Best Glamping near Winthrop Harbor, IL

Great for the times that we have to work weekends and still want to go camping. We can both drive to work and then come back to relax. Close to some great places for antiquing if you don't want to hike the trails or fish. The only big minus is the full hook ups fill up fast no spur of the moment camping unless it is early or late in the season. The other thing is ALL Illinois State Parks are now enforcing a no alcohol policy even if you are on your own site.

Always full on weekends. Popular destination for locals and people from Illinois. 4 stars because it's not the camping in nature experience I am looking for. Lots of noise. Lots of kids. Lots of dogs. It's park area is very nice. Nice playground for kids. Volleyball nets. Lots of picnic tables and grills available. Dogs not welcome in most of the park. More of a party place. But the staff is very active. They clean sites quickly, clean the bathrooms regularly.

We stayed on site 50. We were closer to our neighbors than I'd like, including the campsite behind us. The campsite behind us had a path thru it to get to the bathrooms. There was a thin layer of growth between sites but not much. Our site had a nicely placed tree providing just enough coverage but nothing stayed wet in the rain. We camped in a popup, if we had a tent I think we would have been soaked. Lots of pooling water on the backside. The campground just added new gravel to the sites and asked that all trailers and vehicles stay on the gravel but the gravel doesn't go back far enough for both car and camper to stay on.

The inner ring of the campground are smaller(shorter) sites. The outer ring sites are better for RVs. Except for site 70. That should be tent only because there are 2 trees right in the middle behind the gravel. 50, 69, 74 seemed the best for both shade and sun combo. Site 79 is paved but not marked as handicap because it isn't being maintained as handicap and is not close to the new bathrooms. Not enough sites with electric, however we didn't need it for the weekend.

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:)

I've camped here in the cabin option, which was fine and relatively quiet a few years ago, but wanted to find a place more secluded to do dispersed camping and saw this listed on thedyrt.com under dispersed camping. I called to verify and they do NOT allow any dispersed camping unless if you have a group of 40 or more people for boy scouts/girl scouts.

This was our first time at this campground and we were impressed. We stayed in the Fox Den electric sites. The campsite was very clean and the fire pit and table were in good condition. Our site was very shaded and quiet at night. The bath house was very clean. There is a lot to do at this park from hiking to water sports to horse back riding. We did a nice short hike in area. We had a great time at this campground and would visit again.

Always a good time. No frills, but plenty of nature, secluded sites and fishing/boating.

Fox den at Chain-o-Lakes state park provides a more secluded camping experience than Honeysuckle or the 2 tent camping areas. Pads are pretty level, and each site has some semblance of privacy from other campers (our site was protected on 3 sides by some fairly dens foliage and trees). Electric is easily accessible, and water / sanitary is easy to get in and out of.

The concessions/ camp store is located near the boat docks and is easily walked or driven to with decent selection of foods, gear, and fishing items.

Bathhouse could use to be cleaned a bit more regularly but overall a pleasant experience for the price. Recommend staying.

Chain O'Lakes State Park in IL has two electric campgrounds, 2 non-electric campgrounds and one group site.  Fox Den is superior to Honeysuckle Hollows because each site has an individual electric post.  Sites in Honeysuckle have electric posts to far from parking pad.  Fox Den also has more space between sites, more level pads and each site is tucked away with trees.   In Honeysuckle you will have  clear line of site to very close neighbor. 

There are three campgrounds close together, Fox Den and two non-electric campgrounds Turner South and Prairie View that share the bath house which was clean and  is in the  center of them all.

There are hiking trails and this campground is the closest to the  boat dock and concession which serves as the camp store.

Camp is on the Chain-O-Lake, if you like any type of boating. Fox Den site are space well. Good trails for both walking and biking.

Great campground. Fox den! Dirty floor in the shower and bathroom.

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.

We chose Chain O Lakes because we enjoy kayaking and with 7 lakes connected by small tributaries this fit the bill. Also it is 30 miles from Shipshawana where the Amish have a flea market and auction (Tuesdays & Wednesday) . Rangers were helpful and delivered firewood to our site daily. Bathrooms could use a bit of paint but were clean enough. We were there during the week and had he place to ourselves. All in all it was a fun stop on our way to Colorado.

This park isn't too far away from Chicago, which makes it a great place for a quick get away! There are a variety of sites from electric to non-electric. A boat rental area for canoes and kayaks makes this great for getting on the water and there are some decent bike trails in the park as well.

This campground is within a couple hours of Chicago so it makes a nice getaway for the weekend. Things were pretty filled up when we came here. However there is plenty of space around to find a spot on your own.

