Best RV Parks & Resorts near Lake Forest, IL

Full hook ups and electric sites plus some restricted Equestrian and walk in sites
Not for #vanlife. I tried to pay for a tent site and was told “you’re not supposed to sleep in your car” “this campground is for RV’s only”

Took our new to us Pop Up Camper to this resort during Labor Day weekend on her maiden voyage. Was surrounded by awesome people in their big rigs but not once made us feel inferior or less than for not having an RV at an RV resort. Pros:

• Activities provided by the campsite
• lots of room and not overcrowded since they dont book the whole campground (manager said so)
• close to Chicago
• friendly campers and seasonals

Cons: -Hard to find (GPS takes you to a school parking lot, the campsite is behind it) -Bathhouses need major upgrade and cleaning (seems neglected by the river sites)

• Very Very Pricey even for a holiday weekend.
• Pool was not heated (confirmed by a seasonal that it is indeed a heated pool but wasnt turned on)
• Staff could be a bit more customer friendly

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

We had to leave a horrible CG to the south. Booked this site on app the day before. Which was a huge plus. This KOA has very limited full hook up sites. As far as KOA standards, it is not great. It is about an hour and half from Chicago and Milwaukee We paid for the deluxe patio site, which had no sewer. Site was not level but it had a lot of shade which was nice. Had horrible WiFi, no cable and limited reception. One bathroom and shower was nice, the other had disgusting showers. Pool was ok, but tons of kids. CG was very kid friendly, with tons for them to do. The people running the place were still COVID crazy with restrictions for check in and everything else. But what do you expect in crazy Illinois. Makes you insane, when you come from the free parts of the US.

A pull through style RV park. Great if you have a toy hauler style camper, but if you're used to boondocking/ dispersed camping. Very very few spots with shade and trees. Felt like a trailer park not camping.

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.

This park is not great. Others have mentioned small, un-level sites. We did not have this issue in Spot 8 but I can see other spots have that issue (and there are only 10 RV spots)

It was the only option for us to visit Chicago for the weekend. Still, it’s an hour away from downtown. They do NOT have water available or a dump station despite advertising that they do. “Water” was a garden hose that an employee pulled out from the cleaning closet when we asked where the water was. The hose had holes in it, and barely trickled. So we had to fill up plastic jugs from the shower.

All garbage cans were full when we arrived. Showers and bathrooms were deplorable - had obviously not been cleaned in days. No toilet paper available for two days. They did finally clean and restock on Saturday - I guess they only do maintenance on the weekend. Hose went back into the supply closet then for all the good it did.

Employee questioned us for arriving at 1pm when check-in for the RV spots is 3pm. We had already parked in our spot since no one was there. He said that was fine. Check out is 12, no more than half the park was ever full, and no one is cleaning the sites (our fire pit was full of trash), so it makes no sense to wait until 3 to park.

I don’t remember what the nightly rate is because they never sent me any confirmation email when I booked months ago. But I can guarantee it’s too high. As it was our only option near Chicago for an RV, we made the best of it. Only reason it doesn’t get 1-star is because, as others have mentioned, there is a lot of greenery to enjoy as well as solitude.

My wife and I have always wanted to buy an RV, but finally took the plunge this year since COVID-19 shut just about everything else down. We decided to keep it here on the recommendation of a friend who also stays here. At first, we were disappointed at the lack of amenities, but ultimately realized that once again, it was due to the pandemic. 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 the nicest group of people I’ve ever been around. Everyone waves and speaks to you when they see you. When we first arrived, neighbors came from all over to help me set things up. At one point, I actually sat down because so many people were helping! Of course, we bought bottles of wine for everyone. The pros: friendly neighbors, well-maintained heated pool, full hook-ups at most sites, community center, lake, and arcade (was not open due to COVID), free included cable and WiFi (although the WiFi is spotty at best!), several playgrounds and jumpy balloon. Cons: owned/managed by Zeman, which makes it expensive, most of the year the campground had no manager, then one came, but he left a month later, not often, but sometimes music and loud noise can be heard well after quiet hours at 11pm, as I mentioned earlier, the WiFi is terrible, if you need it for work purposes, you will be disappointed,sites on the lake end of the grounds will flood if there has been a lot of rain. Overall, if you are an RVer and in the Rockford Illinois area, you MUST give Northwoods a try!

kudos goes to CCFPD for making an incredible campground on what was once just a weed-ridden pond. the campground offers up Cabin, RV and tent sites. Power to some sites esp hook ups for RVs. we stood at the tent pad sight and I was impressed by how spacious and clean it was. We were lucky enough to camp with a full moon which lit up the park and heard coyotes howling across the woods. This was a great experience for my twin brothers who are 16 years old and first time camping. defiantly will be back here because it’s so close too home and was a great experience

It’s good for Rv and not much to do. Large space for RVs . No bikes Allowed

Level sites with electric and water at each site. Well taken care of grounds. Nice bathrooms with clean showers.

My family stayed here a few years back and although it is a small campground it meets the standards of what you should expect of a KOA. Nice bathrooms, decent size level sites. The kids were fans of Wild West Town which is directly next door. There is a charge for daily entry but it was something different for the kids to enjoy.

Had a nice pull through spot right across from the bark park. Park was fairly quiet and was well kept.

Camp store was pricey and for the site fee it should be full hookup.

I had my doubts about this place based on several bad reviews, but it is Memorial Day weekend and we didn't have many options so here we are. We're in an RV spot. These spots are not big rig friendly. We are 35' and barely fit. I believe ours is one of the bigger sites, so beware. As stated, there is electric hookup but no water at the site. However, staff was more than happy to meet us at the bathrooms to allow us to fill our tanks before we set up camp. There is no dump station and we're told the nearest one is about 20 minutes away. That's really the only downfall. The sites are small but easy enough to get into. There is a decent amount of privacy between sites. There are several bathrooms around and they are clean. Staff is friendly and welcoming. I spent the day exploring the miles of walking/road biking trails today, which can be directly accessed from the camp. Plenty of stores/restaurants in the area but the camp and trails make you feel like you're out in nature. All in all, it's a decent place with a good location. If it had a dump station I'd rate it higher.

Stayed here for a week, nice clean campground, quiet and beautiful lake for fishing, close to town, but yet just far enough out. Staff was nice and courteous, have full hookup sites, would highly recommend. We stayed at a back in site, easy access and site had plenty of room on each side

Reliable full hookups. Very clean and well cared for property; especially the laundry and bathroom/shower areas. 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. Doesn’t look that inviting for canoes.

I stayed here for two weeks when I first started rv'ing full time while I finished up work and finalized the selling of the house.

It has a well maintained laundry and shower facility.  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.  The only down fall is the constant ambient sounds of highway trafic which is about 1/2 mile away from route 90.

we’ve been RV camping here for 2 months now and love it. the bathrooms are older but still nice and cleaned daily. the pool is fantastic, lots of fun playgrounds around, and there’s a neat walking trail in the woods. super kid friendly, fishing pond/beach. the owners are super nice and will help you if you need anything at all.