Best Campgrounds near Vernon Hills, IL

I recently spent three nights in the flamingo campgrounds of the Florida Everglades. The campground was surprisingly void of campers. Well under half of the tent spots were occupied. That taken into consideration, one of the restroom buildings was closed (not sure if the lack of campers is related).

The restroom building that was open was sufficient (granted I only visited the men’s side). Two showers in the men’s section, large area in the shower, there is a bench in at least one of the two shower’s. The roads are well tended to and paved. The greatest adversity I encountered were the ceratopogonidae insects. More commonly known as no-see-um bugs caused me great discomfort as I learned an invaluable lesson, which I’m glad to pass along to you, finer holes in the material of your tent are required to prevent these insects from invading your tent.

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.

My first impression when I first arrived here was the overwhelming scent of a newly minted campground, what with the freshly laid gravel, the mint condition security gates, finely manicured and recently raked greenery (as it was October when we visited, it might be better described as brownery) surrounded by a fairly decent gated enclosure lined with perfectly pruned tall towering oaks. Upon arrival, you’ll find what looks to be a brand-spanking new log cabin office on the right after passing a seemingly freshly-minted activities center / community lodge complete with in-ground heated swimming pool and jacuzzi on the left.

Amenities? As you could guess, this pet-friendly 60-acre RV resort has all the attractions in spades from pickleball, playgrounds, volleyball, log pergola patio, full hook-ups (30 / 50 amp electric, water & sewage), picnic tables, fire pits, BBQ grills, wagon rides, river access, picnic areas, bathhouses w/ showers & restrooms, cable TV WiFi (pretty poor connection though), gaga ball, game room, community room, billiards table, playground, wet bar, tabletop shuffleboard, community living room with large screen TV, DVD player w/ DVD library, clubhouse, dog park, horseshoes, hot tub, covered pavilions with picnic tables, catch & release ponds, inflatable water toys, jumping pillow, laundr-O-mat, propane refueling station and dump station.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a handful: (1) This place isn’t EZ to find – for some reason, if you plug the campground into your GPS, you’ll literally be on the wrong side of the tracks, where you will arrive at a dead end with a sign that says you are in the wrong place and that you’ll need to double-back, cross the train tracks heading north and turn right just before arriving to High Road School of Belvidere (so if you see a school, you’ve gone too far); (2) You will want to take note that yes, you actually cross train tracks to get to this campground, so if you’re sharp, you’re going to want to ensure you haven’t booked a site right next to where trains will shoot through every few hours, this specifically means avoiding sites #E1-#E5 and #FS23-#FS36 as well as #FE1-#FE20; (3) If you’re a tent camper, you can certainly stay here, but you will want to note that this is very much an RV outpost; (4) The best sites IMHO are those on the northernmost perimeter, as far away from the train tracks as you can get and that also border the Kishwaukee River with sites #S9-#S20 being excellent, as well as #S25-#S81, which are equally amazing; (5) If you are planning on using that amazing pool that you saw as you came in, make sure you call management a good day or two before you come in to ensure that they turn on the heater – when we were there for 2 days, by the time we left, the pool was still too cold to go for a dip; and (6) When you grow weary of trying to conjure up a meal from the depths of your Cordova roto-molded cooler and want to venture out to try some local fare, just a short walk into the nearby town is Garden Prairie Café, which has a very simple menu offering no shortage of fried everything (fish, shrimp, chicken, etc.) and then there’s Pleasant Street Tavern, but that’s mostly cheap national beers and frozen pizza fare, so if you want something a bit more substantive, head west of here to Miles Bar N’ Grill that serves up typical Midwestern fare like cheese curds, pork tenderloin, Italian beef and a variety of fried fish like blue gill, cod and catfish.

Happy Camping!

Recently camped here while visiting some family in the Racine area. Was nice and close to them and was a nice place to stay!

Lost of campsites between the two campgrounds. Sunset offered electric or non-electric sites. Shower building, flush toilets, vault toilets, dump station, playground. Firewood sold at the visitor center via a vending machine, card only.

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

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:)

So this place is much less dog friendly than is advertised. Dogs aren’t allowed in large swaths of the park nor on the (tiny tiny, bordered by loud highway) beach. Lake Geneva is very pretty, but the area is obviously very wealthy and obviously geared toward retirees without dogs or with tiny dogs they leave at the RV (to bark, constantly, at their next site neighbors. Until the owners get back.)

Sites are large and well spaced out. The campground is clean and well kept. The rangers drive through regularly and will deliver wood to your site if requested. There are pit toilets in the camp area, but there are flush toilets, running water, and showers in the picnic area near the entrance. There are a couple of hiking trails as well. Great landscape and wildlife. We were lucky enough to have a couple of Sandhill Cranes walk through our camp early one morning.

Camped here on a whim. Amazing area. Super friendly hosts. The only thing I wish was a little more accessible is the website. I didn't know what kind of site I was getting, what it looked like, or if it was a hike in site or not. Turns out mine was, but it was not an issue for me on this trip. Site 30 for anyone interested.

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.

We stayed in Honeysuckle Hollow for a night. Not many people were there that night, as it thunder stormed. However site was well kept and concession stand available by the boat dock with everything you might need.

Clean, family friendly and basic ammenities available

We love private campsites, far enough away from other campers, yet close enough to amenities. We chose a walk in site #16 which was nice but I wish we chose one a bit further in. Bathrooms where very clean. Trails are great. Pet friendly - we brought our small, quiet dogs. Dog friendly restaurant right next to the camp site.