Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Community Forums > Campgrounds & Destinations
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-13-2022, 02:54 AM   #1
336
Member
 
336's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: North East Pennsylvania
Posts: 91
Northern Illinois

Taking a summer trip to get some stickers on our states map. Upper Midwest. Got Michigan booked, Silver lake resort and campground. Iowa, Spook cave and campground and visit effigy mounds NP. Minnesota, Kamp Dels. Looking for northern Illinois suggestions. Leaning toward Crystal lake Rv park??? Looks kinda out in the open. No shade and not much in the area. Looking for full hookups for a 38’ fiver. 3 kids in tow. Also northern Indiana suggestions. Really wanted to hit Holiday world. But with Biden gas hike it’s a little to far off the trail.
336 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 03:12 AM   #2
notanlines
Senior Member
 
notanlines's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germantown, TN
Posts: 6,308
Might we recommend Pearl Lake RV resort in South Beloit, Illinois? It is located right off the interstate, good restaurants in the area and the park is superb! I might add the lake on the RV park is clear as a bell and the beach is groomed every day. We've stayed there many times. LONG pull-thru sites.
https://www.zemanrv.com/resorts/pearl-lake-rv-resort
__________________
Jim in Memphis, Wife of 51 years is Brenda
2019 F450 6.7 Powerstroke
2018 Mobile Suites 40RSSA
2021 40' Jayco Eagle
2001 Road king w/matching Harley sidecar
2021 Yamaha X2 Wolverine 1000
notanlines is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 04:27 AM   #3
Campermike
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Metamora
Posts: 143
Central il resident that grew up in Northern il here. You Might want to check out the private parks near starved rock state park. That is one of the most interesting state parks illinois has to offer with good hiking. The location is not far off interstate 80. The state park won't have full hookups but there are a few private parks nearby that do. While in that area also visit Matthieson state park as it also has cool trails.
__________________
2018 Ram 1500 CC
2013 passport 2300bh
Campermike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 07:24 AM   #4
dutchmensport
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Indiana
Posts: 2,665
Northern Indiana: Your best bet is Potato Creek State Park. Electric only sites, but has a dump station and centrally located water spigots. Great Park. We love it there.

Not sure exactly where you are looking at in Illinois, but maybe this will help you find possibilities:

Click here.

And oh, just an FYI: If you are looking at getting a campsite at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari in Santa Clause, Indiana, you need to make a reservation at least a year in advance. They are booked solid, every day of the week all Summer long. We were there a couple years ago. But to book the reservation, we had to book over a year in advance. We had no clue what we'd be doing or what condition we'd be in over a year in our future, but we booked it anyway. Then we worked very hard to make sure we had vacation time from work and nothing ever stepped on those dates ... including funerals!
__________________
2019 Montana High Country 375FL
2014 Chevy Duramax HD 6.6 - 3500 Diesel Dully Long bed Crew Cab
dutchmensport is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 07:27 AM   #5
336
Member
 
336's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: North East Pennsylvania
Posts: 91
Thanks guys. 2 solid tips. Starved rock SP looks really interesting. Leaning that route. Looking at some of the area CGs now. Pearl lake a solid tip too. Direct on the route. I wish Zeeman Rv resorts would get better web sites. Have stayed at some good some bad. The websites are basically no info. It’s not really a trusted brand like KOA or Yogi where you kinda know what to expect. I’m sure your recommendation on pearl lake is good. Just see more parks getting bought by zeeman and they really have a horrible web presence. I’ve been searching for a few weeks and that one has never once come up.
336 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 08:12 AM   #6
travelin texans
Senior Member
 
