Best Glamping near Apple River, IL

first timers/ young kids- yes. Primitive campers- no. My husband had never been camping. I grew up with very primitive camping- no electricity, only pit toilets, sometimes fresh water, and no showers (milk jug showers!) Little by little, I’m warming him up to camping. This is a great place for new campers, families of young kids, or just looking for an easier trip. There’s a shower house with flush toilets, warm showers, and surprisingly CLEAN! The site was medium size. Enough room to spread out. Ground was flat so finding a tent site was no problem. Electric hookup worked. Picnic table was good. Check your site before booking! One section of sites is like an open field? No trees and full view of others. But these surround a playground- also very nice. Glamping with young kids? These sites would be a perfect. AT&T and Verizon cell service worked fine

This was an unexpected good find in Illinois. The campground was nice with the standard set up - picnic tables, restrooms, water available. You can follow the road or the trails and make your way to the lake. We didn't go in the lake but we saw people fishing.

The hiking trails were enjoyed often by us. We found one section that had some interesting wildflowers. We paused and turned around when we found the archery area. We suggest keeping an eye on hunting season if you head this way.

We would certainly return in the future.

I drove out here from the Chicago area this last nice weather weekend in October 2020. I haven't been here in years, but as every campground in Illinois was booked-up from everyone getting out during the pandemic, I took a chance on the few walk up sites still available according to Reserve Amereica. They were open, but I took a hard pass. I forgot about the "ford" crossing into the campground. It's where the water crosses the road about a foot high. My husband would have been joining me later, and I knew he would not have been happy seeing that on his motorcycle. The few walkup sites still available were in the Sunny Crest loop. I've never seen so many people camping so close together. The sites all had some form of firepit. Some had a table, but many didn't. There were hundreds of people camping on hilly terrain. It looked like a music festival, only without music and lots of families who looked like they had never been outside before so they were set up about 15 feet apart. Even if the campground would have been empty, all of the tent sites are in the open right next to the next one. Winnebago county forest preserve has a few campgrounds nearby that are much more private. This kind of "camping" is not for me.

It's a pretty state park with clean, nice bathrooms & showers on the electric loop. Tent loop only has pit toilets. We stayed on the tent loop, where the sites were very large and mostly shaded. The lake has had algae issues for quite some time, so there was no swimming or boating. There is a kid's fishing pond, but we didn't see anyone catch a thing, so not sure if it's actually stocked or not. The road through the park is hilly and in poor condition. I've heard great things about this park, but it feels as if it's fallen victim to the state's financial problems.

Rain made trails wet. Enjoyed our site, nice campground. The line to clean out the tanks was long and blocks the way in and out. The roads need repair, many potholes. Otherwise very nice campground. Lots of birds.

We have only been to this campground one time because we wanted to try something new. We had a lot of fun there playing in the water on the beach however my son who was five at the time got a really bad bacterial rash from the water. Other than that we had a really good time and the campground was very clean and everyone was really nice. We were definitely go back but not to swim in the water LOL

Lake was brown looking. A lot of rain in area caused flooding. No swimming or boating currently on lake. Roads are in need for repair. Garbage full with a smell.

All sites are clean. They clean out fire pits after every weekend. Some sites were not the most level. All Roads are newly paved. New/Updated Dump station. Once you enter the park, there are some drastic hills to navigate. We didn't get to use the lake. It was refilling, via letting nature fill the lake back up. I'm not sure why, but the lake was drained some time back, when the park was closed for over a year for the maintenance that was done.

Very friendly people! Campsites a little close to others and sound traveled. Trails were way nice and the scenery was beautiful-lots of deer!

First, once you are here and settled, the rolling hills and man-made lake are truly peaceful. I have camped here for over 30 years, and seen many changes. Unfortunately, this State Park is the hardest hit by the budget crisis. The roads are a pot-hole obstacle course, and the bait shop/boat rental, and restaurant is closed. There are always three campers taking advantage of the Campground Host position, but nine times out of ten, you have to wait until well in to the evening for the one, overworked, ranger to check you in. Surprisingly, the bath house is always clean. Do not plan on mountain biking...the trails are open to everything, and the road apples are impossible to avoid...not a pretty site as mountain bikes do not have fenders. The absolute most annoying thing about this park is that there are "gawkers" that constantly flow from Lena, and zig-zag the entire campgrounds. All Saturday evening, after church on Sunday, and anytime you are outside of your camper, you can expect gawkers driving by at 3mph, staring like the village idiot. The only humor is to stand there and make like you are filming them, or taking their picture...although some seem to like even that...WIERD!!! (None of them have car passes or trailer hitches...or, a life.)

Riding into this state park on my bicycle was a challenge. There are many steep hills but at least they aren't too long. There are some trails that will take you around some of the hills through open fields if you are interested in walking around the campground. This is a nice place to camp.

Stayed here on a wet and snowy weekend for the Boy Scouts Grant Pilgrimage. Campground was right next to Walmart, which was convenient, and a short walk down to the high school to get the shuttle into Galena itself. Port-a-potties were well maintained and the bathrooms up by the office were very nice (and warm on a chilly day!) Sites weren’t huge, but worked well for our group.

Some sites were tight and the lack of fire rings was disappointing.

My family and I have been coming to this campground for over 6 years running now. We started with a tent and in the past 4 years we have moved up to a 40’ travel trailer we bought. This is by far my kids favorite place to go camping and we will continue coming here every year for as long as we can. If you and your family haven’t been here I highly recommend you go. The staff and amenities are the best by far. I promise you will have a great experience like we have.

This campground is tucked into a little area next to a Walmart, Culvers, and Mini golf course. It sits between east Dubuque and Galena. When we stayed they had a dirt bike rally. They have a lot of property you can't see from the road, and honestly we had driven by this place many times but just never stayed. 

The staff in the store was great and very helpful. They have a ton of sites (125) that range from tent all the way to full hookup. If you get along the outsides you have a lot more privacy and better chance they will be level. If you aren't worried about sharing a conversation with your neighbor then you can pick anything. We were up the street from a "girls" weekend where they had turned the bed of a pickup into their own pool since the properties pool was closed due to the pandemic. 

Lots to do here with the ability to play mini golf on a very nice course, walk through the trees and property, and get ice-cream from culvers. I imagine this place is a great place for group sites. 

They also had some cabins to stay in but we chose not to stay there. Instead we found a partially shaded area at site 109.

Campground Review

Although it is a beautiful location, our site, 124 it was situated next to the lake. And across the lake was Timberlake playhouse where they had live music several times throughout the day. To the other side of us was the live music at the resort, which was impressive considering. If you like that kind of thing. It was way too loud for me to enjoy this particular campground. Most of the sites had concrete pads and overall it was well-maintained. To me there is just nothing wilderness like about this place. The fishing was less than par. My son enjoyed the pool and some of the activities, it was Lego weekend.

Product Review

What I really appreciated was the opportunity to use a couple items we received from Matador. The one thing I really enjoyed using was the Matador transit tote bag. That little thing was easy to pack in my bag and when I needed to use it I packed a Ton of stuff in it. It was incredibly durable and able to hold all of the stuff I needed for my puppy one day. And then I would give it a thumbs up for being puppy proof as well. She could not tear through that thing if she wanted to. I’m excited to use other Matador gear, but I can tell you that this tote will go with me everywhere, on every trip camping or not. It’s lightweight, durable, and a great looking tote. Overall it packs a lot of stuff into it. I can attest that 4 beach towels, suntan lotion, and a frisbee all fit comfortably in there.