Best Equestrian Camping near Evanston, IL

Recent Equestrian Reviews in Evanston

57 Reviews of 6 Evanston Campgrounds

• 

  Addison G.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 23, 2024

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Awesome choice for campers on a budget

  These campsites are as low as $12/night!! One of my favorite spots to test new gear. Family friendly. There’s some small trails around as well that are beginner. There was electricity, however those sites are $25/night. Bathrooms could’ve been cleaner but we were grateful for the facility which doubled as a storm shelter. There’s indoor showers and bathrooms. There are also cabins at this campsite, not sure on pricing tho

• 

  Brian O.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 17, 2024

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Fine camping in Northern Illinois

  We stayed in the Turner lake south loop, which has nice and private sites. This is in contrast to Honeysuckle hollow which is open and row after row of RV sites. Fox den and Prairie view loops are nice as well with mostly primitive sites. Be aware that the map on www.ExloreMoreIL,com(where you make your reservations) doesn't show where the restrooms are. In the Turner loop, the pit toilets are next to the path to the fishing pier, while the showers and full restrooms are between Turner and Fox den, there is a short path between sites 60& 61. Facilities are clean and well lit. Fire pits are slightly raised steel troughs with a heavy adjustable grill. This is a BIG park, the campgrounds are two miles from the front gate, and it's a drive to the main boat launch at Maple Grove, where you have access to the Fox River and Grass lake. This location has a huge parking lot for boat trailers, a very well stocked general store with fishing supplies, a cafe, boat rentals and good firewood. To get away from the crowd if you're a canoeist or kayaker it's nicer to leave the park and go back in at Oak Point picnic area and boat launch at the northern border. This will put you on the Fox river with developments to the north(including a bar& grill) or to the south which is all nature. I think the distance by boat between the two launches is 4-5 miles, but I'm not sure, Halfway there you'll meet up with the Goldfinch trail which is the shortest loop and the most diverse in term of flora. There are horse/ snowmobile trails, but no equestrian campground. Chain o' Lakes is one of the busiest waterways in Illinois, with motorboats everywhere in the height of the summer season. We canoe, and both times we stayed there it was October, so I can't tell you how crowded, but the vast number of picnic areas must be there for a reason. An odd thing is that you can hear a Steam Train whistle quite often, this is from Richardson's Adventure Farm in Spring Grove. We don't have kids so we went to Stade's Farm& Orchard(which is also large and kid friendly) because they have an orchard and vegetable market. One last thing, the gates close at 10:PM and there are tire shredders, you can leave but you can't get back in… unless you want to walk 2+ miles in the dark:)

• 

  Iryna R.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 6, 2024

  Leisure Lake Resort

  Good resort very bad water

  We booked a month stay but weren’t able to stay over 2 weeks because water is so horrible. Our cat got diarrhea, clothes got ruined, you can’t even make tea with that water. But everything else was good. Nice helpful staff, clean, quiet rv park.

• 

  Julia B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 18, 2024

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Nice lake

  The campsites are kinda small but not on top of each other. Had some raccoons at night even after we locked up everything in the car. The lake was very nice. We were able to kayak but be careful getting the kayaks in. Stairs down to the pier and the bottom of the lake is very mushy. The water was very clear and you could see the fish swim by. This loop is best for tent camping. The other loops are basically all rvs. The boat launch to the fox river was nice too but it does get busy.

• K

  Karen

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 23, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  Pleasant experience

  Stayed 4 nights- first come first served- no reservations- bring plenty of hose for water connections- first site we tried was just too far to connect- toilets but no showers available- electric/ water no full hook ups. Clean, with large sites, about a 5 mile walk around the nearby lake- saw several deer and rabbits - T-Mobile worked just fine- no Wi-Fi

• K

  Kent B.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 19, 2023

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Nice tent/bike camping

  Rode my bicycle for an overnight test run. I stayed in the primitive tent area. There are 5 wooded and 5 prairie sites. There is water and vault toilets by the tent area and flush toilets a 3 minute walk into the RV area.

  As noted in other reviews, I heard 3 trains between 10 pm and 6 am. Otherwise no other excessive noise issues. Tent area was very quiet.

