If you want to go camping around Romeoville, Illinois, you’ll find many places to pitch your tent or cozy up in a cabin or lodge. Our Crème de la Crème team shares some of the best choices around Romeoville.

Camp Bullfrog Lake

Tent by Henry Burrows is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0

For a waterfront camping experience, make your way to Camp Bullfrog Lake, where there’s camping all year round, recreation on the water such as kayak rentals and fishing, and other group activities. You can set up your campsite amid the Palos preserves, steps away from the water. In addition, at this site, you can enjoy mountain biking, hiking, and birdwatching. Explore the camp at 9600 Wolf Road in Willow Springs.

Hollywood Casino Hotel and RV Resort

Head to Hollywood Casino Hotel and RV Resort for RV camping, dining, and gambling. The casino boasts 1,000 slot machines and 18 table games. Adults can enjoy playing on the 50,000-square-foot gaming floor. Try your luck at more than 1,100 reel slots, video slots, and progressive slots, including the area’s most penny slots. The casino also has an exciting selection of table games, including roulette, craps, blackjack, and more. You can also play the best video poker in the area.

The resort offers RV park camping with 80 slots available, or if you want to stay in slightly more comfortable surroundings, you can book a room in the hotel. Dine at one of four on-site restaurants when you want to take a break from the action. Choose from among the Final Cut Steakhouse, 99 Hops House, Take Two Deli, or the VIP Lounge. Find all the fun at 777 Hollywood Boulevard in Joliet.

Blackwell Forest Preserve

The Blackwell Forest Preserve has 1,366 acres to explore. The preserve offers family and youth group camping, archery, fishing, picnic shelters, an off-leash dog area, and more. The forest contains hilly, gently rolling terrain, including hickory and oak woodlands, grasslands, prairies, and wetlands, home to various native wildlife. Some of the animals and birds you can expect to see within the forest preserve are red foxes, coyotes, wild turkeys, deer, muskrats, great blue herons, and bald eagles.

Blackwell also includes the McKee Marsh, which has vernal ponds and trails throughout the area. The marsh is home to species such as the northern leopard frog breed. Bird species foraging in the area include the solitary sandpiper, blue-winged teal, and the wood duck. Enjoy boating and stand-up paddleboarding at the preserve. There’s a compass course, and guests can enjoy snow tubing and snowshoes to travel along the trails in the winter.

The preserve also has the Urban Stream Research Center, which houses an aquatic conservation program. Visit Blackwell Forest Preserve at 3S580 Naperville Road in Wheaton.

Leisure Lake Membership Resort

For family and RV camping, head to Leisure Lake Membership Resort at 21900 SW Frontage Road in Joliet. You can opt for a year-round camping membership or a day-use membership. When you explore Leisure Lake, you’ll discover organized activities such as live entertainment and dances. Amenities include a 2-acre sand bottom swimming lake, a swimming pool, a 24-acre stocked fishing lake, free Wi-Fi, and a convenience store.

Channahon State Park

You can also visit Channahon State Park, where the DuPage, Des Plaines, and Kankakee rivers join. The park offers only primitive tent camping. Pitch your tent in the camping area, which includes grills, picnic tables, and fire rings. A drinking fountain and pit toilets are a short distance from the camping area. Plus, go canoeing, fishing, and embarking on hiking trails. 

Obtain a camping permit from the information center to camp at the park. Discover Channahon State Park at One Natural Resources Way in Springfield.

Camp Sullivan

An iconic red barn welcomes visitors to Camp Sullivan. The barn is also a bustling spot with a climbing wall and is home to other activities. Groups can rent bunkhouses or camp in areas offering more privacy tucked within the woods. There are also cabins available and ADA-accessible lodging. Camp Sullivan provides access to the Tinley Creek trail system, making it a prime location to explore nature. If you want to camp but want to avoid investing in gear, ask about gear rentals for individuals, families, groups, and group leaders.

If you’re interested in leading a camping group, you can take the Camping Leadership Immersion Course. CLIC’s goal is to use camping to help connect community groups and other mission-based organizations with the Forest Preserves of Cook County. If you’re new to camping, check out Camping 101, a free hands-on workshop that teaches basic camping skills. The topics included are tent setup, camping fun, campfire cooking, dressing for camping, camping etiquette, and more. Look for Camp Sullivan at 14630 Oak Park Ave. in Oak Forest.

McKinley Woods

The nature preserve McKinley Woods encompasses 525 acres. It’s devoted to preserving diverse habitats, including forest, prairie, wetland, and a portion of the Des Plaines River. The preserve is home to wildlife, including the queen snake and 99 different bird species, such as the bald eagle, cedar waxwing, and purple martin.

Part of the nature preserve, Frederick’s Grove, has four primitive campsites available for group or family rental. Each camp is limited to six people. Discover campsites with flat terrain, which gets full shade and sun. Additionally, guests will appreciate the fire pits, grills, and restrooms. Two campsites are on natural surface ground terrain, and the other is atop concrete pads, making them ADA accessible. A new, paved all-persons trail features textured strips for sight-impaired visitors, wayfinding signs, panels, and trailside kiosks describing the different habitats and making the preserve more user-friendly.

The preserve has trails for hiking and running. There’s a trail section ideal for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Kerry Sheridan Grove also has paved trails, ideal for biking, cross-country skiing, hiking, running, in-line skating, and snowshoeing. Camping season is from April 16 through Oct. 31. Head to McKinley Woods at 17540 W. Laraway Road in Joliet.

With so many spots to camp, park an RV, or rent a cabin or bunkhouse, the Romeoville area covers you for whatever form of camping you prefer. Our Crème de la Crème of Romeoville team hopes you find time to camp at one or more of these fantastic spots.