Blackwell Family Campground

Finding any campground, let alone a decently priced one with showers in the Chicago area is a challenge. Blackwell has a different issue...No camping on weekdays, only 1pm Fri thru Noon on Sunday. 47 hours. That's mostly why I give it 4 stars instead of 5. The other reasons are that areas to walk your dogs are quite a distance from most campsites as is the showers. You can walk your dog down the roads but they are rather narrow and because the forest and heavy brush is within a couple feet of the road, you often find yourself veryclose to passing vehicles or intruding on others' campsites by having to step into their driveway to avoid being run over. The showers are right up near the front gate...not centrally located...so quite a hike from most of the campsites.
On the plus side, it's a genuine camping experience. Most sites are separated by heavy brush. It's a heavily wooded forest preserve with a decent size lake and a river runs through it. (See what I did there? Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.) You can fish, rent boats, hike the woods or a small mountain. Showers/restrooms were spotless. Wood was pricey, $7 a bundle compared to $5 at most campgrounds. Campsite pricing is what seems to have become typical everywhere...$35 for non-county residents, $20 for county residents but they offer 2 free nights a year if you are 65+.
Finding a level site is a challenge. Most have some degree of slope to them, some small, some ridiculously steep. Some are long enough for RV's, some barely fit one car.
Big issue is making reservations. First of all, you can't make reservations less than 3 days in advance. I tried online 2 days in advance and couldn't. If there are sites still open at 1pm when the campground opens, first come first served. The website also showed the campground closed on Friday. On Saturday, it showed 5 spots open, 36, 37, 19, 18, 16. The last 3 are handicapped or 'ADA' . So I called the next morning.
"Campground is sold out the next two weekends but we are taking reservations for next year"
"Your website shows the campground closed on Friday and 5 spots open on Saturday."
"Don't know why the website shows closed on Friday, it's not and sites 36/37 are overflow sites for emergencies."
"If I show up at 1pm and the handicapped spots have not been booked, can I get one of those?"
"I'm not sure what they do on site. They might hold them till later in the day."
So I got there early Friday, 10:30am. I asked about getting a handicapped site at 1pm and she said, "Oh I give them away as soon as I'm here, if someone comes early." So I was able to snag one. I'd have had the weekend free if I was 65, she told me. Instead, only $40 for two nights, since I was a county resident. At midnight, I walked my dogs and noticed at least 8 empty sites in my camping section. Odd, for a night that was 'Sold out'. So I asked about it the next afternoon. 15 paid camping reservations didn't show up. And 20 more hadn't shown up the next day by 2 pm. The Ranger said that was 'normal' and that they couldn't resell the sites because of the no refund policy, that that would be 'double dipping'. And that is a shame because many campers are turned away, being told its sold out...when 15 sites remained empty instead. That's a bad glitch that needs some attention. I also asked why they don't allow camping on weekdays and that is because of people renting sites, pulling in and then disappearing for days at a time, instead of being there to camp, taking up spaces that could be used by others.
The campground is located less than half a mile from a major highway, so traffic noise is constant, day and night. An hour after dusk, the Ranger drives around in his golf cart, on his bullhorn, telling visitors to leave and campers that quiet hours are 10pm-8am. The police lock the gates during those times and campers are told they cannot leave the campgrounds and roam the forest preserve but you know...they do anyway.
Campground closes end of September.
Specs at the bottom of this page show only 20 amp. Not correct. They have 30 and 50 as well.

If you’re looking to affordably explore the city of Chicago on a weekend, check out Blackwell Forest Preserve.

I paid $30/night for tent camping with electric. There are very good free showers, water, and garbage.

At night it’s very loud with insect noises, so much that you’ll probably need earplugs to sleep.

There’s an absolutely beautiful lake with rentable canoes, pattle boats, and row boats.

Some campsite spaces are better than others.

They close the campground at sunset and open it back up at sunrise. You can only check in between 1pm-7pm. The campground is only open on weekends.

The mosquitoes ate me alive, one night I had 16 bites. This was regardless of all the precautions I took!

The campsite wood I bought for $7/bundle was wet (not seasoned) and wouldn’t burn.

I had two bars on Verizon.

I would return if I was visiting Chicago again, but next time I’d bring DEET to fight the mosquitoes.