I have mixed feelings about this kayak tour company. I signed up because although I'm a very…read morecapable and seasoned kayaker, I didn't know this river and I like learning about the ecosystems and local wildlife. For this reason I like having tour guides. Going up the river was fine. Coming back went a bit sour. I went as slow as I was capable of paddling or not paddling, but apparently it was too fast for the preference of our tour guide. I was barely touching the water with my paddle. I have no idea how I could have gone any slower. It wasn't humanly possible. After shouting at me several times, he took to chasing me down and ramming my kayak so it'd spin in circles. Would I rent a kayak here and kayak the river alone? Yes. Would I personally use a tour guide here? No I wouldn't. Would I recommend? If you're a family with little kids or a drunk sorority house, absolutely. If you know what you're doing, just go it alone. You'll probably enjoy it more. Edit: If the tour guide had concerns for group safety, he could have said so. Although ramming my kayak with his seems to be a bit of a conflict as far as my safety goes. It was an unprofessional approach when he could have simply explained why he needed me to slow down

It almost seemed like a dream. From the very start, cruising through a large patch of lotus plants,…read moreit felt otherworldly. Very peaceful, going at our own pace. Enjoyed the cliff walls of Buffalo Rock and the shallow waters of some side passages. We paddled for 5 hours, covering 8 miles total. After we were done we headed to charming, historic downtown Utica for drinks and dinner at Skoog's Pub & Grill in North Utica, IL. I was impressed with the logistics and operation of the kayaking experience, from the guide* to the equipment and online booking process. *Full disclosure, the guide was my twin sister, but I am being objective...seriously.

We got back yesterday after a great two night stay in a heated cabin here. I took my teenage son…read moreand three of his friends. We camp a lot and were looking for a winter adventure over break. Bullfrog was 45 minutes away and definitely did not disappoint. First of all, the area is gorgeous. I have never been to Willow Springs and was amazed by the landscape. Hills, woods, lakes, the Des Plaines River, huge Cook County Forest Preserve areas, with ample shopping and restaurants nearby of needed make this an ideal camping destination. The campground has a welcome station with after hours gated access. We were the only campers in the cabins and our first night there were a couple other groups using tents. It was amazing basically having this place to ourselves for about $100 a night. The cabin is accessible for those with special needs so it has a roll in shower and ADA accessible routes and features, for those seeking those amenities. It had 4 bunk beds in the main sleeping area, a separate bedroom with two beds, and the aforementioned bathroom. There is a wall unit for AC and heat in both sleeping areas so our comfort was at peak level. Those babies put out the heat and fast! This was especially great after we took an 8 mile hike which included a trip to the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center. The cabin and surroundings were immaculate. There are also a couple heated bath houses, dining pavilions, and docks for fishing or enjoying the beautiful views. In addition to the large cabins they also offer smaller ones without heat for warmer trips. Boat rentals are available when warmer out, as well. I saw canoes and other manual craft behind a fence by the welcome station. Inside the station they sold ice cream bars and much needed firewood bundles for $5. I would guess in the summer they offer more treats. The cabin featured a large fire pit with a swing out cooking grate, which was much appreciated. We cooked many a thing on it! A picnic table is also provided at each cabin. The staff were super friendly and helpful. I highly recommend this place for your next camping and hiking adventure. We look forward to returning this summer!

Nice park with great views. Some 30/50 amp sites. Check the…read morewebsite for specs. No water during winter months. That means no water at the dump site as well during this time.

Took the family out to this camp ground this past weekend. We were tent camping, so I can't say…read moremuch about the ease of pulling a trailer in, nor how their electric and water service works for them. First the positives....the staff was friendly and helpful as can be, wonderful people who you really felt like you could talk to. Amenities, the lake is pretty with a nice beach area, nice hiking trails, there is only 1 bath house but it was clean and ample space. I was worried about this too with the size of the camp ground and only 1 bath house, but each side( male and female) has 3 potty stalls and 3 shower stalls. There is also a laundry attached next to it for those extended stays. There's a play ground for the kids as well, looks like they might have just recently updated it and my grandson enjoying playing there. Also for the kids is a giant jumping balloon, a jungle gym in the water(lake), a trampoline, balloon thing in the water as well, and then these trikes for the kids to ride through the park on. All the items on this list though you have to pay extra for, which I felt personally was a bit expensive. @$15 per person per weekend for a wrist band to use them, plus a cash deposit on the bikes of $5.00. The camp site had was a decent size, big enough for our 2 large tents, it came with water and electrical as well as a picnic table a fire ring. It was well shaded and we really enjoyed the site, we were right across from the bathhouse. The price per night wasn't bad either, for the 2 nights it ran us $65 for the site. For the most part the quiet time rules were adhered to, which is from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m , we did hear the occasional dog bark here in there in the night, but nothing so bad it was disturbing. The park does allow alcohol, and we were quite impressed that there was no one drunk or obnoxious, so that was a major plus, we've heard horror stories from other parks. We watched the staff picking up the trash as they saw it, they said something to kids who were breaking a rule or two, and they managed things really well. There was a planned activity for all the families on Saturday we really enjoyed watching and my daughter and grandson had a lot of fun on the glowing hay ride on Saturday night.. As a side note, we did walk by the cabins, not seeing the inside of them, but they are very cute and the seasonal sites look well cared for as does the whole park. The Cons..... I felt the price for the wrist band was too high, and my grandson being only 5 couldn't use the toys out in the water, so really I don't feel it was worth the price just for him to be on the jumping pillow. The trikes the kids can rent are really cute, but I felt like they should have bike only paths through the camp site instead of letting the kids share with the cars, many of the kids didn't know how to control those bikes and even though we moved extremely slowly through the park, once we parked at our site we really didn't want to leave again because of the amount of bike traffic and worried about not seeing a kid. I felt liked when we checked in, or when we made the reservation would have been even better, they could have told us about the boat building event that was going to take place on Saturday. We could have brought along duct tape and supplies and been able to participate.After we were told it was on the website, but we didn't realize that things were not provided for you. So my advice is to check out the events on the website and ask questions about them before planning your trip, to get the most out of it. The camp store was a bit confusing on what you had to pay cash for and what you could use a credit card for. For example we went in to buy ice and fire wood, we were told the wood had to be cash but the ice could go on our card....so make sure you take plenty of cash with you, many things are cash only. The only problem I would say that existed with our site at all was it's not completely level, we had to move our tents around several times trying to get the most level spots where they would fit in and be away from the fire. I would only make a small suggestion to the owners that they level the sites just a bit to make it easier to set up a tent, but even this wasn't a huge con because we figured it out and made it work well. All in all it was a great weekend, my grandson had a great time as did everyone else. We will go back again now knowing better what to expect.

