Sugar River Forest Preserve

Winnebago County does a great job of maintaining their Forest preserves and campgrounds. They charge a fee for non-residents, but it's worth it. Not spectacular, but very pleasant and relaxing. Sites are open, but well spaced. Plenty of shade. Hike-in sites are on the riverbank, about 200 yards from parking.  
 The Sugar river is scenic, and easy to paddle up or down, so you can do round trips without having to arrange drop-offs.   
The Pecatonica river is nearby as well. A good day trip is Monroe, Wisconsin, home of the National Cheese Museum and Alp &amp; Dell Chees works, a great place to shop for chees lovers. Van Eyck Orchard is a great stop as well.

Great for canoeing/ kayaking

Not a bad place for exploring the river. Big sites. Lots of mosquitoes so come prepared!

Lots to do if you like the river

We spent a weekend at Sugar River and thoroughly enjoyed our! The sites are large and well maintained, the hosts were great, and it is less than two hours from home!

Great Forest preserve campground!

This was the perfect end to our camping season. The smell of pine is heavenly here!
Shower house still open!

November camp!

Spent 3 days here as part of a trip to Galena. The showers are nice and cleaned regularly. Host is constantly driving around making sure firewood is available to campers and is very reasonably priced. Great location right along river, however it was very low this time of year. Will defiantly return.

NIce Forest Location in Northern Illinois

We visited in Early June this time, and this time had a campsite on the East side under the very, very tall pine trees (sites 32-47). Less privacy between sites, but a beautiful  effect.  
Last time we camped in site 65, next to the path to the playground &amp; walk-in site parking which was busy. You might want to choose a sit away from the pit toilets for the usual reasons, but also to avoid the light from the streetlights over them.  
The river was low this time, so we didn't do any canoeing, but we saw many people tubing from Sugar River Adventures  having fun, Walking a tube over a sandbar is nothing compared to dragging a canoe.  
BIGGEST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE there's a farm nearby that has Peacocks, and they screamed until well into the night. we thought it was bobcats attacking wild turkeys until the lady at the front gate set us straight. I hope this is only a seasonal mating thing and not a new feature.  
One more note, biggest picnic tables we've seen, and our site had two.