  Staff was also very pleasant and helpful.

• 

  Grayson H.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 28, 2023

  Paul Wolff Campground

  INCREDIBLE

  Amazing and friendly staff, beautiful grounds, and very well kept. There are mainly RVs and campers but we brought our little tent and were welcomed with open arms. The price is perfect whether you’re a resident of the area or not. There’s options for everyone. 10/10 would recommend!!!

• 

  Ray & Terri F.

  Legend

  

  Jul. 14, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  Nice open CG with a couple of walking trails

  We have a 36 ft Class A with a Cherokee Trailhawk tow and stayed in site 35 for 3 days in late June. This is a relatively large CG, just under 100 sites, and fortunately it was only about 25% full, because they do not accept reservations. The CG is very clean and well maintained. The water hookups on most sites were way at the back, or on the"wrong side", which might present issues for some.  AT&T coverage quite good, with 3 Bars of 5G service and speeds up to 22 MB/s. We had a clear view of the southern and northern sky, so we were able to get DISH coverage on all three western satellites at our site and Starlink had speed up to 19 MB/s.

• 

  Chris B.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 24, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  Big open field

  I wouldn't recommend this "Campgrounds" for anyone not in a trailer. You're going to be just camping in a big open flat field.

  Also if you're not a resident of the local county, you're going to be paying an additional $10 per night.

  There are no showers. There is one flush toilet and two pit toilets.

• M

  Mariusz P.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 23, 2023

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Great RV Park

  Very friendly staff and people. Great accommodations. Spots are ok size. Pretty level.

• 

  Jonathan S.

  Scout

  

  May. 21, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  First time campers

  Nice clean area to camp. Most of the sites are for travel camper or RV’s.

  A couple of drive Ups.

  50/30 amps hookups. Water hookups as well. Great water pressure.

  Running water restrooms & non-running water restrooms.

  2-dump sites they have sections for tent camping- but down fall is they do not have showers.

  Overall experience was great and we will return.

• D

  Donna D.

  Scout

  

  May. 19, 2023

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Nice Suburban Campground

  The campground has nicely spaced sites. If others think these sites are close, they haven’t been to campground with close sites. There is a train next to the campground that runs once a day, but it is before 10pm. The rules say you cannot take any plants or animals whether dead or alive from the forest preserve and campground. There is a limit to the length of stay for all campers, except for the six campground attendants, of 14 days in a 21 day period.

• 

  Kytharah L.

  Scout

  

  May. 12, 2023

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Not for serious campers

  This is definitely more of a rest area than a campground. All the sites are pretty tightly packed, was awoken by a toddler screaming across from us like it was being murdered for about an hour at 6 am. Relaxing. They do have flush toilets as well as vaults that were both kept fairly clean. Firewood is a scam. Spent an hour collecting dead, dry, fallen wood OFF THE TRAIL(NOT out of the woods), only to have it taken because they sell wood. But the wood they DO sell was knotty and not dried well enough and couldn't get half of it to burn well at all. Basically, don't come here for an actual camping experience, because it will not be what you're expecting.

• 

  Allyse M.

  Scout

  

  May. 7, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  Quiet & Clean

  Newer camp ground that is Clean and well maintained. Has water and electric. The camp ground has a small pond and some trails. Just lacking a playground and shower house. Came across a lot of carpenter bees.

• J

  Judy

  Scout

  

  Sep. 24, 2022

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Very Noisy

  This campground is well maintained. The tent sites are nicely arranged for privacy. There are a few wooded trails from the campground. Just don’t count on sleep unless you are in the habit of sleeping through trains, traffic and planes taking off at least once per hour from nearby airport. It was torture. Bathrooms are okay not great.

• 

  Glenn T.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 19, 2022

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Good reputation is deserved.

  Very big campground with mostly seasonals. Atmosphere is the perfect balance of fun and relaxing. Site size varies. Lots of fun activities. Didn't use bathroom or showers but appear to be clean and well taken care of.

• D

  Doug

  Guide

  

  Jul. 12, 2022

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Clean and Nice

  I've stayed in a tent and a trailer here. Love this place. Super clean, everyone is pleasant. The tent sites are kind of away from the RVs. There's only 10 tent sites, but you could land your tent at an RV site if you wanted water or electric. Love coming here.

