O'Connell's RV Campground - Thousand Trails

Pros:

Lots of activities for kids.
Large park, 3 pools, 2 lakes.
New RV section has nice wide, long sites.
General store with basics.
Snack shop.
Dirt roads under trees for walking.

Cons:

Weekends are party central for adults.
Lots of loud music, golf carts.
No rules enforcement whatsoever by staff.
Water has iron in it - it stains containers red.

How to be a cool uber bear at this campground:

1) Rent or bring a golf cart.
2) Hold a cigarette and beer in one hand.
3) Hold your cell phone in the other hand.
4) Drive all over the park for no reason.
5) Men - no shirt needed.
6) Drive at least double the speed limit.
7) Do not look up from texting on your cell phone.
8) Blast your music as loud as possible.
9) Other people want to hear your music.
10) Pay no attention to pedestrians.
11) Congrats! You are an official uber bear.

Large pull through sites but tons of permanent campers. About 80%. Golf carts abound on tiny single lane roads. Three pools but all very small and plain and not lighted in evenings. Water slides not connected to any of the pool complexes. Nice bath and shower houses. Nice walking or biking trails around the lake. Absolutely no cell reception. Had to drive 30 mins daily to Dixon to work. Not even the expensive signal boosters my neighbor bought make much difference. Definitely cannot work remotely from here if you have any bandwidth requirements at all. Or need to make phone calls.

Free with our TT membership. This campground has the potential to be amazing. Too many golf carts and cars with drunk drivers and people driving entirely too fast. Especially with so many kids around it’s just not safe at all and the staff drive just as fast so no one enforces the speed limit. Lots of fun for kids and families, peaceful during the week, chaos on the weekends.

This park is part of the Thousand Trails association so we used it as we have a membership. We arrived on a weekend, which we realized would be very busy and it was a madhouse. They rent golf carts to everyone and be aware that nobody follows the speed limit and there is a lot of drunk driving (almost was run down multiple times) This campground is great for families with kids, but full of adult partiers as well. Nobody follows any of the courtesy rules, cutting through your site on golf carts, and ignoring the courtesy rules of keeping the music to appropriate levels. I had to speak to our neighbor about his portable speaker blaring music so loudly that I could hear it inside my closed-up travel trailer.

There are nice trails through the "Outback" primitive tent section, but beware you will be run down by golf carts as people joy ride through the woods and toss their empty solo cups and beer cans everywhere.

We would only return for an overnight stay during the week, and avoid weekends. However, if a rowdy party scene is what you want for your camp experience or lots for kids to do and enjoy, this place might be great for you.

Wifi is through Jabba, pay as you go, and did not work at all for us.

Only stay here if you like tons of people, kids, getting run over by golf carts.
Packed on this weekend, not truly camping experience but social gatherings.
Kids on golf carts run amok!
There was a live band and fireworks tonight, which is nice.
Campfires gave the whole place a fog of smoke.
Grass site, FHU, but had to unhook tow car anyway as hookups at very back which would leave car in middle of road
Lots oof activities for families and kids- it is Yogi Bear
No WiFi

This park spreads across quite a large spot of land. We luckily ended close to the lake and enjoyed the peacefulness of the geese--tons of them--and a heron who seemed to have his spot picked out for breakfast each morning. It seems seasonal/yearly spots make up the bulk of the property, but each section felt like its own campground. Our short-term section emptied out Mondays and got crowded on the weekend with some accompanying noise and dozens of golf carts. The park has many staff members who had many different duties. Probably a hub of teen employment during summers. Several swimming pools, laundry areas (cheap!) and boats to rent. Not very close to anything, but Amboy has gas/groceries, and Dixon, about 1/2 hours has more options. Lots to like and we will return again.

We are Thousand Trails members. If not, I don't think I could justify paying the rates they get at this resort. We were down at the end of the resort. Nice, open, grassy sites. The 1900s and 2000s loop is a little bit bowl shaped so if you're in the middle, your site might flood. We had 2006 on the end but in a heavy rain, 2003 and 2004 completely turned into a pond but were vacant.

The showers and restroom are very good but the showers could use some attention. Dirty walls and floors. There were a couple of showers with tiles broken up pretty badly and unusable. We did not visit the showers in other areas of the park.

Pool was frigid even though daytime temps are still very nice. Hot tub in this end was delightful. Washers and dryers all very good and inexpensive.

Great resort for walking and riding bike around with good roads and lots of places to go. Wal-Mart and Aldi within about 20 minutes for any needs you have.

I worked from my RV every day. AT&T hotspot was GREAT despite being in the middle of corn fields far from I39. T-Mobile was non-existent. They do have a wi-fi for purchase but to get the 10 MbPS down, you have to pay for a month. Daily/weekly rates get you 5 MbPS down.

I'd like to come back here and stay a longer time. Very quiet during the week and staff very busy keeping the grounds clean and repaired.