O'Connell's RV Campground

It's simple and incredibly easy.  Nice and compact.  From a parent's point of view, it's a no-brainer. Chock full of decent amenities.  And in the middle of nowhere.  If it weren't for all of the golf carts running through this place at high-speed by residents that have had a few too many Schlitz beers, it wouldn't be half bad.  There's a nice pond for the kiddos to fish in, and true to the Yogi Bear name, there's a ton of other arts and crafts activities for the kids to enjoy.  All the basic hook-ups and pebble-strewn driving lanes are there for the RV'er crowd to feel incredibly comfortable, but for camping purists, I would highly recommend you look elsewhere for a much less commercial spot to pitch your tent for the evening.  That said, if you do find yourself here in the north central area of Illinois, you'll find brilliant stars dangling from the night's sky, along with clean, crisp air that hangs with a touch of silky dew from the fields of fresh corn fields that encircle you.  

Insider's tip?  Just a short 1 mile hike or so south, you'll come across Leake Lake, where you can escape the crowds of would-be campers to enjoy lakeside bliss the way it was meant to be.  Here you'll catch good sized blue gill and maybe even a decent catfish or two.  There's also nearby Amboy March Nature Preserve, which is great for some decent hiking.  Depending upon the time of year of your visit, if mid-August, I would encourage you to check out the Sweet Corn Festival in nearby Mendota.  If not, I highly recommend you head south to Ladd to Rip's, where you'll enjoy the best fried chicken on the planet, along with some really great draught beers to wash it all down with.

Happy Camping!

$77.00 a night for a horrible experience. Stayed here over Labor Day weekend 2017. Had 2 sites. Sites were adequate but most sites took quite a bit of maneuvering for anything over 25 ft. Almost every activity you have to pay extra for. If you are looking for a nice place to get away from it all STAY AWAY from here. All the campers in our section (all visiting guests) were quiet and courteous. Quiet hours are from 11:00 pm to 7 am and everyone abided by those except the park itself. Saturday night they had a DJ that was suppose to perform from 7-10 pm. It was loud banging music and it didn’t end at 10 he kept going until 11:30 and then we were all treated to the whooping and hollering by the people returning to there campsites. Finally quiet at midnight. With small children throughout the campground there were a lot of sleepless babies because of the loud noise. You would think it was an outdoor concert at Grant Park! Ridiculous. We tried to go swimming on Sunday but all 3 pools were so crowded you couldn’t get in. Capacity says 60 but there was a lot more than that and no one to enforce the rules. The drunken adults took up the hot tubs staking out their territories with their coolers full of alcoholic drinks. So we decided to go to the beach. The ranger station backs right up to the beach. We were inundated with boom box music that was so loud you couldn’t even carry on a conversation. No one from the staff came and asked them to turn it down. The rules state that you can’t have music, tv etc that is so loud it can be heard in the site next to you at any time. HA! Walking 200 feet down the lakeshore by the rental cabins you could still hear it.  Don’t tell me those “rangers” couldn’t hear it.   We were willing to pay the outrageous site fees because we thought it would be like Yogi Bear in WI. Not even close. Way too many golf carts speeding around driven by kids-it is dangerous on the roads throughout the park.  A very unpleasant weekend filled with noise. Not what you want while you are camping. Way too expensive for a rundown campground. Certainly NOT A RESORT experience.