Walmart — Northlake Store

Whether you’re flying in to camp via O’Hare International Airport or find yourself barreling up or down one of the most heavily trafficked highways in and around Chicago, in this case the 6-lane 294, which near here runs parallel to another super busy highway 290, should you be on the look for a flat piece of pavement to call home for the night, this smaller-sized Walmart might just do the trick. Heading south or northbound on 294 or the frontage road that runs parallel, you’ll want to head east on North Avenue or head diagonally southeast on West Lake Street to access this particular big blue box retailer.

Once you arrive here, likely you will immediately become overwhelmed by all of the heavy in- and out-traffic of the place, but if substantial amounts of traffic doesn’t dissuade you from laying up here for the night, then at least you’ll land on some flat pavement for the night – although that’s not too terribly difficult to do here in the Prairie state – and you will have no shortage of amenities and retail shopping completely surrounding you as this place is certainly in the ‘thick of it.’ That said, there’s also some pretty daunting considerations that you’ll want to weigh as well – including non-stop traffic, which equals noise and distractions as well as some questionable safety aspects about the location you are in. Additionally, I found the accommodations to be lacking in terms of overall quality.

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:

Convenience: 4 

Safety & Security: 2 

Quality: 2 

Peace & Quiet: 1 

Amenities: 2 

Overall, I scored this location a 2. 

Happy Overnighting!