Best Tent Camping near Woodridge, IL

Tent Camping Reviews near Woodridge, IL

401 Reviews of 9 Woodridge Campgrounds

• 

  H. K.

  Traveler

  Jun. 26, 2022

  Camp Bullfrog Lake

  Nice but very little shade

  We stayed in the primitive tent area near the back of the park. It is walk in.

  There was a pole for a lantern, a picnic table, a fire ring and tent pad. There is one clean flush toilet and shower per each gender (the shower stall was spacious with plenty of hooks and benches). There were also vault toilets not too far away. The water spigot was pretty far away though. There were plenty of garbage cans.

  There were a few small trees but very little shade. On hot days I think a pop up shade shelter would be necessary to make it bearable.

  Overall it was pretty quiet.

  The last night we were there a large group of people with their tents showed up. There were not enough tent pads or picnic tables for all of them. I don't know if it was the park that booked so many people or if it was the group that overbooked.

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• D

  David W.

  Traveler

  Aug. 3, 2025

  Paul Wolff Campground

  No showers

  We would gladly stay here again!

  Great campsite with the best staff ever! The sites are clean and very well maintained. We loved the staff patrolling the grounds. The trail system is great for walking the dogs. And I even grew to like the no alcohol in the preserve rule.

  The vault toilets are clean but smell like vault toilets at 95 degrees. There is one very clean flush toilet building but no showers. They don't advertise showers, but this is the newest and nicest campsite I have seen without showers. There is some shade, but you have to search for it.

• 

  Marisa A.

  Ranger

  Aug. 16, 2020

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Great value Chicago suburb campsite

  I've camped here four different occasions this 2020 covid-19 year. The staff are super nice and the campground has great social distancing rules in place for the check-in shack and bathrooms. It is a super clean campground with multiple hosts and forest preserve staff. There are a large number of RV pads overlooking the prairie and a few along a grove of trees. I was lucky once to see the equestrian area full of campers with their horses. There are 9 walk-in tent sites about 10-20 yards from parking (the two at the end p7 and p9 are connected for groups that know each other). There are multiple ada sites and two "walk-in/ie roll-in" site in the tent-only area. It's a good mix of young people, retired people, and families. I've seen weekends with mainly RVs and one weekend with a quarter of the drive-in sites being tents. The most shaded sites are p1,3,5,7 and 9. Many of the sites in the middle are wide open with little shade but nice summer breezes. Prices are a great deal if you live in Kane county but still worth the trip if you live in another county. Firewood is $7 for about .75 cu ft (what you can fit in a milk crate.) There are a few trails and I've seen lots of butterflies, gold finches, hawks, deer, flocks of giant sandhill cranes, rabbits, ground squirrels, and of course actual squirrels. Lots of people (including me) bring their leashed dogs. The other campers have been polite and friendly. I wish there was more distance between sites in the water/electrical loops for more privacy, but I'd go every weekend if I lived in Kane county because it would be worth the resident price even tho there are so many RVs. Because there is electrical it is a peaceful campground with no generator noise.

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• H

  Haven M.

  Scout

  May. 22, 2025

  Whitetail Campground — Illini State Park

  Place felt abandoned, needed weed-whacker

  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.

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• J

  Joe K.

  Guide

  Sep. 18, 2019

  Great Falls Campground — Illini State Park

  Woods near the river

  Went tent camping here and reserved our spot in advance. We bought fire wood from a locals front lawn at the entrance to the state park. Put 5$ in the bin and take a bundle. Its 30 mins away from Starved Rock and Matthiesson State Park. Good hiking. The river spots are all booked by large RVs and the tent spots have grills over the fire pits and picnic tables. lots of tree cover which came in handy when it rained in the morning. Otherwise great weather and not buggy. Dogs allowed.

• 

  Emma H.

  Traveler

  Sep. 24, 2025

  Potowatomi Campground — Kankakee River State Park

  Great for our 2 person campout!

  My fiancé and I stayed in the Hickory Loop spot 3. We are very new campers, so we just have a very basic tent setup. When we checked in with the host, there were bundles of firewood for $8 (either cash or cash app). The spots are not huge, and not super private (you have next door and across the street neighbors), but we didn’t mind that! There were two outlets available, and a small rectangular fire pit with a grate on top. There are a few water pumps and vault toilets within walking distance, but we were pretty close to the shower house, which had stalls for toilets and showers. The showers were pretty great for a camp ground!

  It rained a ton during our trip so we didn’t explore much, but would definitely recommend for a simple camping trip where you want flushable toilets, showers, and some electricity.

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• 

  Jonathan S.

  Scout

  May. 21, 2023

  Big Rock Campground

  First time campers

  Nice clean area to camp. Most of the sites are for travel camper or RV’s.

  A couple of drive Ups.

  50/30 amps hookups. Water hookups as well. Great water pressure.

  Running water restrooms & non-running water restrooms.

  2-dump sites they have sections for tent camping- but down fall is they do not have showers.

  Overall experience was great and we will return.

• 

  Scott N.

  Guide

  Jul. 14, 2020

  Thomas Woods Campground

  Great trails, loud neighbors, lots of bugs

  Thomas Woods campground has some great sites, particularly the tent sites. Many of them are set off a short distance from the parking area. I stayed at site 30 which was less than a tenth mile from the parking spot. There are no trash cans at the site, the dumpsite is near the entrance. Most of the roads are one way so after dropping the trash off you must drive all through the campground to get back to your site. The site itself had plenty of room and privacy. The woods are dense and block all views of the neighboring sites. Unfortunately, I think some people think if they can’t see you, you can’t hear them. Every site has a raised pad for a tent. This was very nice. I did track in some of the small gravel into the tent, though. It looks like kitty litter. Not a big deal. It was nice sleeping flat and not sliding off my sleep pad.

  Near Marengo Ridge is a bike trail called H.U.M. Trail. It is only 3.5 miles long. From what I understand is they lost funding for the project. The path is paved and offers a scenic forested view. The hiking trails of Marengo Ridge are the true stars of the area. I walked for almost two hours and still didn’t see them all. Some of the trails have wide paths of grass while others are single-track dirt. 

  As other reviewers have written, the mosquitoes are insane.  Bring plenty of bug spray!

  My website:  https://www.lost13.com/camping/2020/7/13/marengo-ridge

  My video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh4TzLzf\_PY&t=1s

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• 

  Art S.

  Legend

  Oct. 20, 2019

  Paul Wolff Campground

  Amazing hiking and beautifully kept but a bit pricey

  This campground is in a populated area but the nature preserve is big. We rarely saw traffic once here. A train goes by a couple times but it was always during the day. 

  It’s pricey if you are from out of the county. We were hoping to camp at the primitive sites but they are walk-in only. Our teardrop wasn’t allowed. We settled at site 37 and enjoyed our stay. There are vault toilets but the large number of big RVs meant they were not used often leaving them almost like our private restrooms. Each site has water and electric. Trees are around the outside with few on the inside sites. All the sites have paved pads. 

  The highlight of our experience is the hiking. There are miles of trails. On one hike we were on paved, sifted gravel, grass and single trek trails. There are a lot of loops giving you options. When we left we still hadn’t hiked all of them. 

  If the price was more reasonable we would certainly be back. If you need the water/electric then this is a great choice.

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