travelin texans's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Picacho, Az
Posts: 6,809
Quote:
Originally Posted by 336 View Post
Thanks guys. 2 solid tips. Starved rock SP looks really interesting. Leaning that route. Looking at some of the area CGs now. Pearl lake a solid tip too. Direct on the route. I wish Zeeman Rv resorts would get better web sites. Have stayed at some good some bad. The websites are basically no info. It’s not really a trusted brand like KOA or Yogi where you kinda know what to expect. I’m sure your recommendation on pearl lake is good. Just see more parks getting bought by zeeman and they really have a horrible web presence. I’ve been searching for a few weeks and that one has never once come up.
Never checked out any Illinois state parks, but we also had 38-40' 5th wheels & several state parks around the country it was very difficult to nearly impossible to get a 5er that length into the parks let alone into their so called "big rig sites" due to low tree limbs or boulder lined roadways with very tight turns.
My advice is drive through them before committing to a lengthy stay that you can't get into. For us it was much less stressful to stay in a FHU site nearby the state park & just drive to it to take in the sites. With a few kiddos in tow & no sewer connection in a campground could be as stressful as the drive towing into.a state park if you have to go to the dump station every other day.
__________________
Full-timed 10+ years
Sold '13 Redwood FB
Traded '13 GMC Denali DRW D/A
Replacement undetermined
travelin texans is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 08:22 AM   #7
Campermike
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Metamora
Posts: 143
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelin texans View Post
Never checked out any Illinois state parks, but we also had 38-40' 5th wheels & several state parks around the country it was very difficult to nearly impossible to get a 5er that length into the parks let alone into their so called "big rig sites" due to low tree limbs or boulder lined roadways with very tight turns.
My advice is drive through them before committing to a lengthy stay that you can't get into. For us it was much less stressful to stay in a FHU site nearby the state park & just drive to it to take in the sites. With a few kiddos in tow & no sewer connection in a campground could be as stressful as the drive towing into.a state park if you have to go to the dump station every other day.
That's one of the good things about the starved rock area. It is popular and there are a few nearby private parks if you need those hookups or pull thru sites.
Campermike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2022, 02:34 PM   #8
jfk69
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Owosso
Posts: 212
Another really nice one in northern Indiana is just 5-6 miles from Michigan off of I69. It’s Pokagon State Park. Electric only, but really nice with a ton of trails, horseback riding and a beautiful lake/beach
__________________
Joe & Mary
2015 F350 XLT CCLB SRW 6.7 PS
2018 Cougar 344MKS
jfk69 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2022, 07:05 AM   #9
RK1978
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Romney Indiana
Posts: 91
Starved Rock is a great suggestion, I've gone there since 1966 when I was young and rules were lax so we did a lot of rock climbing and exploring the dam that would be difficult now. There was a small KOA near LaSalle that has recently gone private but I do not know the name. It is a handy location for SR and other historical sites around the area. Lots of history around there, including the largest underground mine disaster in the US. Starved Rock gets CROWDED so be prepared for that.
RK1978 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2022, 08:53 AM   #10
locomech
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: McHenry, IL
Posts: 115
Another place to consider is Galena, IL. It's in the northwest corner of Illinois along the Mississippi River. Home to General and President U.S. Grant. The town is full of shopping and restaurants and tour activities. You could add three states to your travel log by staying in this area. Wisconsin is just over the border to the north, Iowa to the west across the Mississippi river and of course Illinois.

When we visit the Galena area we stay in Keiler, Wisconsin at the Rustic Barn Campground. It's a nice quiet campground about 15 miles from Galena. It has full hookups, but no pool for the kids. A short drive from Keiler is Potosi which is home to the Potosi brewery. The brewery has a museum to tour, and I think it may be one of the oldest breweries in the country. Across the river in Dubuque Iowa there are casino's and other family type things to do. You might want to check out the bat caves in Maquoketa State Park.

I'm from northern Illinois and agree that Starved Rock is a nice place to visit, the towns along the Illinois river are fun to visit, Ottawa, Utica, and Peru. Where ever you go in Illinois stay away from the Chicago area there's nothing but traffic and trouble.
__________________
2013 F-150 3.5 Eco
2014 Keystone Passport 245RB



"Don't worry bout the mule... Just load the wagon"
locomech is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-08-2022, 06:09 PM   #11
336
Member
 
336's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: North East Pennsylvania
Posts: 91
We went with Starved Rock. Was a great idea. Great park. Kids loved it. And the surrounding towns are great. Went out to dinner in Ottawa at BASH. and hit Utica for ice cream and some drinks on the closed city downtown block. Really a great area. Stayed at Pleasant creek. Was ok. Had the one and only full hookup. Campground left a lot to be desired but was safe and sufficient. And super close to the state park , 8 mins. Other parks in the area looked similar. All in all would def recommend the area for a 2 day stop. Pleasant Creek campground I’d say 3 stars.
336 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:15 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.