This is the second year that we have camped on site of the Chicagoland Speedway for the summer race weekend in July. Check in begins on Wednesday at noon before the race weekend. We arrived at 7:00 pm on the first day of check in and had no problem getting checked in. The process was very speedy. You must have the decals sent from the track affixed to the front windshield of the tow vehicle and the other on a window of your trailer. Once arriving at the campground entrance gate we were greeted again and given two welcome packets filled with advertisements and information and nice little gift. We had no problems finding our spot as they are all are clearly marked. We had plenty of room with our 32 foot trailer on one spot and our friends 24 foot on the other. They do offer a potable water service that costs $40 per service and you must purchase tickets in advance for the service. The ticket tent is easily located at the front of the campground. The waste management trucks travel throughout the campground throughout the day for those wishing to use their service. The portable toilets were way cleaner this year than past years. However there could be more throughout the campground. They did not have enough toilets in my opinion. The shower truck was very nice and clean. The only problem with the shower truck is that it is open from 6:00 am until noon and then again from 6:00 pm until midnight. A bib line started to form from 7:30 am and you could end up having to stand in line waiting for a shower for 25+ minutes. They have great water pressure and are hot instantly. They are not timed so you can shower as long as you wish thus the problem of the long line! Overall the campground is very clean and well kept. Noise was minimal but to be expected being at the races. I totally recommend staying at this campground. We will be coming back again next year! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Not a bad campground: sites are a combo of concrete and gravel. Kind of high $$ for what you get. No amenities to speak of except a free shuttle to the casino. Close to the interstate. Good spot to overnight. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
A nice campground with large sites, clean facilities, located a few miles from both I-80 and I-55. They don't have sewer hookups, possibly to limit stays (this is a casino campground), but they do have a dump station. The dump, however, is the worst design I've seen. The sewer hose has to drop down to ground level, then back up and over a cement trough wall. Then down through a steel grate into a pipe at the bottom of the trough. Then, the trough has to be rinsed out with a faucet nearby (you need to provide the hose), but the pipe is about 1/4 inch above the bottom of the trough, so it never completely rinses, if you get my drift! Finally, water collects around the outside of the trough, so you have to walk through it to get at your valves. This whole set-up could use some re-thinking. Other than this, however, it was a nice short-term stopover. They have a shuttle you can call to take you to the casino. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We spent one night here. It is very convenient from I-80. We do not really recommended for a family to stay any length of time because the only thing there was the casino. We would stay for the night again as a stop-over. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The park was close to train station in Joliet (about 6 miles from RV park) for easy access to Chicago without the hassle of driving into the city. I was disappointed to find out that no sites have sewer hook-ups. The dump station provided is the worst design ever and would not advise staying at this park for long stays that require use of the dump station. Within walking distance to casino and during the summer months there is a water park opened next to the RV park. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Nice wide concrete sites with paved roads and grass between. Park has a convenient dump station as there are no sewer hook ups. Pull through sites for the most part are not shaded but several other sites are. There is good security but we did not see a casino shuttle. There is a water park next door for the kids. The weekends get crowded but it's fairly quiet during the week. We got a good Verizon signal and satellite TV dome access. It appears the cable wire is not working. Restrooms and laundry were clean. GPS did not seem to recognize Empress Drive and wanted to send us further out on I-80 than necessary. We would camp here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The sites were decent sized, but most had no shade. There is no sewer hook up, but there is a dump station. They are also lacking cable TV. The people working there were very nice, and the casino's security patrol regularly drove through. A decent park overall, probably best used as an overnighter. We would probably stay there again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Argosy's Empress Casino RV Park is barely passable as a stop going west to east around the south park of Chicago. We wanted to stay two days and move out on Sunday morning but after one night we decided to leave (and found that traffic was just fine on Saturday morning). We got up early and were ready to roll when I waited at the locked office which said it opened at 7. When no one arrived I walked over to the hotel and complained I had not received my credit card receipt since "it is given at check-out". The reply is that the RV office is really not yet staffed after winter break. I suggested a sign would be helpful for campers. If there is any rain, this park becomes very muddy and the restrooms degrade in cleanliness. There is no sewer, nor cable nor internet. It is high-priced for value received but it is really the only public park in the area. We would not stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
A bit different. Sites had NO Sewer hookups (reason for 7 rating. Concrete pad level with grass between. Office closed Tues and Weds (strange) Helpful people. Restrooms clean. Walk to casino (but not on hot days). We camped here in a Motorhome.
