Searching for the best camping near DeKalb, IL? There's so much to see and do, from exhilarating hikes or bike rides to exploring the local dining and shopping. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Illinois camping adventure.
"This is where to go if you don't like pitching a tent in a field of RVs. There is one wheelchair accessible tent site on a blacktop path in the forest canopy."
"You can't see the campsite next to you, and they all have a picnic table and a fire ring. You do have to walk into all of them, but they do have one wagon and a dolly you can use to tote things in."
$6 / night
"Located about 100 miles West of Chicago, Castle Rock State Park features one of the ONLY campgrounds that I've visited this close to the city in which I was completely alone."
"Site selection is first come, first serve and the registration and payment is done on the honor system, and they do have rangers that monitor."
$29 / night
"We stayed when there were not many people there so we had plenty of space but could see it getting crowded when it’s full."
"It was quiet, relaxing, and very well maintained. 1 trash area, 4 porta Potties for use for the campground. You can rent kayaks for the day, fish, wade in the river (no swimming)."
"Sometimes there are family retreats planned where you can bring your tent or trailer and camp in designated campsites in a tranquil meadow."
$4 - $8 / night
"are one of those primitive campers who want to take their noble steed(s) with them for the night in order to gallup along some pretty amazing horse-friendly trails."
$29 / night
"Before we begin, let me share 3 things with you: (1) I love camping, preferably primitive camping where I get to pitch my tent, leaving the comforts of modern civilization behind in the hopes of returning"
"One such place, an oasis of tranquility and beauty nestled in the Illinois wilderness, is the Kayak Starved Rock Campground."
$6 / night
"You have to walk a bit to get there but the sites are great. If you’re looking for privacy this is it. There aren’t toilets tho or running water.."
"A number of trails around effigy mounds make for a nice walk."
"All of this in arguably the absolute best state park in the whole of Illinois."
RangerThis is where to go if you don't like pitching a tent in a field of RVs. There is one wheelchair accessible tent site on a blacktop path in the forest canopy. This is a very primative campground with 1 set of Vault toilets. The other campsites require a walk/hike along a gravel path for completely wooded sites or cross a football sized meadow for open air sites. There are several well-water pumps "not for drinking." Each campsite has a fire pit and a picnic table. Pack out your garbage for the dumpster in the parking lot. There are only 9 sites total. VERY private and secluded. Tents only! Massive forest preserve area for excellent hiking. Some fellow campers were doing a diy tubing right to the campground. (About a 2 hr lazy river tube from Kingston or 5hrs from Genoa on the slow moving S. Branch of the Kishwaukee River which can be pretty deep in places.) Absolutely NO ALCOHOL. Cost for tent sites is only $4 per tent or tent-like structure. There are primitive cabins for rent and a large lodge if you rented the structure for an event here. By their facebook page, it looks like there have been beautiful weddings here. This is a former scout camp flanked by more forest preserves. The ranger is very nice and the entrance is locked from sunset to sunrise. I hesitated even posting this tent-camping primitive heaven, because I almost want to keep it for myself and the locals. Please practice leave no trace and follow the rules if you go so this place stays open. Dog friendly, but must be leashed all of time or a $50 fine. My dog loved the trails and river crossings! Gorgeous hidden gem about an hour into cornfield country from Chicago NW suburbs like Woodfield Mall. I had cell service at one spot in the parking lot, but it was fleeting with T-mobile. A fellow camper had the best private spot (#2) which other than the ada site was the best because it was closest to the parking lot, yet she still had a festival/yard cart to pull her gear up a gravel path. Make sure you bring yours or are outfitted with backpacking gear. Like anywhere, prevent insect deforestation and don't bring firewood, it's fine, they have plenty.
TravelerWe stayed in the primitive tent area near the back of the park. It is walk in.
There was a pole for a lantern, a picnic table, a fire ring and tent pad. There is one clean flush toilet and shower per each gender (the shower stall was spacious with plenty of hooks and benches). There were also vault toilets not too far away. The water spigot was pretty far away though. There were plenty of garbage cans.