• L

  Leo V.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 8, 2022

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Child Friendly Campground

  Very Friendly Staff I received warm welcome from nice staff at the entrance gate. Tent Campground is nicely tucked inside by the lake. Quit place night time I can hear fish jumping from the water. Clean bathrooms and shower.

• C

  Christin D.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 2, 2022

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Beautiful Quiet and friendly

  staying here while visiting family in the area. The staff is very friendly the grounds are beautiful and well maintained We kayaked in the lake and it's small but nice. Great for kids lots of activities and space to play But very quiet and relaxing by nighttime

• D

  David M.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 20, 2022

  Big Rock Campground

  Hiking, kayaking, fishing!

  We bought our first RV in 2019 and this place was in town so we used it to learn how to better rv camp after work some days. They have a short hiking path that leads to big rock forest preserve where there is a tiny beach that we use to put our kayaks and canoes into for floating parties. Fishing is decent and it has a 1 mile loop that goes up and down hill around the lake. Peaceful and quiet. Great place to get away and chill.

• 

  Chloe N.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 18, 2022

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Great for kids

  We stayed in one of the tent sites across the road from the lakefront sites. There are about 8 tent/pop up sites and the rest of the campground is for RVs. I recommend the lakefront tent sites, they are spacious and you can fish right from your site! The lake is beautiful and surprisingly picturesque as it is all nature preserve on the opposite side. The beach is large enough and there are clean bathrooms (no hot water in the showers) right there. The camp store sells treats and pizza, very convenient and makes for a more relaxing camping experience when traveling with young kids! We’re going back this summer. This is not private or rustic camping but still very fun and relaxing.

• 

  Maaya Y.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 30, 2022

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Decent closest campground to the city

  Took my sister and her bf on their first camping trip here. Our original plan was to come here and do a "vanlife" experience by sleeping in our car, but the attendant told us we can't do that and needed to be in tents. So we all got tents and went to the primitive sites. That wouldn't have been a problem, but the lady had an attitude and said, "I'm going to drive by and check up on you guys"...like we're doing something super illegal? If you want to sleep in your cars, according to her, you need a "commercial" license plate, for anyone who wants to do that! 

  Other than the check-in experience being rough, our campsite was spacious with a table and fire pit. The bathroom was nice and clean. There's a nice forest where we went for a night's walk!

• 

  Ariel R.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 20, 2021

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Lived here my whole life

  The channels are always swell. People always respectful with their boats. Very beautiful place to live.

• 

  Mike F.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 2, 2021

  Big Rock Campground

  New

  Had Electric and Water hookup. Very roomy and level sites. It's about 9 years old, so no trees. No swimming or fishing. Only hiking trails.

• L

  Lori C.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 22, 2021

  Fish Lake Beach Camping Resort

  Small but great

  I really enjoyed my stay here it’s small but it’s great they’re pool and activities for families very quiet at night everyone and the staff were friendly

• K

  Kitty

  Scout

  

  Jun. 26, 2021

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Good enough I guess

  Biggest drawback was the road noise. You can hear whatever highway is nearby pretty clearly and constantly.

  But if you’re not looking for something super remote then it’s fine! My site had room for 2 tents and was close to the road but still felt tucked away.

  The fire pit is actually more like a grill which was cool and great for cooking. You can move the grill to have just a fire. Plus the grocery store is only a quick 15 minute drive away if you forget anything!

  People were playing music loudly at night which was annoying.

  Would have been super peaceful if it weren’t for the roadnoise (which the campground can’t do anything about of course!) and the camper noise.

  Best suited for folks just looking to just play outdoors and not for anyone looking for a peaceful escape to nature.

• 

  Matt K.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 19, 2021

  Turner Lake South — Chain O' Lakes State Park

  Busy but relatively quiet

  Spots are mostly wide open to the road but separated enough to feel private (until drivers/walkers come through). Site had gravel and roots so tent spot took some searching and clearing to find. While pretty busy it still felt private and quiet aside from nearby sites playing music most of the day and early night. Nothing too rowdy especially since no alcohol is allowed.