The facilities are nice enough, and staff seemed nice too. But after office hours on a July…read moreSaturday evening, the place devolves into a noisy hayride / parade with golf carts flashing light bars and sounding air horns with the loudly rumbling motor of the tractor pulling the jam-packed wagon. Kids run behind the parade, screaming their own noise. And in July you get the "Boom!" of firecrackers and what sounds like M-80s going off in the background. If you want summer peace and quiet at an RV park, this isn't it. Go somewhere else. We had a much quieter time on July 4 at a KOA in Lexington, Virginia.

Restrooms we closed lots of older kids out running with police trying to track them down. It's…read moremidnight here and doesn't seem to be any quiet time.

After a particularly stressful day of driving, we arrived, hoping for a restful "resort" experience…read morebut we had anything but. My wife and I made reservations for 5-nights based upon the promo photos. The photos may have been accurate in 1970, but certainly not in 2022! When we made the reservations we were informed that there was a $5 maintenance fee, a $5 utility charge and a $7 resort fee. That seemed reasonable at the time, but when we checked in, we were informed that these fees were charged per diem, increasing our stay by $85. We had no other options for lodging so we agreed. To our annoyance, the day we arrived happened to be an all-out sanctioned park-wide water balloon, super soaker "war games" day. On our way to our campsite, we became targets and received a volley of water balloons hurled against our car. I had my window open and you guessed it ... We arrived at our assigned site only to find it directly across from the guard shack. This is the ONLY ingress and egress from the park which means that ALL vehicles coming in and ALL vehicles going out paraded by our RV 24 hours a day! There were a large number of golf carts operated in the park (some operated by children as young as 10-years old) and on this, our first night, the golf carts were zipping up and down the streets, some with sirens and blinking lights, others with boom boxes at full blast ... you get the picture. Festivities did not end until midnight when a downpour forced a stop to the revelry. And this is NOT an exaggeration!! This is a glorified trailer park with a majority of trailers being old and unkempt. It is NOT an RV Resort. We will never stay here again!

Fair campground, wishing for wifi, but the host Brenda Garcia deserves 5+…read moreThank you for everything Brenda

Staff was friendly but the spaces are unleveled bad. The only tires on the ground right rear. The…read morefront left was at least 12" off the ground.

I grew up at this place I missed it horribly we lived on creekside and I mean it made me who I am…read moretoday it was awesome.we all knew each other had cookouts every weekend we camped there from Chicago.i recently went back remember I used to go every weekend from 85-94 in summers best place ever now it looked to be honest I wouldn't care but definitely rough around edges kind of people for I'd still camp here!!

Soooo, I've been camping a lot. Usually attached to canoeing in Southern Missouri. Pretty much…read moreevery year since I can remember. And there's different types of campgrounds. This is a party camp. For partying. "Locals" run all over the place in golf carts, there's beer by the case 15 minutes drive in any direction, and lights out is loosely enforced if at all. I say "locals" because these are largely Chicagoans who own RV's and 5th wheels and leave them at the campsite all season, visiting every weekend. Or townies who just hang out because they like to party; I didn't ask a lot of questions. The only time it's quiet is between 4am and 8am when everyone is passed out. There was a Grateful Dead cover band at the pavilion the first night we were there, and a DJ spinning the best of blue collar rock the second night (with requisite 4th of July fireworks). The bathrooms were impeccable, for a campsite. The staff was friendly, though definitely moved at "rural speed". The sites themselves were decently kept grass, with easy soil for driving tent spikes. There were plenty of sticks lying about for kindling, and wood for reasonably priced purchase at the office. There was a little bit of broken glass about, but I've seen worse. We tubed for an hour on the Fox River for $5, though the launch and take out were not marked at all. The launch especially was difficult to find, and utilize. Other than that the float was awesome. Overall I had a wonderful time, and so did our group. I'd very much recommend this place, as long as you know what to expect: A Party Atmosphere.

I can't really comment on what it's like to stay at this place, since I wasn't able to. The…read moremanager didn't answer the phone, didn't respond to voicemail messages, was never there on weekends, and when he finally did agree to schedule an appointment, he didn't show up. I did get to look around and talk to a few people; the place is quite lovely and the people seem friendly. But even though there are vacant sites in the rustic areas, it's pretty clear that the manager isn't interested in bothering with any new visitors. So my advice is, don't you bother with this place either.

From the owner: 26 full hook up sites. 30 and 50 amp. Clean and scenic. To rent monthly or weekly…read more Primitive sites available. Yearly rates. Enjoy the quiet and go on a hike. Bath house provided.