We stayed here over Labor Day weekend, so it was busy, as to be expected. The area we stayed in was towards the back, with other 5th wheels, trailers, etc. These sites all had a semi-paved/gravel pad for parking, and ours was fairly level, and they had a permanent awning over the picnic table which was on a concrete pad. This was a nice amenity, but I believe there were only about 10 like ours in the whole campground. The bad part about this area is people were REALLY crammed in, but we didn't mind as we made weekend friends with our camping neighbors. The tent areas seemed to be a bit more spacious however. The campground in general was average on noise. We have twin 6-yr olds, and there were tons of kids for them to play with at the playgrounds. The noise wasn't too bad in our area. Most people turned in around quiet time (10 pm), and I didn't hear many people stir in the morning until at least 8 am. The only thing that was a nuisance was the large quantity of dogs barking at each other, particularly the hound dog across from us that the owners let bark constantly for hours while they were sitting there. The roads looked like they had been paved at one time, but were very old and had turned mostly to gravel. The lake "beach" area was very small, and muddy (not much sand), but the lake also had paddle boats ($6/half-hour), moon bounces ($.50/15 minutes), a floating dock in the middle of the lake, and fishing. The pool was extremely small, but being a cooler weekend, it wasn't very busy at any point. There was a nice area deck next to the pool marked Adults Only, all lounge chairs, and the adults there made it clear to their own kids that they couldn't be up there, which was nice. Although we never used the bath houses, we always check them out to see what they are like in case we decide we want to use them. I would say they are very average, but it was very much like a long mobile trailer that was partitioned in mens and womens. The floor was that of a mobile home- very flexible. You do have to pay for showers (not sure how much), and the cleanliness was OK. I've been to much better campgrounds in this regard. The office staff when I booked by phone the girl was maybe in her teens and seemed very unsure about the reservation and where the site was or what it was like, but I chalk that up to her age. The check-in staff was mediocre, not overly friendly, but they did at least have someone from the staff escort you to your site so you knew exactly where you were without guessing. Trash pick up was daily, but at night. Overall it wasn't bad by any means, but definitely not one of the better ones we've been to so far. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We didn't enjoy our time at this resort because they really do nickel and dime you for every extra. The only free items were the pool and the lake. I felt very bad for the cooped up animals as well, in this day and age I see no reason to have ducks, rabbits and other animals in tiny pens all day, just sitting there unable to fly or walk much. It was sad and unnecessary. I saw no camper even looking at them. Perhaps not the resort's fault but I have never seen so many mosquitos. The kids are covered in bites despite constant applications of insect repellent. Perhaps there is an environmentally friendly way to treat the grounds for mosquitos? We camped here in a Motorhome.