The Oasis Campground and the Empress Casino Campground are one and the same despite being in different locations on Streets and Trips. It's a good thing they had an open space, because Oasis was my "backup" for the night if the Empress was full. The spaces are short, so we had to disconnect the truck. The casino is about a 15 minute walk from the central area of the campground. They ask if everyone in your party is over 21 when you check in, but there were a couple of trailers with kids here. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
I somehow forgot to review this park earlier this year when I was reviewing the 30+ parks I visited last year. I just stayed here for the umpteenth time over the years last week on my way home from my spring southern trip. As noted in other reviews, there are cement pads, W&E hookups, and showers but little else. No cable, no WIFI, no recreational area, and, the last time I asked, the hotel pool was not available to the RV guests. Unless you are for the casino, there is no reason to stay more than 1 night. $30 is a lot for just W&E and a cement pad. I only use it because it usually makes my trip through Chicago on Sunday morning hassle free. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Large concrete pad adjacent to the Empress casino. Has a shuttle van. You have to be 21 or older to stay and/or visit. Easily accessible to Joliet and if you like to gamble, not much more to do there. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This is a quiet and well maintained park with good security. The sites have plenty of space as well. Near to the intersection of I-55 and I-80. It is a 1 hour drive to downtown Chicago. Allow more time during rush hours. It is about 4.5 miles to the Metra train station with service to downtown and points in between. Also there is a laundry room at the bath house. The staff has always been very helpful. We stay here 2-3 times a year. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
An OK park. Fair interior roads and pads, gravel and grass sites. A good place for casino goers, not much else there. Nothing very close either. Many casino RV resorts have paved sites and pads with 1st class amenities. This is more like state park level of accommodations. No bad, not resort like either. Was clean, neat and secure. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We stayed here 5 nights. The restroom/shower was spotless when we arrived, but was never cleaned in 5 days. Cable TV has only a few local channels. Park was very quiet and security was quite good. Compared to Windy City campground this place
is a 5 star resort. There is a dump station that requires a bit of concentration to negotiate. Sites can be comped as mentioned by another camper. We will stay here again as we go to Chicago often aand this is the nicest place we have found so far. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Review Rating
[ 8 / 10 ]
2000
$14
Pool is at hotel next door. Site can be comped. Very nice park close to casino but on a hill and isolated from traffic and noise. Level, large pull thrus easily handling 40' 5th and toter with landscaping between sites. Clean laundry room We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This campground has a nice, friendly staff. The beach is a little dirty, but it is nice for the children to play in the sand. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This private membership campground does accept Passport America and Camp Club USA members. Roads are gravel and somewhat narrow. Sites are gravel and grass, and long enough for most rigs. No cable, and I could not get network stations with the antenna. My site was satellite-friendly. Wifi only available in the office and worked fine. Campground is next to the intersection of two interstates so noise can be a problem. Our site was in an area furthest from the highways so it wasn't too bad. Many amenities which we could have used as guests. This is a large park so getting around could be an issue if you can't walk or don't want to use a vehicle. Many regulars have golf carts. Directions to the park were good and important, as there is a lot of road work going on in the area. Rate was based on a combination weekly/daily rate as we were there more than a week. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Large park with lake to fish or swim in. Large sites with lots of trees. We only stayed one night, but would stay longer. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Campground is built around the lake created from a dirt borrow pit when they built I80 and I55 interchanges. There was some truck noise from the interstate but was not excessive. This is primarily a membership park but does take guests. We were there for 3 weeks, it was the closest rv park to friends we were visiting in the Chicago area. Manager is very helpfull and is a hands on working manager, putting in long days, most every day. Wifi is available in the office for a fee as is fishing in the lake. Other amenities are included with site, pool and sand beach swim lake, basketball, mini golf. Ice and some rv items available in the office. We will stay again when in the area. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Park just opening for season and still a little rough, but nice. Mike the manager was very helpful. We got caught in a detour due to a large accident on the freeway and delayed several hours. Mike patiently waited 3 hours past his office closing time to assist us when we got in. Didn't stay in the park much, went into Chicago and saw a Cubs game and the city. Facilities were dated but very clean. Had a pull through site with full hookups, glad I purchased extra hose and electric cord, as these were a little distance from sight and shared. Overall a great experience with Mike's help. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 4 / 10 ]
August 2008
$22
Very large park with nice grassy and treed sites. Large pool, swimming lake and fishing lake, complete with Canadian goose and what they leave behind. 30 amp only, and the FHU sites seemed to be used by seasonal and member camping only. Restrooms, showers and buildings in deplorable condition. Laundry room is terrible with 10-15 year old washers and dryers that showed their use. Had a sign posted that said iron in water will turn your whites yellow. We went into town for laundry and would not use restrooms or showers. This could be a very nice park with some upgrades to above. Located next to a cloverleaf of two major highways making it very noisy 24 hours a day. We will not stay here again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We stayed here for a month. The beach is nice, but it should have its water drained every once in awhile. The pool was freezing. The website says it has a heated pool but I do not believe it is working. The pond is located in the middle of the park and includes lots of fish. Very pleasant place to stay. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
A very well kept campground with many thinks to do for the whole family, including a large stocked fishing lake. My gravel pad was a little out of level and pushed my MH to its limits to level. I was not able to get a full hookups site because adjoining pads share the same electrical and water posts. I needed a long 30 amp extension cord to get a sight that had sewage. They could not provide an extension. Finally, the latest Garmin GPS could not find the place because of street changes. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is a Passport America resort. You need to follow the directions in the PA directory to get here as it is difficult to find, but worth it. Our campsite had a concrete pad, full hook-ups, 50 amp and partial shade. Resort is clean and well maintained. Staff was very friendly. Would definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We had a blood-pressure raising experience just trying to get into this park. Getting to the park requires careful navigation. When we arrived at the front gate, we pressed the intercom button to ask for admittance, but there was a malfunction and we received a busy-signal type sound. When I used my cell phone to call the office to ask for admittance, the manager (Mike) answered the phone and was very rude. He agreed to open the gate, but did not. When I called back, he yelled at me to use the intercom and then hung up on me. We were rescued by a very nice young woman from the office who walked out and opened the gate. She was so pleasant we chose to overlook the manager's behavior. The park is located at the intersection of two interstate highways which makes it extremely noisy if you are parked on the periphery. It does have nice facilities and is reasonably close to a Camping World and Chicago. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Sites are grass and gravel with a cement pad for the RV and picnic table. Well over half the spaces had unoccupied RVs on them. Almost all of those were well-maintained. They were big sites, although getting in to some of them with a 40-footer without driving on the grass was difficult. Park is well maintained. 214 sites; 101 have water/electric (30 amp) only. Most of those 101 sites with no sewer appeared to be seasonals. Two playgrounds for kids. Bathrooms and showers were clean and private. Clearly, March is the off-season. We were there during some heavy rains, and the grass parts of the sites were somewhat muddy. The staff appeared to be preparing the park for the busy season. It's across the road from a freeway and when the wind is right there is a lot of traffic noise, especially on the "Homestead" side of the park. We would happily stay there again, especially since the guy at the desk said we could use two 30-amp connections. With our cheater box, we could run both heat pumps as well as other appliances. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This was the first stop on our trip West. It was a Passport America Campground and a very nice park. The grounds appeared to be well kept. We were given a site with no sewer but it was a level cement pad. The washrooms and showers were clean but dated. The campground has a fairly large clubhouse which was being used on this day for a wedding. There are two bodies of water. One is a small lake for fishing etc and the other is a swimming pond. The park also has a swimming pool. Some seasonal sites as well. We would return to this park even for a few days to check out the area We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
