South Metro Chicago area camping

[Lothlorian]

Sometime within the next 6 months I will be visiting relatives in the Joliet, Il, and Frankort Il area. I have searched for a good campground closet to joliet and Frankfort and have not come up with much. We want to stay close to those areas. I checked out Starved Rock which is 60 miles away, Windy city campground and beach in Tinley park, Kankakee Il, Empress Casino campgrounds, the race track campgrounds, and a new one that is off of I-80 and I-55. I pretty much covered the list. Martins Campground has become an estate sale so that is out. They are either to far away, to expensive, or you need to belong to a RV club they recognize.

The best one I have found so far is the Empress Casino. I was wondering is there any place I can be missing. We want to stay close to relatives and parking at their houses is out of the question because of codes and ordinances. I may just join an RV travel club recognized by the campground off of I-80 and I-55. I could not find any information on the Tinley park campground. My farmer buddy I grew up no longer has his farm.

Now I know one of the reasons I moved away after I graduated from college. Not much going on with camping around there.

Any ideas?

Brian

[loudruff]

We have camped at Kankakee SP. It is a nice little place and scenic. But they closed and LOCK the gates at the times stated on their site....and they ARE PUNCTUAL! It is locked, locked, locked! If you get locked out you have to wait for the ranger to make his rounds. Ask me how I know! LOL!

[Becky B.]

The campground in Tinley Park is right on I80. You can see it from the expressway. I don't think it would be a nice camping experience there. The "beach" is a little pond.
If you're looking into going as far away as Kankakee, look into Indiana Dunes State Park. It's a beautiful campground and it is part of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Your relatives would probably love to come visit YOU there!

[memgrove2000]

Ah yes the Indiana Dunes state park IS nice... And there is a train you can run into the city on. The "South Shore" commuter train station is just outside of the park.

[Lothlorian]

Thanks for your information. I did the miles on google earth and discovered Kankakee state park is 24 miles from my wife's folks. That is where we will probably will stay. Indiana dunes is something I may check out. I checked on the park on the Internet. Looks really nice.

Brian

[nswhite]

The Tinley Park campground is out of business.

[Lucy815]

I live in the Joliet area and would suggest camping at the Empress Casino on Route 6; the campground is also easy to access off of I-80, south on Houbolt Avenue, tees into Route 6, turn left, then right at the light at casino entrance. The entire Empress area has active security as well as mounted cameras. KKK SP is a beautiful place while only 24 miles as the crow flies south of the Manhattan/Frankfort area, it is a jaunt and a bit out of the way. Enjoy your stay