It is an average campground. It is a nice set up, but they nickle dime you to death for everything extra. I also didn't realize that there was no sewer hook up. The pool too small. The bathrooms not the best. Overall an OK place to stay, but I probably will not return. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We stayed here for a weekend, and it rained off and on. The area by the pool had severe drainage problems, and our fire pit would fill up with water. The kids swam a lot: until they closed the pool early. Apparently it was cloudy enough to warrant this. The staff is nice, but they don't move quick. My daughter was stung by a wasp, and when told the reply was, "Yep, they are out there." Also, I accidentally clogged the toilet, and when told they seemed genuinely concerned about this problem. The store closes at 10pm. I went at 9:30 and the doors were locked. I knocked, and the nice girl let me in. she said they lock the doors to clean so they can close by 10pm? We had a good time, lots of laughs. We will go back again next year. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Park is not bad, ifyou have $$$ for the kids to do anything. Everything at park is $$ except the pool and the lake, even the old store front carnival rides are 50 cents. They even charge for showers! Fire wood and ice is half price down the road. The management does seem a bit cold when you have questions, but the work campers are friendly. Feel sorry for the animals they have in their "petting zoo." Over priced for full hook ups which does not include sewer. The seasonal campers all have the external sewage tanks. Not all that bad for a one time stop, but would not go back. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Previous reviews are not great, but my brother stayed here a few weeks ago and recommended the campground. We did not experience others' complaints and enjoyed our stay. We camped over Labor Day weekend: the campground was full, however the staff was friendly, bathrooms kept clean, and noise at night was monitored, but not in an over-bearing manner. This is not a high-end RV resort, but it is a nice family campground. Our kids enjoyed the pond, pool (small but fun for kids) and playgrounds (which were older style equipment and not huge, but still fun). Walking trails through the woods were especially nice for a private campground. Also liked that the permanent sites were in a different part of the campground, so you are surrounded by other 'weekend' campers and not empty trailers. I recommend the regular sites (not the deluxe as they appeared smaller) in the middle of the loops. Avoid sites along the outside as they are long and narrow and designed so that your camper door faces the road and you barely have room to pull out your awning: no privacy in those sites. Tents are welcome in the electric/water sites with the RV's: a bonus for us as we sometimes camp with tenters. There are also tent sites (no electric/water), in another part of the campground, some right along the edge of the pond. Petting zoo is more of a looking zoo: kids still enjoyed walking around and looking at the animals. There were some planned activities through the weekend, and a tractor ride comes around the campground each morning (stops for people around the campground and makes several loops, so you just hop on at your site, and hop off again when you're ready). Overall, we had a very pleasant camping experience. We've been looking without much success, for a campground within an hour of our home for quick weekend trips, and I think we've finally found it! We will definitely be back again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We were disappointed in Happy Acres Kampground. We reserved a Deluxe site and found the site only had water and 30 amp hookup. The "deluxe" site came with a cement slab for the picnic table. The area for our trailer was sunken so low, we had difficulty cranking our stabilizers up and down. The swimming pool is advertised as heated, but was incredibly cold. The bathrooms were dirty (floors muddy, toilets not cleaned, towels not stocked). The showers are pay-showers. We were very disappointed with the customer service of the staff. They were terse and did not like asking questions when you went to ask a question or purchase something in the store. The mini-zoos were not kept up well and the peacocks and roosters (which are situated right next to campsites) squawked and crowed LOUDLY at around 5:30 every morning. Not exactly a relaxing time to sleep in. The biggest disappointment was we saw signs everywhere with dozens of posted rules, but none of them were ever enforced. For example, there were rules for no running or rough play at the pool, no food or beverages at the pool, adults only in the "adult relaxation area", and quiet times were 10 pm. We clearly observed severe infractions of all these rules, and they were never addressed by the staff, even when they were in plain site of it. The price we paid for our stay, $42 a night, was excessive compared to the cleanliness and supervision of the campground. We will not return. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Our kids had a good time here. The pool is small, but nice and clean. The playground is dated, our kids still had a blast. The open area field allowed them to play games after dark. Our site was easy to get into, and it was clean. Staff seemed friendly, even though it was hectic. The downside was a lot of mosquitos! They must not spray, and the lake was a Chicago river St. Pats color. We will visit again in 2010. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

We stayed with our friends that live nearby and thought it would be good as they have younger: 4 and 6 year old kids. The fee for basic 20amp electrical and water was a high $36 per night per family. They double booked us on the same site for $72 per night. Neighbors were way too noisy and drunk after 11PM, then very argumentative and cursing in the middle of the night, 3AM. Camp patrol only went around once at 10:30PM, but they argued with them as well. The next day, the front office said we had to call them when it was happening for them to do anything about it. Mosquitos were terrible, worst I've ever seen camping. I think the swampy ponds were growing them. Also, visitors are charged entrance fees. We had friends stop by at 8PM: they were charged $5 per person to stay a couple hours at the campfire. The three pay shower areas and bathrooms were dirty, not very centrally located and way too small for the amount of people and sites. Our site (#35) had electricity and water, but the water hook-up was about 50 feet away from our pop-up. The fire pit was below ground level and easily tripped into. I love dogs, but there were alot of them, barking. Seemed way over-crowded with tons of cars and people. The sites are too close to each other and there are too many people. We would not recommend this campground and will stick to state parks. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

Our rating is low primarily because of cost and the attitude of the office staff. This is a great campground if you have kids and want lots of activities for them. If you don’t, it has a number of disadvantages. The cost is high for what you get. Without any discounts (we got a Camp Club discount for weekdays – it doesn’t apply on weekends) for $42 a night you get water and 30 amp electric. They do pick up trash at your site, which is good because there are only two dumpsters (at one location) and they were overflowing the couple of times we went there. Visitors are charged $5 for adults and $2.50 for children, but are allowed to use the pool and other amenities. There are three shower houses, one apparently intended to accommodate the tent sites and the other two on opposite corners of the very large property – it could be a long walk depending on where your site is. There’s only one laundry, with two washers and two dryers; the washers are $2 a load and the dryers $1.50. We found the people in the office to be curt and, although not exactly unfriendly, not particularly welcoming and helpful. Finally, the fire pits are sunken, without anything around them above ground, which I think is a hazard, especially in the dark when it would be easy to fall in them if you were walking through a site without lights on. They do have wi-fi if you’re near the office, but we didn’t use it so we don’t know how good or reliable it is. We would stay here again if we had to be in the area and couldn’t find anyplace else, but would not choose it if another alternative was available. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We've camped with Happy Acres for many, many years and generally enjoy the campground. They do offer many kid friendly activities and the sites are huge and grassy. The biggest downfall of this campground is like other reviewers have stated, the staff. The staff is for the most part family and though some are courteous at best, there are a few that are just rude, short and self proclaimed important - in particular one of the grandsons of the owners. In recent years we've witnessed them kick other long time campers out for very minor violations and the concept of customers first has been lost along the way. Their prices have been raised to higher then other nearby campgrounds that offer just as good to better amenities without the attituds and though we've been longtime campers here - we will be spending our money elsewhere. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