I would like to make you aware of a horrible experience I had at Leisure Lake. This past Saturday I went to Leisure Lake in Joliet, Illinois to spend the night for some tent camping. When I showed up with my guests, I informed the gentleman at the front desk that we were planning on spending the day there and wanted to pay for one night of camping plus the additional fees for my additional guests. I had called the day before and was told that it would be $20 per night with 4 free guests and $4 for each additional guest. My party included a total of 4 adults with 5 children. Well as soon as the man at the front desk saw us he said that he shouldn't be letting us in, we had too many cars (3) and the park was for members only and not to be used for spending a day at the campground. I informed him that I had called the day before to make sure it would be okay and was told that it would be okay, at that he slams my passport of America card on the desk and yells at me and my guests to get the hell out of there. He says that I had spoken to him the day before and he never told me that it was okay to spend the day at his campground, he said that I could only camp there if I had a trailer and no other way. I told him that we had tents and would be camping in tents but he refused to listen to me and threatened to call the police if we didn't leave. He was not aware that one of my guests was a Cook County Sheriff and witnessed the entire event. Not wanting to make a scene my guests and I left the campground very disappointed. I do not know what bothered this man that made him throw us out. About a month earlier my family and I went to Leisure Lake and purchased the Passport Of America there and spent the weekend there. We were so impressed with the campground that we thought it would be okay to take some friends so they can see and enjoy their facilities. My one guest, the Cook County Sheriff, is in the process of purchasing a travel trailer and was anxious to see their facilities but was disappointed with how we were treated. We camped here in a Tent.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
September 2004
$18
This is our 2nd visit to this membership park, (Coast to Coast, etc. ) and we really enjoy it. The first time through was in early spring and while the park is open year round some of the sites and bathrooms didn't have water... but it was quiet! This last time, was great. Wide sites, plenty of grass and shade. A great little pond to fish in and seasonal activities. It was a great place to unwind for a few days. I'm not sure about price. As a Coast-to-Coast member it was $8 a day and we could extend beyond the 7 day max. We would definately return. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This campground is for sale to settle an estate. As a consequence, no one really cares about the niceties of making you feel as though you would like to return. It is way over-priced for what is offered and you will find no bargains here. Grass is on the long side where I parked but they were mowing out on the flats today. Weekly rate is $4.00 off the daily rate for 7 days: whoopee! I find that the road noise from the I-80 is tolerable: I have stayed in places where the road noise was far worse. I'm here to visit family and friends before heading south for the winter. It will do in a pinch but I'm afraid this place is history because the "For Sale" sign mentioned acreage... not an RV Park... for sale. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Noisy, unkempt, did I mention horrible traffic noise. Not to worry, it will be gone by next year as the place is up for sale and the commercial expansion in the area will probably swallow it up quickly, just as Tinley Park was. The Casino down the road had a fire in March/April? and it is no longer open. There are virtually no choices in the Chicago area to park and visit family there. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The Interstate noise is terrible. The driveway into the park is full of chuckholes-about 6" deep. When we arrived the grass had not been cut for a long time. While there, they did get out a lawn mower and gave it a lick and a promise. If we return to Joliet we will find another park We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
I rated only a seven only because it does not offer all the usually amenities of newer campgrounds. However all services were very much up to date with 50 Amp full hook up sites available in quantity. It is located just off exit 134 and a mile east on I 80 frontage road. A little close to highway and does offer some noise but is an oasis in Chicagoland where full hookup sites are not readily available within 33 miles. This is a great overnight stop. We camped here in a Motorhome.