The campsites are a nice size and have electric hookups. Water was at central locations and a dump is on the way out. We prefer more brush/trees between sites so this campground was just ok with us. It is better than standard RV campgrounds but we could have used some more privacy. Flushing toilets and showers are in a central location with some pit toilets throughout the state park. This particular campground was just about as far away into the park as you could go without going to the youth/group camp.

There is a boat launch with rentals and a bunch of hiking trails closer to the entrance. However, if you go just past the entrance- pass by the playground- you will come to a stop sign. Keep going straight even though it will look like you are just walking into trees. A trail is there that was a nice place to explore. Even on multiple adventures, we did not pass anyone when we went hiking on it. We did have to work our way through a few downed trees. The trail looks like it would be pretty muddy if it rains so choose your timing. It was a perfect escape from the crowds. 

We would come back to Fox Den if other campgrounds were filled up. However reservations would be important to make first.

This is a great campground. The bathroom facilities have a bit to be desired but still very functional. If you like to kayak or canoe this is a great place to be. There is a water way fee per kayak or canoe per year but it is well worth it. The camp sites are spaced apart at a good distance to lend you some privacy. We love coming here every year.

*** reviewing as a baby/toddler camp family on the go :-) we chose the loop 11 was on because it was close to the path to the playgrounds and lakes plus bathrooms… avoid the first 2 sites from either end as the ones closest to the main loop aren’t very deep. Closer to the center of this row is best.

Pros- easy pull in sites and lots of walk-in availability. Sites are almost all flat thankfully, so no weird slopes to sleep on and easy for babies/toddlers to stay safe. Also seemed pretty respectful in the evenings with people toning down the noise.

Lots of electric sites, deep enough for 2 tents, 2 cars (although close to neighbors and no trees between sites), picnic table and fire pit.

Bathroom shower houses were decent (we usually just have toddler use her travel potty, but this one was fine).

Multiple playgrounds, access to launch sites for kayaks, little store to buy ice cream or snacks.

Cons - SO many ticks. With a baby crawling that needed to be set free, we were constantly doing checks. Luckily our screen house pop up on a tarp that was sprayed ahead for tick repellent plus a blanket on top of that did the trick, but they literally fall out of the trees into people! Plan for toddlers and babies to have a contained covered screen house and have them wear hats or a wagon shade on walks so nothing lands in their hair.

Also - the raccoons at night here are no joke. The second it’s dusky, they come scavenging for absolutely anything food has touched. So basically, eat dinner and do s’mores early, then everything must be packed into cars for the night and all surfaces wiped down.

Large sites with plenty of room to spread out. Plenty of birds and other wildlife for the kids to see. No alcohol is allowed so it made for a great family weekend. Short walk to bathhouse. Pit toilet for emergencies.

It’s a really nice site, but the running water bathrooms were not cleaned regularly and the pit toilets were almost overflowing on a Thursday. The site was also filled with garbage when we arrived.

These sites share an electric box.  Some spaces the box is further than 30 feet from the pad.  A lot of the spaces are also crowded together.  Recommend sites 23 to 46 for spacing and electric distance.  We originally booked 96 but could not extend our slide because of large trees on either side of the pad and then the electric was about 50 feet away. Moved  to 50 one of the nicest spots.  Staff is friendly and bathrooms were clean. There are a large amount of  trails to hike and you can walk to Turner Lake from the Honeysuckle Hollow campground.   There is not a lot of grass around the campsites and lots of places have over grown weeds.   DO NOT FORGET your bug spray the files are huge.  The upside of lots of bugs are lots of bird watching.  Many pretty varieties.  We did  not encounter any COVID restrictions, bath and shower house and camp store were all open.

We stayed here for a week over the summer in 2021. We had a back-in site on the north side of the campground. We had 50 amp, but no water/sewer, although there was a water spigot next to our site that we could use to fill up jugs of water. The dump station was near the entrance to the camping loop and had potable water. It was also very busy and we had to wait when filling up and again when dumping. The campground was really busy during the weekend, but cleared out Sunday and we nearly had the whole loop to ourselves during the week. The park has many trails, which were nice.

Checked in Friday afternoon. Things were busy in the office, but the staff was friendly and apologetic about the wait. Campsite is nice, we're pretty close to our neighbors but not as bad as other places I've been. Walking distance to a fishing dock! The camp store by the boat launch has fire wood, live bait, food, and other supplies.

The sites are more open and closer together than I care for but the park is nice

Staff are very friendly, sites are well maintained and most of them are spread apart.

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.