My Corner Online
Hickory Ridge Vineyard & Winery and Wine Trail Wilderness Hipcamp
We stayed at the new Wine Trial Wilderness Hipcamp just up the road from Hickory Ridge Winery on April 12, 2025. The two business are not owned by the same people, but how can you camp there and not go to the winery! That's why I'm putting these two on the same website page.
I also filmed a companion video of our Lone Peak Camper build.
I believe where we met is the owners home, but I am not sure. He has this awesome old truck out front that is also on the stickers he sells.
As can be seen in the video, where we camped at the HipCamp had this nice short trail between the two camping areas. We walked down it to reach the road and then it was a short distance to the winery.
This is the small building that houses the winery. The folks are friendly and welcoming. I loved the weeping willow tree.
Wisteria makes a cover over the deck in front of the building. There are chairs on the deck. The Wisteria had some blooms on it, but it had not yet greened out.
From the end of the deck there was a view of the vineyard and the pond.
We always have to take photos of our wine glasses and bottle.
The vineyard was just beginning to get leaf buds. I bet it is pretty when it is fully leafed out.
We sat at several locations around the grounds, but found this picnic table next to this huge Wisteria blooming behind the building and I was in a happy place.
The skies were beautiful and the weather was perfect. There was also a Dogwood tree blooming over our table. The entire area was dotted with blooming Dogwood trees here and there as we walked from the HipCamp to the winery.
This was our view of the vineyard and pond.
There is an awesome wide landscape view down the valley of the vineyard with trees beyond.
This is the road returning from the winery.
This is the same trail between the two campsite at the HipCamp, but the folks walking it made for great photography.
This is our fourth night in our new Lone Peak camper. It is the first time with it fully set up, so I recorded a walk-through video and were were anxious to test it all out.
It was the first night the dogs (momma's girlfriends) slept in the camper.
We were next to this building and were supplied the picnic table, a fire pit, a cooler full of great tasting water, a trash can, and a recycling can. We paid $6 for the wood, but his stock of wood was right there, so we took what we needed, which wasn't much. He carries the wood to the other campsites for the folks. We could see the one other couple camping by the grainzebo, but they were far enough away and we felt safe. We wished we could have gotten the grainzebo, but they got there first.
The full moon surprised us and I found some joy in the photography opportunities. When it first came over the horizon, we thought it might be a light to a nearby building or another campsite, but then we realized it was the moon! We also enjoyed the stars.
I like this one with the glow of the fire on his hands.
The girlfriends are sitting waiting to get down for their breakfast. They seemed to like the camper just fine. They stayed in it by themselves while we were at the campfire. Ria wanted to sleep with her head on the edge of the mattress looking out, but Miss Tizzy preferred being near our heads.
This is my morning view! The electric blankets kept us warm and we almost did not need the diesel heater, but we had it turned on. Hopefully it will warm up more now and we won't need to pay for a campsite with electricity. I did not like how much money we spent. The camper is supposed to be so we can spend less money on getting out and about.
After our neighbors left we visited the grainzebo campsite. There is a boccie ball court next to it. It is really a cool place!
The bathroom behind the grainzebo (a grain bin turned into a gazebo) was for all campers, so we walked over to use it and it was unique and had lots of fun features.
October 29, 2011
Hickory Ridge Vineyard and Winery is located 1598 Hickory Ridge Rd, Pomona, Illinois, and these photos are from a visit there on the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail on October 29, 2011. This Autumn visit was enjoyable! I think you can tell I had fun with my camera.
