$15 - $35 / night

Camper submitted image from Thomas Woods Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Thomas Woods Campground - 2

Nature

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Roads

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Activities

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Camping

Established Camping

Thomas Woods Campground

16 Reviews

About

County

Thomas Woods Campground is in the Marengo Ridge Conservation Area and part of the McHenry County Conservation District. Spend a night in nature! We offer camping opportunities for groups and individuals. The District has five group campgrounds located throughout the county, one over night cyclist camping location, and one campground for individuals and families which accommodates both tents and RVs.

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Location

Thomas Woods Campground is located in Illinois

Address

3100 North Route 23
Marengo, IL 60152

Coordinates

42.2982896541003 N
88.61490115559228 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Hike-In
Backcountry sites.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Unknown
AT&T
Unknown
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Tent Cabin

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Reservable
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Water Hookups

$15 - $35

/ night

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(815) 338-6223

Susan K.

Scout

Reviewed May. 12, 2024

Thomas Woods Campground

The campground is beautiful wish it was open more than the weekend's. The campground host needs to lighten up and shes out on the gator every 30 minutes, that gets annoying, also since we have also worked as campground hosts you don't run around with the gator giving people rides. It is a shame but we won't camp here again.

They should check up on the campground host and hire one with a pleasant personality

Art S.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 18, 2022

Nice camping with a variety of trails

The campground is set up nicely. Our site had the usual picnic table and a short walk to the restrooms and water. What we enjoyed the most was the variety of hiking trails. They aren't the longest but we were able to vary the route up to keep it fresh for our dog to sniff out her adventure. Some of grass and others were dirt. The wildflowers caught our eye and we enjoyed pausing to appreciate their beauty.

We would come back here to have a weekend getaway in the fall or spring.

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Doug

Guide

Reviewed Jan. 3, 2022

Great Campground

Have stayed here a few times tent camping. Smaller campground in McHenry county. Good staff. Other campers relatively friendly and quiet. County police make a presence in the camp ground. Clean. Decent sites, some have hike in (kind of). Decent toilets.

Site32

Month of VisitAugust

Matt K.

Guide

Reviewed Oct. 24, 2021

Third weekend at Thomas Woods

I’ve been here two other weekends. Generally quiet and many of the tent spots are spaced out enough to provide privacy and quiet. Firewood is cheap on-site and delivered to your site on demand. Love this spot for proximity to my home so I can get out more frequently than a longer drive into Wisconsin and other more popular camping locales.

Site42

Month of VisitNovember

(9) View All

Brian O.

Ranger

Reviewed Sep. 7, 2021

Small treasure in Illinois, near Illinois RR Museum

We came across this one day during a day hike in the Marengo Ridge Forest preserve in McHenry county. It's about 90 mins NW of Chicago. The trails are both wooded and hilly, but there's also a large prairie nature walk.
The campground has many secluded walk-in tent sites and a variety of sites for other types of campers. Many with elec and some are ADA accessible. The county website doesn't have photos, but does describe the sites well (" suitable for truck camper" "up to 40' trailer") Maximum people per site is ten, so good for family gatherings. Sites are widely spaced, and even the most open ones feel private. The campground is heavily wooded and there is a nearby pond.
We camped here to spend time at the Railroad museum, 8 mi away, The weekend we were there, the museum was open till 9:30 PM, and the campground closes at 10, so it was perfect for an overnight stay. We had no problem reserving a space with just a few days notice (48 hrs min). There is a friendly host on site, and you can purchase wood in advance when you make your res and they will deliver it to your site. Good wood too, dry and easy to split.
Fire pits are low to the ground, except in ADA sites, so bring your own grill. The pumps have water with a strong iron taste, and the toilets are clean, but only outhouses. There is a dump facility.
Marengo and Union are both nice little towns with some good dining options; Niko's Supper club, Fire & Ice BBQ/Ice Cream and Clasen's a 120 yr old tavern. Cody's Orchard, 3 mi away, has Apple and strawberry picking, great fresh veggies, pies, donuts, cider and jams.

Site#7, which had a big flat spot up a small hill

Month of VisitOctober

Jess

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 5, 2021

Great quiet place

Stayed for 3 nights over 4th of July. Got spot 38. Was a good spot with access to the trails. Quiet and set back. The platform for tents didn't fit our 6 man tent but the 2 man fit perfect. Bathrooms were not to far. Beautiful trees. Not to buggy.

Site38

Month of VisitAugust

(4) View All

robert M.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 4, 2021

Small but decent

The campground is small the rv sites are shallow and close to the road but otherwise most are fairly private. The staff was friendly all in all not a bad place

Site9

Month of VisitAugust

(7) View All

Marisa A.

Ranger

Reviewed Oct. 9, 2020

Beautiful IL woods and prairie

Limited to weekend camping, but spread out private-like tent sites. Camp hosts are super engaged and seem to love being caretakers. Hand pumps for water and well-kept pit toilets. Hiking galore! My "leashed" dog loves this place, as do I.

(9) View All

Matt K.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 22, 2020

Site 17

Larger site for an RV but I used a tent only. I enjoyed the fact the site was further off the main road which allowed for more privacy. Most of the sites were right on the road and you’d need to position your car right for privacy. The tent sites are clumped pretty tight together with a couple exceptions. There were some loud families the Saturday I was there but got fairly quiet after 10. I did hear some nearby house party well into the night.
Overall nice spot not to far from my home for a quick getaway.