There were a few small trees but very little shade. On hot days I think a pop up shade shelter would be necessary to make it bearable.
Overall it was pretty quiet.
The last night we were there a large group of people with their tents showed up. There were not enough tent pads or picnic tables for all of them. I don't know if it was the park that booked so many people or if it was the group that overbooked.
RangerThe campground is pretty basic. For $25-35 per night, you can get a site with electrical hookup. The east loop has better tree coverage and more privacy. The west loop has more site in a large open space, maybe better for groups. I give 3 stars because there is not much to do at the campground itself. You have to get in your car and drive to any hiking at Starved Rock State park, just 10 min away, and battle the crowds for parking. The campground has just 2 real bathrooms, one for each loop. Each has 2 flush toilets and 2 showers. Showers were pretty rough, no temp control and spraying everywhere but your body. Some portapotties are scattered around, but pretty ripe by the end of August. Use the woods. There are 2 small playgrounds, but one is just a swing set. So if you have kiddos, there is not much for them to entertain themselves with at the campground- no hiking trails, no pond or fishing or swimming, no DNR programs, etc. Park has posted signed that there is ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL allowed, so keep it private and quiet. that being said, the hiking in the general area is awesome!!! Lots of canyons, bluffs, and overlooks. Just be prepared to drive. A very basic “store” open after 3pm, just had fire starters, marshmallows, bug spray, ice cream, and pop. Some little souvenirs. No milk or eggs. For a 30 ft travel trailer, our campsite has just enough room for our slide out and awning. The fire pit was well placed and had a grate for cooking. Electrical was confusing- our site was listed at 50A only. It really was 50/30/20A(see pictures). Easy to back in to, mostly level site for quick set up. Our campsite, 85, had nice shade and lots of trees. You can see and hear your neighbors but there is decent separation. We had space to hang a hammock and have a fire, with a full picnic table as well. There are a few sites for fresh water fill, and a dump station. Took about 45 min for us to dump being 5th in line at 10:30am. Book early- reservations open online 6 months in advance and book up quickly. Most summer weekends are completely full. Spring and fall camping is great here- waterfalls are rain fed and often dry in summer. Sites 96 and 97 would be my picks if I could choose: both are private and have large camping pad areas. Avoid the sites by water spouts and roads, there is no privacy when everyone is cutting through your site! Overall, a basic campground with what you need for camping, no frills, no activities or recreation, but close to the hiking at Starved Rock State Park about 10 min away by car. Biking nearby would be an extreme sport, the roads are very narrow with extreme drop offs and no shoulder. Not for kids.
LegendI set up in site 110 for the night at this nicely wooded campground. My site was very private, set back in the trees and very clean. I had large and small trees and underbrush making it impossible to see the site next to me in one direction, and no one occupying the site on the other side. With the car in the drive blocking the road, I had complete privacy. There was a short walk to porta potties and a nice walk to the modern, clean bath house. The site had the usual picnic table and fire pit and plenty of space to put my tent. There were some sites that sat in a meadow that completely lacked privacy, but with tons of space for kids to play. There is a camp store near the entrance to the campground, but I didn’t go in so I’m not sure what it’s stocked with (besides the ice in the cooler outside). Campers who like to imbibe beware: NO alcohol is permitted at this campground. There are some GREAT trails for hiking in the park, but be prepared for lots of stairs on the boardwalks that take you in and out of the canyons/ravines. I didn’t hike up to the actual “Starved Rock”, but you can observe it from the river bank.
GuideLet's start with the good stuff:
Now for the not so great stuff:
Many of the campsites are sloped and some are sloped A LOT. This isn't obvious from the booking page.
The campground is absolutely jammed with camp sites- it's ridiculous. I've never been to a campground where the sites were so on top of one another.
We stayed in the Sunny Crest loop and the drinking water well was broken so we had to travel to other parts of the campground for water. When carrying a 10 gallon jug full of water back, that really sucked.
