Big Rock Campground is owned and operated by the County of Kane, Illinois, as part of their Forest Preserve District.
Opened in 2013, it’s the county’s newest campground. They also operate Paul Wolff Campground to the north.
(Read our reviews of other Illinois campgrounds and destinations)
Sash and I came here on Monday, August 13, after leaving the 2018 ATC Toy Hauler rally in Bremen, IN. She was scheduled to fly out of O’Hare International Airport on Friday, August 17. Hence, we needed a place to park our trailer for a week. Since there’s practically no free boondocking available in Illinois, we had to look for some kind of paid camping. Pretty much most RV parks closer to O’Hare were booked, and based on the reviews I read, the closer you get to O’Hare, the less desirable the neighborhood.
So, I found Big Rock Campground far enough away that it offers relative comfort and safety, yet still within a drive to O’Hare.
When we arrived, we didn’t have much time for leisure. We needed to get a lot of things done to prepare for Sash’s visit to Alaska. She was going there to meet a few clients of ours, and we needed to finish up on some work. Hence, we didn’t really get to see much of the surrounding area.
We did, however, make time to visit one of our past clients Toby Miles from Ride Like a Girl Designs. She and her husband live in Glen Ellyn, about a half-hour away from the campground if you take toll roads, otherwise about an hour’s drive if you don’t.
And that’s one thing I hate about the greater Chicago area. Too many damn toll roads. Practically every freeway here has a toll booth spaced out about every 5-10 miles. You can’t get from point A to point B without hitting a few of them, unless you’re willing to add another 30 to 60 minutes to your drive trying to avoid them.
The campground itself looks pretty. There’s hiking trails and a pond.
You won’t find any sewer hookups here. They have a dump station instead. Each camp site seems to have 50 amp electrical and water connections, otherwise. The campground hosts seem to do a good job of enforcing the rules. They tagged me once for leaving our motorcycles parked on the grass instead of the gravel pad.
Big Rock Campground does not take reservations. It’s a “first come first serve” arrangement, but don’t worry because this campground doesn’t really get that full during the weekend. You can still find plenty of camp spaces.
Otherwise, our time here at the campground has been peaceful enough to let us get caught up on work.
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