(6) View All

Scott N.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 14, 2020

Great trails, loud neighbors, lots of bugs

Thomas Woods campground has some great sites, particularly the tent sites. Many of them are set off a short distance from the parking area. I stayed at site 30 which was less than a tenth mile from the parking spot. There are no trash cans at the site, the dumpsite is near the entrance. Most of the roads are one way so after dropping the trash off you must drive all through the campground to get back to your site. The site itself had plenty of room and privacy. The woods are dense and block all views of the neighboring sites. Unfortunately, I think some people think if they can’t see you, you can’t hear them. Every site has a raised pad for a tent. This was very nice. I did track in some of the small gravel into the tent, though. It looks like kitty litter. Not a big deal. It was nice sleeping flat and not sliding off my sleep pad.

Near Marengo Ridge is a bike trail called H.U.M. Trail. It is only 3.5 miles long. From what I understand is they lost funding for the project. The path is paved and offers a scenic forested view. The hiking trails of Marengo Ridge are the true stars of the area. I walked for almost two hours and still didn’t see them all. Some of the trails have wide paths of grass while others are single-track dirt.

As other reviewers have written, the mosquitoes are insane. Bring plenty of bug spray!

My website: https://www.lost13.com/camping/2020/7/13/marengo-ridge

My video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh4TzLzf\_PY&t=1s

Site30

Month of VisitAugust

Emily L.

Traveler

Reviewed Nov. 8, 2019

Wonderful

We did our first (family of 5) camping trip at Thomas Woods. We were at site 4 which is electric hookup and it was a huge area! The kids had so much space to run around and explore. They loved the well pump. We explored the campground both tent and rv. Both areas were well spaced out with enough privacy. There was another 3 groups there but didn’t noticed everyone was quiet. We also went on walks within the conservation, the trails were very easy and was a nice walk. We will definitely be going back to Thomas Woods

(4) View All

Jeff G.

Guide

Reviewed May. 21, 2019

Ok tent camping

It was damp and buggy when we were there. The check in person was terribly disorganized and dealing with several small children. One pulled off her diaper and pooped on the floor while we were waiting to check in and pay. The spaces are smallish but ok for most tents. We put two, a four person and a two person, and it was adequate. The firewood for sale was green and wet and they fervently insisted we only use their wood. In fact a park ranger was apparently visiting the camp spot near us, well after dark, and decided to barge into our space from the bushes unannounced. It could have gotten him seriously injured. He was inspecting our firewood. I explained to him, very clearly that he was being very risky barging into a camp spots like that. He got pissy and we left the next day. Paid for 3 days and used two. We haven’t been back. Could be a nice quiet place to relax if it were operated better.

Shanon P.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 7, 2018

Tent Camping

This is the third time we have gone to this campground. It is close to Chicago, we can get there in 1 hour), it is clean, and has nice hiking trails. The sites are in the woods with plenty of shade.

The mosquitoes are unbelievable, it made hiking in the woods impossible, we have given it 3 tries now over a few years and the mosquitoes have gotten worse every year. There is a nice prairie trail that the mosquitoes were not as bad on. Once we had a fire going the mosquitoes were a little better but not much.

They list a fishing pond, but it is a shallow small pond with weeds, it would be hard to fish on with out getting eaten by the mosquitoes

There are no showers, no flush toilets, one of the hand pumps was infested with ants (we could not get water without ants or ant parts) which caused us to have to drive to another site to get water.

The camp ground is only open on the weekend, and normally has open sites if you just want to drive up, or you can make reservations.

Month of VisitSeptember

Hallie B.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 6, 2018

Lovely quasi-rustic campground

This was a well laid out campground, with some sites right on the roads and some buried back in the woods away from everyone (we chose the latter and felt like we had the place to ourselves). There are basic toilets (hole in ground style), a spigot for water, great trails (heavy on the mosquitoes, of course), and a very responsive team of folks running the campground. They were great about stopping by the campsite when we asked for more firewood ($5 / bundle). There is a two-tent limit per campsite, and parking for two vehicles (there is overflow parking very near the site).

We didn't go over but there was a separate area for RV camping, and a group camping area you could rent out (bunk-style cabins, I believe). Would come here again.

Month of VisitJuly

Tricia E.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 10, 2016

Beautiful wooded and quiet

Great hiking trails, a pond for fishing, private camp sites.

Emily H.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 31, 2016

Great wooded campsites in Thomas Woods Campground

I biked to this campground from the Woodstock Metra station. While the highway riding was occasionally a bit harrowing, it was absolutely worth it for the beautiful views and camping here.

I stayed in one of the tent camping sites with a little walk up (parking for a car available about 50 feet away). Nobody else was camping within sight of me, which was nice, though 2 other sites were visible from mine.

The camp host delivered my fire wood right to my site (which was extra helpful because no car). There were lots of bugs, but not too many bitey ones. Pit toilets and well water a short way away from my site were helpful.

Beautiful woods and prairie trails around here. Some really spectacular views to be had. Plus they now have online site reservations! I would definitely recommend camping at Thomas Woods.

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