Shabbona Lake State Park

Pros:
+ nice view of the lake from site 119 and cabins next door with good space between sites
+ well maintained sites with large fire pits
+ camp host was a lovely man
+ camp shower house was clean and well maintained with standard plumbed toilets

Cons:
- the flies were crazy (I know, nothing can be done)
- my site was not level so sleeping was up/down hill no matter how I parked my camper van.
- I work from my van with a great Verizon data plan. The morning was impossible but as the morning fog/dew lifted, I could have Teams calls.
- vault toilets… I opted to use my van toilet.

the park and lake were lovely, however the stress it took to level the campers on the site was a pain. Did all we could and still spent the whole time being 3 degrees off. Very crowded on weekends and the spots are close together. The staff was bit obnoxious asking up to put our cars up when we were still setting up and showing up 2 hours before check out time to tell us to get moving. It's not a ground I would seek out but if i had to be in that area I'd stay there again.

We arrived late and parked. Host stopped by in the morning and was understanding that we didn't pay when we arrived because it was late. We had to leave early in the morning so we didn't get a chance to explore much. This made us sad because it looked beautiful. There were many trees with paths through the trees. My boys would have love to explore. There was not much space or privacy between some sites. Others had lots of space and trees. Some spaces looked like they would take precision to back into. Others had open space that would make it easier for a beginner. Some areas are near the lake with a great view. We did not check out the restrooms since we are avoiding contact during covid.

I teach English online. I could not get a good enough signal to even try to teach any classes, so I will need to plan our next visit when I do not have classes to teach.

We camped a couple of nights with family over a weekend. While the campground was essentially full, it was very pleasant and people settled in during the evening hours without excessive noise or commotion.

As an observation, roughly 3/4's of the sites were occupied by families in tents. This is a reversal of what we've seen in recent years and may be related to the pandemic.

The lake is a big draw for park visitors and while there were a lot of fishermen and boats, we didn't see very many boat trailers in the campground. At least on this particular weekend, those camping and fishing appeared to be different groups.

The campsites all appeared well spaced. The reservable sites were all relatively level. Some of the non-reservable sites on the Teal Bay Circle would be difficult for larger rv's and trailers.

Our particular site had 24 amp power and we kept tripping the breaker even though we ran our refrigerator off propane, didn't use the a/c, microwave, toaster, etc. Some sites do have 50 amp power, but I missed seeing those when making reservations. We survived happily, but encourage you to check when making reservations.

We took a number of long enjoyable walks on the well maintained trails and around the campground.

We rolled in with our 39' Monaco Knight DP on 8/9/2019 and stayed 2 nights and 3 days. $25.00 per night in this wooded state campground. Sites are spacious and, in the Canvasback loop, no screening between sites (other loops had more privacy, but this loop had the best lake views). You will see and hear your neighbors. The only amenity at the site is 30 or 50amp service, ours was 30.

We stayed in site 116. We nosed our rig in for the lake view out the front. Maneuvering around the park was easy and parking was fine, although I saw several bare spots on the tree beside our rig from previous attempts (the tree won).

The sites are well-packed gravel with giant fire rings that were cut from concrete culvert pipe. We would prefer that they were further away from the rig. This site was level, but the area is hilly and leveling could be difficult in some of the sites. Simple toilets and dumpsters were dispersed to each loop.

We had 3 bars of Verizon for phones and our Verizon hotspot kept up easily with all of our devices all weekend.

The lake is beautiful. There is a boat launch and small peer near the Canvasback look, great for our kayak. This loop is on the opposite side of the lake from the main boat launch/restaurant/boat rental/camp store. Surprisingly, each loop has a nice little camp store with basic necessities, bait, and cool treats.

Mowed trails through the rolling hills around the lake were stunning with views through the trees of the lake, grassland meadows, and wildlife. I came around a corner and almost ran into a pair of deer. And there's nothing like the sound of 50 geese landing or taking off at the same time.

We are coming back in a couple weeks bring more family and will try a lake view site from another loop. We also reserved one of their 4-person pontoons for a picnic supper on the lake.

We will definitely stay on site 116 again.

The bathrooms and grounds could have been better maintained, but we were there off season so that might explain it. We came in after dark and both of the campground hosts were out to dinner. We had a hard time finding our campsite and would have appreciated help. However, the park is so beautiful and peaceful that this more than made up for the poor maintenance. Our campsite was on the beautiful lake and the view was just wonderful. We camped at Shabbona Lake State Park in a Motorhome.

This is a nice wooded state park campground that might be appreciated more by people who love to fish.
There are nice long flat walking trails, boat rentals, camp stores, showers and all sites are electric.
There is a lot of Poison ivy so you’re not recommended to go off the trails and the mosquitoes would be a feast if they installed bat houses.
There are plenty of pit toilets and a central bathhouse with flushing toilets.
its close to the suburbs so that’s where most of the campers come from and this place is always booked solid for holidays.
there are three loops. Teal bay is non-reserve /walk up and will require extra effort in some to level a trailer. the best sites are sunny and near the waterfront on the canvas back cove loop.

All that being said, we still have fun and go back frequently.