Hi there Chris, hope you don't mind the personal post, I'm just wondering if you have any good camping spots outside of Chicago ( northwestish) area. I'm planning a road trip, leaving Regina Saskatchewan, through Minneapolis, and on to Chicago... you seem to enjoy the outside, so I was wondering if you had any advice for the first timer in that area.....

Appreciated!!!!!!!! Signed, me, my 85 740 gle and my tent..Regards Josh

Hm... how far from Chicago do you want to stay? If you're looking to stay around the Chicagoland area, I'm at a loss. I don't think there are many good places to camp around there, but I could be totally mistaken. It's just so... big. The nearest camping I know of is in the Rockford area, and Rockford isn't that great. I'm not much of a camper anyway, but I spend a lot of time in parks and state forests and other places like that.

If you're looking for places within easy driving distance of the Northwest suburbs (Schaumburg, Palatine, Barrington, Rolling Meadows, etc), Illinois Beach State Park has camping. They recommend reservations if I'm not mistaken, but the beach--for a suburban beach setting, is fantastic. All sand, and within easy distance of getting to the city and even driving over to the NW suburbs. I guess it depends on where you're staying. Or if you're looking for a place to camp on your WAY to Chicago, try the South Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest in Wisconsin. It's really nice, and you can easily go from the S. Kettle Moraine area to the northwest Suburbs of Chicagoland via Rt. 12, although it's slow. But it DOES deposit you square in the NW suburbs. It is also near the great city of Lake Geneva and also Delavan, WI.

There may be camping near Fox Lake, IL. Another nice area.


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Chris Herbst, near Chicago.

For state park tent camping, we always (20+ years ago) tried to stay clear of the city - way clear - like Lake Le-Aqua-Na or Mississippi Palisades. Was worth the trip from Crystal Lake to bypass Rockford, etc.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Thanks a lot, both of you. I gotta say...getting used to the idea of the SIZE of the american cities is a little dumbfounding... I'll have to work on grasping the concept.

on a sour note, I just picked up a contract to photograph a recording artist in my area by his company in Toronto...so I gotta delay the trip.

Working for yourself has disadvantages, too...

Thanks Again for the advice...Regards, Joshua