camping close to chicago

[elidodge1]

We would like to visit Chicago in the summer and want to stay on the out skirts and use puplic transit to go to museaums navy pier ect. We are coming from the east coast so would like to stay on that side of town poss I 90 corrider. Thanks Bobby

[jim_isham]

If the OP comes in from the east, on the Indiana Toll Road, they could leave at the Chesterton/Valparaiso Exit and it's 7 miles north to Indiana Dunes State Park.

[dodge_guy]

Yes, but then they would have to deal with the traffic coming in from IN. Being from the Chicago`s NW suburbs and having driven through the south side on the Expressway. I would rather stay in the western or NW suburbs, while still some traffic it`s not near as bad as the south side and everyone funneling down around the lake!

[jaycocamprs]

Since the OP is coming from the east Indiana Dunes would work the best. It’s also where we stayed when we visited the area. South Shore rail is really just outside the park.

[camperpaul]

The three closest campgrounds, serviced by commuter rail are:

Chain o' Lakes SP - Fox Lake station.

Illinois Beach SP - Waukegan station.

Paul Wolff County Park - Elgin station.

See: Metra Rail Website for schedules.

[dodge_guy]

Check out the KOA in Union IL. Also there is Sycamore RV Resort in Sycamore IL. There is also a forest preserve campground in Elgin IL that has electric and water hookup.

The Elgin one is closest to the city. The others are at least an hour or more away. The KOA is close to I90.

[Sue_Bee]

Lauren wrote:
I am not sure that info about Northerly Island is correct. I have contacted them and that area is a concert venue and I was told there are no plans to have an rv park there.

I just pass this on without full knowledge either way.

BTW - when I was growing up Naperville with in the LITTLE Seven high school athletic conference with Geneva! My, how things have changed!

There are no plans to have an RV park on Northerly Island, there is tent camping limited mostly to youth groups, with some slots going to families, there are limited times for camping. The number of "slots" currently are 40, with expansion to 600 planned, but that means # of sites times the number of days available to camp.

[Lauren]

I am not sure that info about Northerly Island is correct. I have contacted them and that area is a concert venue and I was told there are no plans to have an rv park there.

I just pass this on without full knowledge either way.

BTW - when I was growing up Naperville with in the LITTLE Seven high school athletic conference with Geneva! My, how things have changed!

[tatest]

I simply wouldn't camp. Coming in a RV, I would book a decent hotel room in the Miracle Mile area, store the RV near one of the eastern commuter stations (or nearby eastern stop on Amtrak, like Niles or South Bend) and take the train.

From the closest places you can stay in your camper, not only will you lose a lot of time commuting daily, the schedules will mean that you must miss the city night life. That might be OK for D.C. where you are going in to visit public monuments, but cities like Chicago, NYC, San Francisco the night life is a big part of why most people visit, and it helps to stay in the middle of it. London, Paris, Tokyo as well, but you wouldn't be tempted to try visiting by RV, most likely.

It is not cheap, maybe $200-300 a night in Chicago, $300+ in NYC, to be where you need to be for theater and shopping, etc.

Actually, I visit Chicago periodically to get my big city fix, and I don't go by RV at all. Air tickets are a whole lot cheaper than the cost of moving my RV 1600 miles, round trip.

As for big city safety, having lived in Chicago and Beijing, walked the night streets of London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Budapest, it is partly about not getting mixed up in criminal activity, and partly being aware of where you are, and when. For size, many of our mid-size cities (Tulsa comes to mind in my case) have higher rates of robbery and murder, but it still comes down to not messing with the drug dealers, and staying out of gang fights. Even then, half of what happens is family trouble.

[texacokat]

Breaking news! New campground opening Spring 2014 downtown Chicago! Northerly Island, which was the former Meigs Field, has undergone a total restoration to back to nature. Google Northerly Island or Chicago Park District. Reservation system not yet in place.

[Sue_Bee]

The Dunes in and of itself is worth a day or two of exploration, nice beaches, trails, etc. Article here

Just know that you will need to reserve early, spots fill up early.

I think that The Dunes is nicer than the Kane County- Paul Wolff FP from that aspect, although the ride in from the Dunes might be 20 minutes longer. But I would definitely take the train as opposed to trying to drive.

Citypass is a good deal to get into the attractions at the Museum Campus and the Sky Deck at Willis (Sears) Tower.

Insofar as Chicago being a horrible dangerous place, yes, there are neighborhoods that one should avoid, far south side and west side predominantly, and maybe Uptown further north, but in the area between the Museum campus (basically Soldier Field/ Northerly Island) north to North Avenue beach and west to the expressway is where the OP is talking about going, and you're more likely to encounter panhandlers at the Millenium Station exit, or pickpockets along Michigan avenue, or the roving Twittergangs of teens that have popped up in many cities.

[Lauren]

Hey, I loved living in Chicago but I got street smart real quick. And, yes, all major cities have their issues to be sure; not denying that. Further, downtown is where most visitors go and the safest part of town; particularly in daylight hours. I would say downtown is virtually perfectly safe then.

And I am sure that the Chicago newspaper would be perfectly honest in their analysis; we know the news media - Chicago or anywhere else - always lays out the truth. Which is why I did not state the full reports that I have read from several sources that it has the highest crime rate in the nation of any major city.

Would I go back to visit? Would love to as the city offers much. But I would be very careful as I am sure I have forgotten much of what I learned going to engineering school there on the South Side.

Be safe. Happy New Year.

[Snowman9000]

Lauren wrote:
I won't go into the politics here (but I also lived IN Chicago for 4 1/2 years) but it is a very violent town. I only saw one murder though. And I think they have very strict gun laws - tells you how good the laws are.

One of the two newspapers analyzed last year's murders, as to age, race, gang involvement or relatives of, etc. The upshot was that anyone likely to be reading this post would be just fine, as good as any other metro area.

[Itching2go]

jim isham wrote:

earlvillestu wrote:
Indiana Dunes State Park is very close to the Dune Park station of the South Shore Line, which runs trains to downtown Chicago. Also Dunewood Campground of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

X2
Indiana Dunes
Here's a link to the South Shore website.
South Shore
Click on Travel and then ChicagoLand. There you'll see a list of Chicago attractions and how to get to them from Milennium Station downtown.

X3
Your best option by far for seeing the sights, museums, etc. in Downtown Chicago. South Shore takes you right down town. Depending on the time of year, you have free shuttles, water taxi's, or regular taxi's for locations not within walking distance.

[Lauren]

tbred is very accurate with what he says except it is about 42 miles away; and you would definitely not want to drive it - take a train! And, as tbred knows, Elgin is about 12 miles from my hometown of Geneva. I had forgotten about that as we shy away from places that don't take reservations.

[tbred]

Paul Wolff campground, Kane County Forest Preserve. Very nice, clean, well maintained park.Water and elec. hookups, 2 dumpstations onsite. 5 minutes south of I-90, 30 or so miles west of Chicago. Campground is on Big Timber Rd., Metra train station to the city 5 minutes east on Big Timber, easy commute downtown. Only downside is they don't take reservations but a visit originating on a weekday will usually guarantee you a site.

You can check out reviews on rvparkreviews.com, park gets excellent reviews from others that have done what you are looking to do. Water IS very iron rich though, so would recommend a filter.