Best Campgrounds near Hampshire, IL
The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Hampshire. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Hampshire. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Hampshire. Enjoy the scenic camping, fun activities, and sights and sounds of Hampshire. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
$12 - $35 / night
"Half of them were in the Prairie and the other half was tucked into wonderfully private spots with burn pits and picnic tables. We hiked the trail and saw a mother deer feeding her 2 babies."
"The staff are super nice and the campground has great social distancing rules in place for the check-in shack and bathrooms."
"We stayed here for a weekend and there were plenty of activities for the kids...the staff was friendly and the bathrooms were clean...our camp site was near the bathrooms, pool, and store so we were nice"
"Plenty for the little kids to do, and the text message communication was great with regards to weather updates or any goings on around the campground.
We'll be back for sure!"
$20 - $35 / night
"While the highway riding was occasionally a bit harrowing, it was absolutely worth it for the beautiful views and camping here."
"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."
$45 - $70 / night
"Propane, full hookups, fairly sized fenced in dog run area, a lake with a beach front. Play ground for the kids and a strict 5MPH speed limit. "
"We couldn’t reach the WiFi from our site but it was good closer to the lake. They also have free TV but we didn’t hook up to that."
"Postage stamp space on gravel but we had things to do outside the resort. Nice walking path around the two ponds. The ponds are very low due to drought this summer."
"Stayed here for a week, nice clean campground, quiet and beautiful lake for fishing, close to town, but yet just far enough out."
$12 - $50 / night
"Normal Illinois state park. Not a lot of services but good size sites and peaceful. Lake with canoe rentals and fishing. Nice walking trails."
", with Highway 173 to the west and Harlem Road to the east."
$20 - $30 / night
"Just outside of Chicago, we have been staying here for quick weekend trips and absolutely love the proximity to home."
"I always loved going to the parks in Illinois with my grandparents when I was little. They love hiking and nature and definitely got me interested in it also. I love them and miss them everyday."
$65 - $85 / night
"Things started to slowly open up around the 4th of July. Now, it’s our favorite place to go! The most impressive aspect in our opinion are the people."
"It is close to home and we start and finish the camping season here."
"We did not end up signing up as we prefer to visit many more locations than they had listed."
$45 - $60 / night
"Lots of biking and walking trails and plenty of off trail paths that lead to unique clearings, bridges, etc."
"tucked alongside a bike and walking path that goes through a beautiful forest preserve. The path is gorgeous dipping through forested sections, open fields, and lilly pad covered ponds!"
The owner was honest about the services offered. Really nothing but a place to park. It was basically his back yard filled with tents. We were told drive down through the tents and park in the back. No real site offered. If you want firewood go ahead and pick up the branches they have fallen. This was one step alone above staying overnight at the Walmart offering lot but they charged $50 for it. Over all nit good.
This was the Memorial Day pick for 2025, first off when it hits curfew its super quiet, there are a lot of playground areas for the kids, the pool was working and it was heated, the price for 5 bundles of wood is reasonable and we used a lot because this was a cold windy weekend.
One complaint was the lady in registration didn't give me a window card which I didn't think about til the security person wouldn't let me get back to my campsite, this was after I got back from taking my wife out for breakfast. I had to go back into registration to get one.
The second complaint was they didn't cut the grass so there was a mix of tall grass and dandelion stems.
The third complaint was since there's no full hookup, they needed someone to control the traffic that comes from two different directions going to the dual dump stations. There's no honor system, especially on a holiday weekend, my assistant, my wife, reminded the driver that we were waiting before he got in the other line. I tried to be nice to them, which I am always in public, and told the drivers wife they needed a traffic controller, but I got the snob treatment anyway. The guard shack was right there too but they just stand there and bs while this is going on,
This campground is between two major cities and I won't go back because of that, too many stick your nose up, dirty look types around that park.
It’s just outside of Chicago and it feels like it. It’s like camping in a city park. I kept looking for the hot dog vendor, paddle swans and a bowling pin juggling mime. The lake is a pond but the illegal fireworks were great. I gave it a 2 star just for the free hot shower.
Just beautiful piece full with nature
Really enjoyed this campground. Sites are pretty close to each other, but neighbors were quiet. Beautiful little lake. Bathrooms were warm and clean. There’s also a little store on site that was open until 10:00 PM. Firewood was still wet and hard to burn.
Not a bad spot. Average and relatively inexpensive.
We had a great time in this hidden gem. It is run by the county and was much more than we expected from a county run facility. We had a very nice cam site that allowed us to pull through with our pop up. There are very tall trees around the entire campground giving you some respite from the sun and the heat. The bath house is easily within walking distance from anywhere in the campground. Many people that we met have been coming back for years (this was our first time there). They have fire rings and picnic tables and firewood for sale at the entrance. They allow dogs and the ranger is frequently visible throughout the day. You are a short distance from the river and the surroundings are wonderful. You are 20 minutes away from stores and restaurants if you happen to need them and also a short drive to Wisconsin.
