Best Glamping near Lena, IL

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.)

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

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.