We are heading to the Chicago area in July and need somewhere to stay. We have looked for a decent campground for months. I have been reading reviews on the ones that are somewhat close and none of them are good. Our husbands are going to the race in Joliet at the same time so we would like something in between or at least within an hour driving distance for one of us. We would like somewhere with full hookups because we are staying a week with all of our girls. Any suggestions?

Hi Speck,

I have addressed this question a few times in the past. You've obviously done your homework and discivered there is a lack of quality fullservice RV parks in the Chicago area. Based on the info in your post, I think your best bet is probably the KOA south of Kankakee, IL. As a family campground it should have things (pool, playground, etc.) to keep your girls busy at the park. As a travel hint, I would suggest taking I-57 north to exit 322 and cut over to US 45/52 to get to Joliet. Stay on 52 when it splits off from 45. It is a much shorter route than taking I-57 to I-80 and going west to Joliet. As I remember, you pass the Chicagoland Speedway on 52 south of Joliet. You should be able to make the trip in less than an hour - US 45/52 from exit 322 is mostly 2 lane through farmland.

Jerry,

Thanks for the travel tip.

I have seen this asked several times and it looks like someone needs to open a decent campground towards that direction! I will check out the KOA up there.

Do you happen to know of a train or something that will go from the Kankakee area to Chicago?

Speck

Speck,

I don't have any first hand knowledge about any commuter trains from Kankakee to Chicago. I'd suggest looking for a city of Kankakee website to see if they have any regular train service to Chicago. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of daily train - I know there is regular service from Chicago north (Milwaukee), east (South Bend, IN), and west (Auror, IL). Since Kankakee is closer than a couple of those cities, I would think they would also have train service. Good Luck with your search.

Martin's Campground is in Joliet--did you eliminate that one from consideration for some reason?

It's not a resort or anything, and the noise from the interstate is noticeable, but as you found, it's pretty slim pickings in the Chicago area. Pretty much nothing in the way of amenities--we used it as a home base.

We stayed there a year ago for one week and went into Chicago on four of those days. We took the METRA train from the New Lenox station, which is a few miles from the campground. It's not a short trip into town, but since you'd like to be near the Speedway, too, it's quite well located for your purposes. And there's nothing closer to Chicago anyway, so you might as well be close to the Speedway.

Oh, wait, I just read the reviews. It's really not that bad. Here's a photo You can see the front of our motorhome between the trees, and from there, the noise from the interstate wasn't enough to disrupt sleep.

Our motorhome did get to swaying due to the holes in the road, but the site was fine and despite looking like it's sitting on a hill, leveling wasn't an issue. Hookups worked fine.

I read in one of the reviews that the place is for sale, which is a shame because it's a decent option for the area. We chose it over Leisure Lake down the road, which is some sort of membership place open to Passport America or something. It's much more of a resort, if you're interested in that. But we had trouble getting someone to answer the gate phone and just didn't get a good vibe once we got in and drove around. Also, most of the sites available to us were water/electric only, although they do have a honey wagon service and there were a lot of long-term looking rigs in W/E only sites.

These are EXCELLENT times for a 1 day trip to Chicago. $18.00 is cheaper than parking in downtown Chicago and a LOT LESS STRESS!!!!


Kankakee, IL (KKI) To Chicago - Union Station, IL (CHI)
Select Service Departs Arrives Duration Amenities Seats/
Rooms
58 City Of New Orleans
Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
7:13 am
12-JUN-09 Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
9:00 am
12-JUN-09 1h 47m Dining car, Lounge, Onboard wheelchair ramp Seats Sold Out - Select Other Option

$18.00 390 Saluki
Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
10:15 am
12-JUN-09 Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
12:00 pm
12-JUN-09 1h 45m Snack car 1 Reserved Coach Seat


$18.00 392 Illini
Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
9:00 pm
12-JUN-09 Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
10:45 pm
12-JUN-09 1h 45m Snack car 1 Reserved Coach Seat




Chicago - Union Station, IL (CHI) To Kankakee, IL (KKI)
Select Service Departs Arrives Duration Amenities Seats/
Rooms
$18.00 391 Saluki
Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
8:15 am
12-JUN-09 Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
9:22 am
12-JUN-09 1h 7m Snack car 1 Reserved Coach Seat


$18.00 393 Illini
Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
5:05 pm
12-JUN-09 Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
6:12 pm
12-JUN-09 1h 7m Snack car 1 Reserved Coach Seat


$18.00 59 City Of New Orleans
Chicago, IL
- Union Station
(CHI)
8:00 pm
12-JUN-09 Kankakee, IL
(KKI)
9:23 pm
12-JUN-09 1h 23m Dining car, Lounge, Onboard wheelchair ramp 1 Reserved Coach Seat

Jojolima:

I applaud you for the time and effort you put into posting all that Chicago/Kankakee train information.

Dbnck:

Last year I when I saw the review of Martin's mentioning it being for sale, I sort of crossed it off my list of potential Chicago area RV parks. After seeing your post I googled Martin's but could come up with nothing other than the "general" park websites like this one and Woodalls as hits. I don't know if they are still open as an RV park. Even if available, there seems to be a lack of things for kids to do at this park.

As for Liesure Lake Membership Resort, the use of the word "membership" implies that the general public is not allowed. I have viewed the website in the past and recently checked it again - it is unclear to me what you have to be a member of to stay there. Again, even if you can stay there, the lack of sewers is a negative for a week-long stay.

Even with the longer "commute", I still think the Kankakee KOA is Speck's best choice considering the kids.