Best Cabin Camping near Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

I stayed here for my first trip to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore area in early June '18. It was clearly recently renovated and very nice. It was actually my first time ever staying at a private campground, so I don't have much to compare it to. But it had 2 sets of bathrooms, a pool, a basketball hoop (I don't recall if it was a court, but I think it was just one) and a prayer room. I didn't look for laundry, because I didn't need it, but the map indicates they do have it.

The main office sold firewood and ice. Otherwise, just a few lantern batteries and such. Not a "store" by any means. But it's like a 5 minute drive to grocery and gas. Great location, in fact. Less than 10 minutes from the interstate.

Light-sleepers will have difficulty anywhere in the region because of train traffic, but it was respectably secluded. Vampires beware: there's a 8-10 foot cross at the entrance. But didn't notice any garlic strewn about.

Would stay again.

(No pictures because I found this site right after I returned. Map from website because the site is glitchy and you might not find it otherwise.)

...although you probably wouldn't want to camp in the Indiana winter. I grew up coming here mostly to sled on the hills! But, there is a lot more to do. It surrounds Worster Lake and there are cabins, RV sites, and tent sites along with horse trails and bike trails. In the winter, there's sledding hills and ice fishing. The campgrounds are pretty standard, nothing special. If you live in the area, it's a fine little getaway.

We visited this park twice (once in Sept 2020 and again in June 2021).  Both times we stayed in the cabin campground and both times had very good experiences.  Each time we went mid-week so there was hardly anyone else there, and that was great.  The cabins are small but perfectly fine for our group with two bunk beds, a small loft, and a small table inside.  They have electricity so charging phones and devices is not a problem.   Cabins 4 and 5 are up this small driveway and are slightly separated and I would recommend those if you can.  We never had to go to "town" so not sure how far it is to any stores.

Each time we rented a canoe and did a paddle/float trip on the river that ended at the canoe rental location.  Would not hesitate to stay here again.

Located in a Cook County forest preserve this family camping option is a nice local getaway. The facilities are all newly built or remodeled. The bathrooms are modern. The campsites are well kept as are the grounds. There are trails to walk. There is an activities barn with a rock climbing wall. There are smaller family cabins with heat available to rent as well as large bunkhouses for organized groups.

Beautiful beach. Crystal clear waters and soft sand. Great for kids! Excellent site too although we needed a bobcat to help us in and out, but the owner is super friendly and assisted us with no problem at all. The acres has lots of sites tucked away in the woods and many out in the open sun too! Rental trailers and cabins right on the lake too. Great ice cream too. We will be back!

We have visited this campground twice now. The first time we stayed in one of the cabins. The cabins are large, bathroom was very clean, large screened in porch. Only con was that the cabins all share one large firepit. This past weekend we stayed in a camper. The sites were a nice size. Clean sites. Bathrooms were decent for a campground in my opinion. The kids had a great time riding bikes, playing on multiple playgrounds, and playing in the lake all day.

This campground is a place to stay while you visit the huge dunes. Developed sites are very small and close together. Sand/grass pads that are not defined. Undeveloped or tent area was almost empty and bigger but no electric. Cabin area has best sites. Cabins are small. Limited toilets. Public beach was nice...quite a few people. Separate area for dogs to play on the beach. Hike the dunes for a great workout

sites: semi modern or modern available. amenities: cabins available. clean. no alcohol allowed. other attractions: swimming. hiking. dunes. playground. I would go back again.

There are three rings of campsites, you can view a pic of the exact site online. The first ring has shadier sites and some cabins. The second ring is sunnier with no cabins. Both of these rings have a nice shower/bathroom building in the center and access to clean water. With additional water access on the rings. The third ring has outhouses only but there is still water access on the ring. The campgrounds are located within the Warren Dunes State Park. There is a separate entrance fee for the park, which you must pay even if you are just there to camp. I recommend the beach and dunes. They are breathtaking and well maintained. There are new bathrooms, food shacks and even some food trucks. They also do some really great free family nature programs all summer.

Great site, not far from Chicago, but feels well away from city life.

Tent sites around rim of a lake. RV sites and cabins as well.

