Best Campgrounds near Orland Park, IL

The lake and dunes are spectacular and live up to the hype. The 3 dune challenge is not really a challenge if you are moderately healthy but it is fun and scenic! The cool soft sand feels fantastic, definitely best hiked barefoot. The campground itself is pretty typical of a state park- decent spacing, level sites and well kept. It is electric only but that didn't really bother us- we just showed up with the water tank full and other tanks empty and enjoyed ourselves. Our site was right between the playground and beach trailhead, but still private. The best sites are the ones on the outside from the beach trail to the nature center. These are up against the dunes and have some shade. The middle sites are more exposed and much less private. The campground was pretty full but had a nice communal family feel to it. The beach and dunes are the star of this show, but the campground is a good supporting actor.

I camped there the week before Memorial day weekend--not exactly peak season, but not exactly off-season either.  I arrived at about a quarter to five on a Sunday, and surprisingly the office was closed.  So was the camp store, where I'd hoped to buy local firewood.

I was left to find my campsite on my own, which was easier said than done. One sign pointed the way to Whitetail Campground--but below it said "Closed for the Season." This made no sense as I'd made the reservation via the Illinois DNR website. The signage in other parts of the park was so minimal that I spent about 20 minutes wandering the grounds until I finally found my site.  A couple of signs were missing letters, and some of the site number signs were angled in such a way that they couldn't be read from the road..

At one point I tried calling the number listed for Illini State Park on the DNR website. I didn't even hear ringing--I just heard a strange tone, even though the name "Illini State Park" appeared on my phone confirming I had the right number.

I'd reserved a site with electrical hookups, but the hookups were actually on the site net door, which, luckily, wasn't occupied.  But my 25 foot power cord was insufficient to reach the hookups.  I had to drive an hour round-trip to the Menard's in Morris to pick up a 50 foot cord.

The site was so overgrown with weeds that I couldn't find a place to put up my tent that was also a safe distance from the firepit.  The neighboring firepit was just about 10-15 feet from our picnic bench--had the next site been occupied, our privacy would have been a joke even in this wooded area. So perhaps it was just as well that I couldn't find firewood.

The potable water pump about 150 feet from the site didn't seem to work--I tried pumping it, opening and closing the handle, but no water. So I had to rely on the ginger ale packed in my cooler for liquid refreshment--it was either that, or go back to town again.

I was hearing reports that there might be as much as three inches of rain in the area falling in the next 24 hours so I went to the office at about 11 am the next morning. This time the office was actually open.  I told them about the water pump and they were a bit confused because they heard reports that the other water pump at Whitetail was broken too.  I asked them what the likelihood was that my site could turn into a lake of mud with such rain and they said it was possible so I decided to depart early. As I drove back to my site, I noticed that the staff person managed to get the water pump going--he explained to me that after pulling the handle back, it needed to be pulled back an extra notch further.  It would have been nice for there to have been a sign telling people that, as I had not intended to finish a six-pack of ginger ale in one night.

There's a difference between a "primitive" site (which, as I paid extra for electrical hookups, this was not) and one that just simply isn't maintained. I wonder if there's even any security at the park at night.  The campground has rules, such as no alcohol, which is valid given the way people act when they have a few drinks within them. But I wondered who would be there to enforce the rules.