Campground does not have sewer connections. They send a tank around to pump out the RV tank once a week. (Maybe two if you complain) We were lead to believe that they had full hook-up sites. (This site also indicated sewer) We think they believe that the pump service makes it a FHU. We were in a deluxe site. Big rig beware there are very few sites that will handle you. We could not park the truck without being in the road at our site parking across the site. It is considered a pull through but we could not negotiate the turn because of trees. Had to back into site behind us to get out. The picnic table is in concrete and cannot be moved out of the sun, however there may be some tree shade at certain times of the day. We had to pay extra for guest (grandkids) and the shower was a pay shower. I would not stay there again. That said, if you have kids and do not need better sewer service I would recommend this campground. There are lots of activities for kids to do. Also, the campground has beautiful grounds, some great sites for pop up units. There is some dust from the roads but not to bad. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Under new management. Bath houses were spotless and well maintained. Variety of wooded to sunny spots. We were near the pool. Very nice shady spot. Quiet times enforced. Staff very cordial and helpful. Well stocked little store - pricey but to be expected. Amazing albino peacocks in petting zoo. We brought our own wood in so it was free. My first "camping" experience and we had a great time. Will be going back. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This was my first time camping in at least 20 years. I picked this location, due to it's proximity to suburban Chicago (about 45 minutes north of my home) and because I was traveling with my 5 year old nephew and in their website, they really push "the family concept". We had a pull through site which made set up easy for my rental trailer. The restrooms/showers were clean, although I had to pay a minimal fee to use the shower ($.50 for a good 15 minutes). There was plenty to do for my nephew and he made friends with the other kids quickly. There is a small swimming pool and 2 fishin' holes, one with a very small beach for swimming and paddle boat rental, the other strictly for fishing. In the larger, we caught several (very) small bluegill in about an hour. Not really entertaining for me, but my nephew had a blast, no matter how big the fish were. Also, no license was needed since we were on private property (wish I knew that ahead of time). They also have a mini golf course and a small camp store. There is a large supermarket nearby with plenty of restaurants from fast food to casual sit down in case you get tired of hot dogs. In all, we enjoyed it (of course it's no Fort Wilderness!) but most likely won't go back simply because I would like to try as many different places as possible. I would recommend it though... We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

Went here with my kids because their website emphasizes the 'family' aspect of their campground. Well, we had to contended with a lot of rowdy drunk seasonal campers. I finally called the front office at 3am to complain. The owner (an older guy) said he'd check into it, but never did. The bathrooms were filthy, the swimming hole was swampy, unkept, and dirty. And, I had called in advance to check on their fire policy because my kids love having a fire. When we arrived, they had ran out of firewood! The girl at the desk told me her parents were seasonal campers there and I could buy firewood from them. Yep, $15 a stack. This place is owned by an elderly couple who obviously no longer have the energy to maintain anything. We camped here in a Tent.

This was the seventh campground we stayed at this year. It was by far the worst one. The sites were difficult at best to back into because of trees along both sides of most sites and narrow roads with vehicles parked along them. It did not appear that the restrooms and showers were cleaned on any regular basis. Despite quiet hours being at 10 pm, loud music and barking dogs continued until the early morning each night. This could be a great place. However, without substantial improvements, I would not recommend this campground to anyone. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Very nice park. Plenty to keep the kids entertained. Several nice playground areas, 2 small lakes with swimming in one, nice pool, animals to feed (goats, horses, llamas, emu, peacock, ducks, turkey) The staff goes the extra mile to be helpful and welcoming. Would stay there again if close to the area. Not too far from Chicago. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.