This is our favorite place to camp. It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere, but it is close to everything. It has the electrical hookups that we need and has a bath house that is close to where you camp (hundreds of feet versus getting into a car and driving to it). It has lots of groomed and ungroomed walking trails. It has a boat ramp and a small store and restaurant. It allows dogs and the rangers keep the site relatively quiet, especially at night. And within 5 miles of the campground, you have the amenities that you need in case you forgot something along the way. We love going there.
OK, let’s put the most important thing here in perspective – you’re in north central Illinois and there should be absolutely no reason to find a beach anywhere in this state apart from a few select places bordering Lake Michigan – other than this, finding a proper beachhead is impossible. Yet, here at Hi-Tide Campground, the sandy beach is exactly what you’ll find and what a great time it is for the whole family, complete with all of the many on-water distractions and entertainment options this place offers from sand castle building, waterslide, ‘moonwalk,’ ice berg, which is a 15’ climbing wall in the center of the lake, water trampoline, log roll, rocket balls, floaties, innertubes as well as floating ‘lilly pads’ and shallow waters for the young kids. Let’s just say, in the heat and humidity of a Midwest summer, Hi-Tide offers a really great respite with this toy-packed lake refuge.
As for the campground, upon entry, you will have no other choice but to head straight to the main lodge where you will check-in. Here you’ll meet the crew that run this place as well as see the market that’s here offering up just about anything you could think of while you are camping (ice, propane, s’mores ice cream, chips, soda, water toys, firewood, fishing supplies, RV maintenance items and campground gear), along with an arcade complete with video games as well as air hockey, foosball and billiards. Behind the market, you’ll discover both pedal carts for rent as well as a pretty decent 9-hole mini-golf course that has recently been upgraded. There’s also a picnic area back here, lakeside deck, fishing dock, further afield as well as an in-ground community heated pool and playground just in front of the main office. The on-site restroom and shower facilities are first-rate offering sparkling clean and well-maintained showers, toilets and even baby changing stations. There’s even an on-site laundr-O-mat located right near the shower / restroom facilities with 4 sets of coin-operated washers and dryers. On-site, you’ll find a proper dump station as well as designated dumpsters throughout the entire property. A handful of reservable small (no electric, 60 people max) and large (electric, 80 people+) are offered for rent at $50/day and $100/day respectively as well as very small ½ mile hiking loop that follows the Little Indian Creek, which is kind of a joke, but hey, it’s a nice stroll. Like most entertainment-themed campgrounds like Hi-Tide, every week has a theme, there’s planned activities like bingo and hayrides and disco parties to keep both young and old alike busy and entertained.
In short, what’s the upside to being here at Hi-Tide? Well, if you have a young family and are looking for a lot of distractions and planned activities that allows you to enjoy a fairly mindless planning experience that you can either participate in with the kids or just let them run wild and do their thing, well then, Hi-Tide has you covered in spades. Nobody is going to get bored in this place! Downside? While it is true that you are out in the middle of nowhere, which has a semblance of feeling as though you are engaging in nature, with all of the entertainment and distractions that you will discover here, along with arguably the biggest downside – the place is completely overrun with management packing in RVs and 5th Wheelers as close to each other as possible – it will be actually pretty difficult to truly commune with nature. This is a campground campus that packs RVs in pretty snug, while feigning at offering tent campers some nice flat land to pitch a tent, and for those that don’t have either, you can still rent a cabin. But make no mistake about this place, you are in a little ‘camping city’ and everywhere you go, you’ll have endless options to distract you and keep you entertained, as well as being overwhelmed by the sheer sense of over-crowdedness. So, if you want peace and quiet and some really pristine moments with nature and wildlife, this really isn’t going to be the place you want to call home for a night or two under the stars.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) When you get tired of rustling up beans & franks for dinner and want to try out some local fare, you’ll have to drive a decent distance from here to get to anything, let alone of quality. The closest place you could consider is Somonauk, located on 34 just continuing due east where there’s just a few joints: Hot Diggity Dogs, Rambo’s Bar & Grill where Uncle Milty’s Pizza Palace is located right next door to, but the standout favorite in town is Country Kitchen for down-home Midwestern comfort food; (2) If you have any form of watercraft, you won’t really be able(or want) to use it here on the small lake that Hi-Tide has, especially with all the kids swimming, but nearby and just east is Lake Holiday which makes for a very great place to dip your kayak, canoe or outboard in; (3) For kicking back and enjoying some drinks, I highly recommend Tin Roof Tavern right on 34, where Teeks serves ‘em up strong, there’s a juke playing good tunes and even a mechanical bull riding, but was unfortunately not working when we were there; and (4) If you are looking for a real outdoors encounter with nature that may (or may not) include camping, give Shabbona Lake State Park a visit – it’s only 20– 25 minutes from Hi-Tide and has everything, whether that’s fishing, hunting, hiking, biking or kayaking – you’ll be amazed at what you have so nearby.
Happy Camping!
Camping near Hampshire, Illinois, offers a mix of beautiful nature and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled weekend, there are plenty of campgrounds to explore.
Camping near Hampshire, Illinois, has something for everyone, whether you're a family looking for fun or an RVer seeking adventure.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Hampshire, IL is Paul Wolff Campground with a 3.9-star rating from 18 reviews.
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 3 parks near Hampshire, IL that allow camping, notably Bankhead National Forest and Chugach National Forest.
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