What an amazing place! How did I not ever know about this? It is free for entrance otherwise it's a…read morefive dollar visitor fee. If you wish to go to the main beach, that's an additional $12 if you are not a resident of Crystal Lake. The grounds are immaculate, very well maintained, and the bathrooms are clean. There are two lakes, multiple pavilions that you can rent ahead of time. Lots of picnic tables for you to sit down. Near the bar and grill while you can't go in the water, you can take your drink and sit on one of the cheers on the beach. You can watch people practice on their WaveRunner. Swing on the swings at the bar and listen to great music. I did not have any food here. I did have an amazing Mojito. The bartender was a young man looking to join the Barrington police force. Polite, kind and also had great customer service skills. The reason why I didn't give it five stars is that there are absolutely no markings anywhere as to what trail you are on, how long of a trail it is, and where there may be porta potties. There aren't any maps or QR codes and it was a bit confusing as I came upon several wise and the trail to decide which way to go as I had limited time there. Given the fact that everything is so nicely taken care of I don't know how they can't have at least some markings on the trails that they have there. One of the workers sent me direction and it literally just took me to a pavilion. They have kayaks, canoes, paddle boats and SUP boards. They also offer lessons for SUP depending on the day. Lots of people fishing. Amazing Place! Please add signage for the trails! The pop and water machine near the beach entrance did not work. Hopefully those are checked daily to repair.

First time here, and came with our 3 year old. Boy oh boy did we have fun!…read more Beach was beautiful. Very clean, everyone there was respectful and our son had fun playing with some other kids. Water... cold. Expected. Lol. But nothing you wouldn't get used too. Typical "pool / beach" food is available. Not the cheapest... so be ready, lol. But all is okay. Haha. There is feet washing stations and a really nice playground! We had an absolute blast and will absolutely be back!!!

Busse Woods Forest Preserve is an amazing place. It's over 3,000 acres and has a few entrances…read moredepending on activities you want to explore. They have fishing, hiking, picnicking, biking etc... There's a nice 7.2 mile round hiking trail but there are many others shorter depending on how long you want to be there. You can see deer, woodpeckers, several species of birds and other animals like coyotes that peek out in early mornings. I've driven by here 100's of times but never realized just what a nice place to come for a hike!

I've passed by Busse Woods a million times along Higgins Road but never pulled in to have a look…read morefor whatever reason.  Probably because I could always do it tomorrow or another day lol!  Well, today I did pull in because we had an extended family celebration event at one of their picnic groves, specifically Grove 5 which is located quite conveniently close to the intersection of Higgins and Arlington Heights Roads (as opposed to deeper into the Woods). I must say this place Busse Woods is large, sprawling, neat, clean, and impressive (it's 3558 acres in fact). I think I knew that it was sprawling driving along Higgins Rd, but pulling in, you can see how well laid out and maintained the premises are.  It would be quite nice to revisit during winter and the change of fall colors also. Grove 5 in particular is an extra nice picnic grove in that it has a shelter and is near (540' to be exact per the website!) a nice and accessible restroom building.  The shelter is pretty large with a capacity of 100 people.  It's located in a section called Busse Forest-South and which comprises Groves 5 - 16.  Of those 12 groves, 4 have shelters, but only Grove 5 is close to an accessible restroom.  So, our family member apparently picked out the best grove, good job!  Busse Woods has 11 sections like Busse Forest-South, so it's massive with a lot of picnic location and other leisure activity options.  Anyway, go to their website for more info, but I was pretty impressed.  Busse Woods includes a Busse Lake as well as a 7 mile trail.  Big thumbs up for this Cook County Forest Preserve!

This campground is a hidden gem. It is very quiet and peaceful. They take very good care of the…read moreplace and the owner and her son are super nice. If you want to get away from all the hustle and bustle of life and relax than this is the place for you. They have fishing and paddle boats. They offer a volleyball court, basketball court and a nice playground for the kids. There is also full service grocery store not even ten minutes from here. The lady that owns the place is very sweet and kind. Her son is always happy to help and seems happy to work here.

So this place is a bit remote. Navigation shows the other side of the road. The sign says…read morecampgrounds and there is no clues that an RV park is there. Can see a single sign of RV's or people from the road. You drive down a 1 lane road hoping that your going to the right place. The last part of the road is narrow and the trees need to be trimmed because you are going to be scrapping your roof. Sites are a bit tight and sewage connection sucks. Most people are friendly but there are a few campers that look shady but it's pretty cheap and your only 45min from the city.