Beautiful forest surrounds the lake, lots of hiking in the surrounding enormous forest preserve. Lake has fishing and boats as well.

We arrived late, and the friendly park security directed us to the campground.

The vault toilets were acceptably clean. Spots were close to the river. The campground has cabins, trails for hiking and horseback riding.

As other reviews have stated….the mosquitoes are prolific and abundant! We left early.

Great campground for families. There are sand dunes in the park just walking distance from some campsites. You can climb these dunes to the beach ( a farther walk) or take a short drive. They have restrooms/showers. A small store for all your camping essentials. The offer cabin/ tent/ RV sites with electricity and water.

Campground= 4 stars; check-in= 2 stars. Very large campground with close to 300 sites plus a horse camp and about 20 cabins. We picked this park solely because it was convenient to our next destination, so we were not concerned with amenities. We did not make a reservation because I really do not want to pay the extra fee if it is not necessary. Upon arrival, we paid the $9 entrance fee ($7 for Indiana residents) and drove the 3 miles to the campground office. Somewhat surprised to find both staffed at 6 pm on a Thursday after Labor Day. We were told to drive around and pick several desired sites as they could not tell us which ones still had people due to arrive that night who had reserved. Huh?? So, we drove around two of the five loops and picked half a dozen sites that would be suitable. But that’s where the fun began- not! There seemed to be some computer glitch in that every site we asked about showed as not available, even though more than half the sites were empty. Eventually, we were told to just go to one of the sites we picked and set up and that a security guard would come and collect our money. Eventually, at just before 9 pm, the security guard did come and told us the glitch had been fixed and asked that we come to the office and register. The glitch was not fixed! But we paid our fee and were able to stay the night and the staff was very apologetic. 

There is no differentiation between RV and tent sites (the only one that is separate is the horse camp). The E Loop seemed to be the most crowded, mostly with RVs. The sites in the D Loop were spaced a decent amount of distance apart but other than that, there was no real privacy between them. This was not a problem because the loop had many empty sites and we were able to easily find one that had an empty one on either side of us. There are paths to the beach accessible from the D and E loops but note the beach is only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. There is no longer a dog beach at Potato Creek. There is a general store(open until 8 pm) and bike rentals which, if we were going to stay longer, we might have taken advantage of. There are boat rentals in season. Several trails and playgrounds so I imagine that in the summer, this is a nice family campground (even the name is Family campground). 

The mosquitos were vicious, likely worse due to the amount of rain the area has had this year. Bathrooms were very clean and there was hot water, a nice luxury but you have to be careful not to bump your head on the shelf over the sink when washing your face. Didn’t use them but there were also showers. 

The check-in process notwithstanding, our stay was fine for the night.

The dunes here are lovely and feel a little less busy than Indiana Dunes. You can also access it all by hiking directly from the campgrounds. The campsites are a mixed bag. Some are right on top of each other and some have nice vegetation between them. Regardless, it isn’t ideal for a a quiet getaway but if you get the right site it’s not bad.

This campground is a great place for families and pets.

We camped in the electric part of the park. During our stay we enjoyed the hiking opportunities for us and our dogs.

There were children involved in bike riding and playing at the playground every day and activities like the park Challenge to explore the park in a guided way, looking for local animals and skeletal remains.

Yu can also fish, canoe, Kayak or tube on the Tippecanoe River.

The Comfort Buildings were well lit and clean. They were also well stocked.

There was a horse camp available as well as youth tenting and cabins to rent.

This is a great State Park with more things to offer in addition to the ones mentioned above. We will definitely be back.Check it out for yourself soon!

I visited Palos early this week (mid-April) for a very very chilly three days. The tent sites are right next to the water which is beautiful but can get very windy. There is no privacy between the sites (no trees, etc). There are small and medium cabins, some heated with their own bathrooms, that feature bunk beds and are great for getting out of the cold. The central bathrooms are clean, heated and offer showers. The water is not yet potable so bring your own or check with the park team to ensure it's drinkable when you go. The hiking here is AWESOME with a bajillion different routes right from the campground. We hiked 10 miles and saw tons of animals and birds including a snake, loads of herons and songbirds, deer, a raccoon and a Cooper's Hawk. I will definitely be back!