Illinois Beach State Park

I did leave at 3 AM due to the issues here.

I arrived after dark, campsites were not full so it was easy to find a spot.

What I didn’t know, given there was no posted signs - is that there was night construction going on. When I say it was loud, it was LOUD. Sleeping was not even close to an option.

Quiet hours were not enforced whatsoever. Constantly heard people and I could make out full conversations and hear music at 12:30 AM.

At about 2:30 AM the campsite two away from me, a man started screaming at the top of his lungs. I could hear him throwing stuff, yelling at his camp mates. It lasted for over an hour.

It was clear to me this man was on substances. Very apparent.

I was also informed by locals after I left that this campground is not considered safe.

I am a solo female traveler, have been for 8 years and I DO NOT recommend this place to anyone like me or people with children.

Very disappointed & definitely not worth the $25 campsite fee.

Booked online and picked a site based on the picture provided and size listed, when we arrived we realized we could never fit in that spot as we had to back in between two trees that were not shown in picture! Front office was helpful in letting us move sites BUT feel they should have said something when they saw our size when we checked in. We moved to the spots on the concrete pad, okay spacing between the spots for a parking lot. Mosquitoes were unbearable!

Quiet hours for campground are 10 P.M. to 7 A.M. We had some rotten neighbors, rest seemed ok as we walked around/explored.

Our first night, we had a large family that was being loud a few sites from us until sometime past 1A.M, including children still running around.

Next night on the other side of us, we had a couple that were rather expressive of their adult pleasure after 11 P.M. With the alcohol bottles they had (the park has signs all over saying no alcohol), I'm sure that played a role.

The facilities could use some love, but at least the showers were free. We were in the farthest row from the beach and once neighbors quieted down we were able to hear the waves on the beach. We enjoy the location as it is near friends and about 15 minutes to Six Flags. If you don't feel like cooking there are food options nearby

A couple hot days and we decided for a quick trip to this park in middle of week. Did not have reservation, and there were plenty of open sites in walk in area (300's) and reservables. We liked our site, but next time will be farther to the north where the beach is wider. We walked to beach from our site. The campground is fairly well maintained. But there are some parts of the park that are not. Main thing are the bath houses near beach that have been abandoned. Too bad. I'm sure they were very nice at one time. Our rate was with in-state weekday senior discount.

Nice semi-wooded sites all within a couple of minutes walk to the lake. It’s a beautiful place. Unfortunately the place seems a bit neglected. When we arrived we spent the first 20 minutes picking up all the litter that was everywhere! The camp hosts seemed to be no more than folks living in free campsites while not actually doing any tasks. We were here in late June and the camp store was still not open for the season.
In general, a great spot that needs a little tlc.

This place is a wow. We arrived on a Tuesday and had our pick of sites. All sites are spacious and well taken care of. If you are fortunate to be on the 300 loop, you are camped by t he beach with only a small dune between. Listen to waves, crisp air off the lake. Some biting flies, but not extreme.
Fill over the weekend with really respectful campers.
Camp hosts were helpful and friendly.
Lots of walking paths along the water or inside multiple nature preserves.

We checked in Wednesday and had our pick of the sites. Chose 327 because it has a path leading to the beach. It was perfect minus allllll the poison ivy everywhere. I am shocked no one has it. Also no shade at this site. But we loved this site. 200 feet from the beach. The electrical kept going out in the entire campground which made it super hot with no shade. But overall we’d come back again. By Friday the campground was nearly full. One night our neighbor didn’t sleep and would go in and out of his popup over and over, but whatever. I didn’t sleep but wasn’t mad at the guy. We would stay here again!

I loved it here. Stayed here most of April. It was cold, windy and rainy but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Both my spots were a 1 minute walk to the beach but the lake wasn't visible through the tree line in spot 304. 210 had a view of the lake. Both spots were very level although I could see how on the other side of the 300 row where leveling might be a bit more tricky. There were a few nights we had electrical problems though I'm still not sure if those were on my end or theres even though it's middle of May now and I haven't had a problem since. Staff was friendly if a little talkative. There were picturesque parts of the beach full of rocks and stone and other parts full of sand. Our last night there was on the night of the full moon and the waves were very ocean like. I didn't want to leave and will definitely be heading back.

I would definitely camp here again. We camping in our travel trailer and my sister was tent camping on the same site. Tent and RV allowed on a single camp site for only $25 a night (Illinois Resident rate)

Parking spot for RV was graded gravel but not level, but fairly easy to level the trailer. And very wide for those just learning to backup their trailers.

Only have 30AMP electric at the site, no water or sewer hook ups. There are several water stations to pull you RV to for fresh drinking water. And there is a two lane dump station to empty either on your way in, or mid-stay or on your way out, that also has fresh water for drinking available for refilling your tanks.

We were there first week of October when all sites are first-come first-served. It was pretty empty. In September you could not even get a reservation.

If you need to use the on location bathrooms they were tolerable, but glad we have our own in the trailer.
There has been some flooding due to high lake water levels so some sites are closed.
And the beach facilities are a total disaster from the Walking Dead. Supposedly funding is approved to upgrade/replace, and it is needed. If you are a self contained camper, this place is great. If you are tenting... make friends with your RV owning friends and family!!!