I've only been on a fishing boat once before this trip and after this trip I am now spoiled. I…read morebooked this trip to take out some clients of mine from the Chicago area so that we could have an afternoon of fishing and hanging out without having to talk business. The day ended up being one of the best days I've had with a client in recent memory. Every one of us caught a fish or a few and had a blast doing it! Captain John and his mate Patrick were incredibly knowledgable and got us involved from the moment we met them in the harbor. Captain Johns passion about being on the water and knowledge about the fish in Lake Michigan was extensive to say the least. Captain John was also very helpful leading up to the trip with prompt email replies and messages. A little about the boat; the boat was in great shape. Extremely clean inside and out. With a nice bathroom, AC, cable TV (not that we watched any), nice kitchen and seating area you cannot go wrong with choosing this company. If you are looking for an exceptional day on Lake Michigan fishing with family, friends or clients this is definitely the charter you want to book!

I just went out with Captain John for my third time and he is 3 for 3! We went out at 2pm on Friday…read moreand the weather was phenomenal. The boat is in perfect shape and as clean as can be. We stored food and beverages in the kitchen and hung out on the front of the boat till we hit the fishing spot. John and Patrick set up all of the lines and bait and had the rods in the water in just a few minutes. We caught 8 fish, 2 even after we took our picture! The ride back to city during the sunset was beautiful. Patrick filleted the fish on our way back and had our salmon and trout cleaned and ready to go by the time we got off the boat. We cooked our fish that night and it was delicious. It was one of the best days of summer without a doubt! I highly recommend!

Great place to kayak, hike, bike, fish, picnic and basically anything else outdoorsish. It is a…read morebeautiful space, just like everything else in the giant area that is the Palos Forest Preserves.

Love this place for canoeing and bbk. The people at the boating area are supper nice, informative…read moreand prompt. They accept credit cards!!!! They have a few options. They have canoes and kayaks. Definitely coming back soon

Skokie Lagoons is huge! Biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking, canoeing- it has it all. I had no idea…read morethis place existed, but I'm so glad to have been introduced to it. Was here recently to rent kayaks and it was great. Chicago Kayak and Canoe rental company sets up camp, and it was very busy with school groups and families on a recent beautiful September 2016 Chicago weekend. Kayaking the Lagoons you're bound to see cranes, heron, a few other people kayaking, and get lost in nature. From time to time there is algae on the water and it can be smelly. We went right into a cove of algae where nobody else was going, and it felt like something out of the movie Adaptation. I was jealous of all the fishing going on, and hope to be back for that. It's only 5 miles from Chicago Botanic Gardens, so if you park here you can bike on in for free, and have an easy short ride. A lot of people reviewing Skokie Lagoons complain about the trash, and how people leave lunch garbage and bottles laying around. To me that's not a reflection of the place itself- do your part- pick up some trash before you leave, or pull a bottle or two out of the water. Or just stay away, because I'll be back, and the less people the better!

Great place for hiking. Not too crowded and not far from home for me. Lol. Will definitely visit…read moreagain.

Even though I've lived in the area forever, I've never been here before…read more I've been back here about six times since. I rode the Salt Creek trail from Villa Park to Wood Dale. It is a really nice trail with a few ponds, bridges, etc. I saw quite a few deer traveling this trail. The trail is fairly long and goes way beyond what I traveled. I plan on doing the whole trail in the future.

If you're looking for a peaceful place to practice your yoga this place is the perfect one!read more

The only way to explain it is that this is the bait shop by the lake that you'd imagine in your…read morehead as what the the perfect bait shop by the lake would be like. The guys there know the city, county, whole state and region so well. They sure know fishing- duh, it's a bait shop. That's sort of the vibe but kindly. And they have every bait, tackle, hook line and sinker out there. It's like a surreal magic shop. And the love bait is stupendous. Cheap pets for children!

Great service they gave us a discount and the ATM worked I would come back if I need more gear to…read morefish with

My friends and I went out on the boat on July 15. It was our second time going out with Captain…read moreJeff and his shipmate Jessika. Just like the first time we really enjoyed ourselves. We drank a few brews, listened to music, and caught lots of fish. More than anything, it's nice to experience good times with good people. You almost don't even care if you catch any fish. Jeff and Jessika are great. Beautiful down to earth folks and we really love going out there with them. Heading out, we played music and watched the Chicago skyscrapers sink into the ground. No cellphone service way out there, so we're just out there enjoying uninterrupted time together. We all draw numbers to determine the rotation and for the second time we went through the rotation twice. Everyone got to haul in fish. I almost didn't want us to write this review right now because we want to book another outing in September and I selfishly want to go out with Jeff and Jessika again. By writing this review now, they may get booked by more people. But I decided to write it now anyway, because they deserve it. Thank you, Captain Jeff and Jessika! Hopefully we'll see you in September. Tight lines! Miguel DT Sr

Great time fishing on this boat!!! We went out for the 6 hour afternoon VIP tour and it was…read moreawesome! We caught 5 good size lake trout, would have been 6, but I messed it up. The captain was a great host, and a very knowledgeable fisherman. I would absolutely recommend this trip to anyone looking to get out on the lake and go for some big fish.