does the campground boast 20 full hook-up sites with sewer, water, and electricity, they also offer 20, 30 and 50-amp electrical plug-ins, as well as both pull-through and back-in sites on newly level gravel lots. Nightly rates for back-in sites start at $50, while pull-through sites start at $55.

Both Jeff and Kim said there was “absolutely” a need for a facility like this in the area, which is already gaining attention and praise from locals.

“Our phones just keep ringing - people every week, they want a reservation, they tell me ‘We need you’ and we’re like, ‘Well, we need you too,’” Kim said. “There’s really no other competition, there’s no other place in the area to stay.

“We really wanted to make it convenient, because we’re just over a mile off the highway and Edwardsville is a big, booming, up-and-coming community - we love it,” she said, adding that she and Jeff as St. Louis natives have several family ties on the Illinois side of the river.

Jeff said he met SIUE Athletic Director Andrew Gavin at a recent local event and learned Gavin’s parents had been ticketed for parking their RVs on campus property. Jeff also noted the installation of signs at Edwardsville’s Plummer Park which prevent RV parking on the campgrounds. With fewer and fewer options in the city for RV owners, both see a rising demand for spaces like the I-55 RV Park.

Kim said this land has been owned by the Bladdick family for over 20 years. Over the past few months, the couple has been hard at work transforming the site of former soybean and corn fields into a fully-functional, big-rig-friendly RV park and campground.

After traveling together and “falling in love” with the community of fellow RVers - even volunteering at other RV parks - the pair seemingly stumbled into making their own RV park due to a mandate from Madison County.

The two travelers simply wanted to park their RV on the land they owned, to use whenever they were in the area - but Kim said the county wouldn’t allow it, as there was no permanent home on the land in question. Instead, county officials recommended they build a trailer park. Without any trailer park expertise, the two decided on the next-closest thing for them - a campground and park for what they had already spent countless miles getting to know firsthand: RVs.

Now that the campground’s transformation is complete, I-55 RV Park & Campground is officially accepting reservations, which can be booked online here.

“We look forward to having the campers we can serve,” Jeff said. “Come into town for a Cardinals game or Plummer Family Park … downtown St. Louis, SIUE graduation or whatnot, we’ll be happy to offer our services for those folks that need it.”

To book your reservation or learn more about the all-new I-55 RV Park & Campground and the amenities they offer, visit i55rvpark.com.

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