The sites that are marked as "hike in" aren't secluded and away from other sites at all, as one might expect. They are jammed in with all the others but there just isn't any parking nearby.
It had rained the day before was went and so the road to the campgrounds was blocked off (presumably because the creek was running too high), but there was NO SIGNAGE telling us how to get there another way. There was no one in the park office or in the camping registration station to ask. We finally figured out that we had to take an emergency road/auxiliary road to get to the campground, but that was after about 30 minutes of confusion.
The breakfast buffet at the restaurant is mid but very pricey- $50 for 2 of us.
The quiet hours and no alcohol policy are not enforced at all. While we were there, there was a very loud group playing beer pong into the wee hours of the morning.
About half of the fire rings don't have grill grates so bring your own or bring a camp stove (See pic). Also, when you book your site, there is no way to know if your fire ring will have a grill grate or note.
GuideNo tent camping allowed but pop up trailers on up are welcome. Very nice grounds that are quiet. 10 minute drive to town. 20 minutes from Dekalb. Some Covid 19 restrictions. Beach and restrooms are closed. Campers must have their own toilets. Other wise very clean shower house and restrooms if there were no Covid 19.
GuideWe LOVE site 20 as does everyone else who books this one up quick. Literally the only downside is that you have no flat spots anywhere on the site, which killed our backs sleeping in tents.
Pros - lake view, but a safe distance down the hill so no worries about the kids at the campsite.
On the end with tons of privacy, full row of trees and a ton of space until the next site. It’s like your own mini oasis.
Lake is also fabulous. We decided to rent instead of hauling our own kayak and they were clean, affordable and quick process.
Cons - lol that hill is no joke. Pit toilets I wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole, but that’s pretty typical.
TravelerWe would gladly stay here again!
Great campsite with the best staff ever! The sites are clean and very well maintained. We loved the staff patrolling the grounds. The trail system is great for walking the dogs. And I even grew to like the no alcohol in the preserve rule.
The vault toilets are clean but smell like vault toilets at 95 degrees. There is one very clean flush toilet building but no showers. They don't advertise showers, but this is the newest and nicest campsite I have seen without showers. There is some shade, but you have to search for it.
RangerI've camped here four different occasions this 2020 covid-19 year. The staff are super nice and the campground has great social distancing rules in place for the check-in shack and bathrooms. It is a super clean campground with multiple hosts and forest preserve staff. There are a large number of RV pads overlooking the prairie and a few along a grove of trees. I was lucky once to see the equestrian area full of campers with their horses. There are 9 walk-in tent sites about 10-20 yards from parking (the two at the end p7 and p9 are connected for groups that know each other). There are multiple ada sites and two "walk-in/ie roll-in" site in the tent-only area. It's a good mix of young people, retired people, and families. I've seen weekends with mainly RVs and one weekend with a quarter of the drive-in sites being tents. The most shaded sites are p1,3,5,7 and 9. Many of the sites in the middle are wide open with little shade but nice summer breezes. Prices are a great deal if you live in Kane county but still worth the trip if you live in another county. Firewood is $7 for about .75 cu ft (what you can fit in a milk crate.) There are a few trails and I've seen lots of butterflies, gold finches, hawks, deer, flocks of giant sandhill cranes, rabbits, ground squirrels, and of course actual squirrels. Lots of people (including me) bring their leashed dogs. The other campers have been polite and friendly. I wish there was more distance between sites in the water/electrical loops for more privacy, but I'd go every weekend if I lived in Kane county because it would be worth the resident price even tho there are so many RVs. Because there is electrical it is a peaceful campground with no generator noise.
Tent camping near DeKalb, Illinois offers a variety of scenic spots where nature lovers can unwind and enjoy the great outdoors. With options ranging from primitive sites to more developed campgrounds, there's something for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near DeKalb, IL is MacQueen Forest Preserve with a 4.7-star rating from 6 reviews.
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