What went well? Everything! From the moment we arrived late after the office was technically…read moreclosed. We called to inform the office we were running late. They cheerfully replied it wasn't a problem and everything would be waiting for us. The owner met us at the building. Gave us our passes and map, showed us our site went over everything. The grounds were beautiful and campers there say it's getting better every season. The dog park was even beautifully kept. The sites ranged from very wooded to open areas. The pool is very clean with a family atmosphere with other campers. It's on the med-small side. We will definitely be returning next season.

I'm giving it 5 stars because the ladies working the desk were awesome in moving us from our…read moreoriginal spot. Pros: The pool is nice. The store has a good selection. The restrooms behind the store are great. The water has no unpleasant smells or taste. The grass is well maintained. We had a heavy rain while camping here, and most sites seem to dry up pretty quickly. There were only a few sites that held water for the day. Easy, quick access to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. The roads through the park are well maintained and were designed to be wide enough for large rigs to turn. I've been to sites that have narrow roads and it's a pain; not here. Mature trees in most sites proved adequate shade. The tent sites here are awesome. I would definitely recommend tent camping here. The playground is cool. I seemed to attract a lot of children for sandbox fun. Con (1): Don't book A2, A3, or A4 if you plan to sit outside much. The interstate noise at those sites is overbearing. Your views will be construction trash, storage building, and apartment parking lot. It almost feels like those sites are not in the campground and the road/trees work like a megaphone (amplifies the road noise). They are perfect for RVs passing through and staying one night.

Just came in last night, and although it was the middle of the night we were welcomed by very…read morehelpful guests. This place is extremely cozy with nice shaded lots, and a nice family environment.

We were on site 311. Was nice and big with a private little area in the back. Bathrooms were…read morecampground bathrooms, clean and well maintained. Bring flip flops for the shower. Grounds were beautiful with horses next door and long hilly walking trails. There is a well stocked pond for fishing along with a huge chess game, horse shoes, and volleyball. Very Fun! We are going back soon! Staff was also very nice and friendly:)

Glorified yard that they pack RVs on top of each other on. No dedicated tailer pull ins, people…read morejust start parking every which way. More focused on selling one more spot regardless if it really works for a camper or not. There is not even the perception of privacy here. Any spots on the outer edge at the Highlands is not meant for RV even if they sell it as that, unless you have a tear drop. The staff in the office are super great and nice to deal with but the mgr is not so personable and almost can be rude. They do not allow any outside firewood and charge you $7.50 of 5 sticks of wood, so be prepared for a lot of money in firewood if you come for the weekend. Water pressure is super low, you are better off to fill your tank and work off water pump. Best perk is super close to Mathesison and Starved Rock...

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.

Just camped here for the first time. This is a great place to camp, especially if you have kids…read more The lake was great. It's separated into 3 sections by buoys...one shallow end for small kids, a deeper end for bigger kids, and a fishing area. Both swimming areas had lake toys for the kids to climb on, including 2 trampolines with slides and bounce pillow, log roll, a giant iceberg, and some other things. There are smaller lake toys in the kiddie area. The lake had no algae or fish smell like other reviews noted, so they must have solved that problem. There is plenty of lounge chairs and picnic tables around the lake area for parents. The pool was nice too, but the kids liked the lake the best. They also had activities during the day: bingo, a glow stick dance party at night, and a scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt doubled as free campground cleanup for them because they had things like bottle caps, juice box straw wrappers, and cigarette butts on them! Please take the cigarette butts off that list!!! Nobody wants their kids picking those up!!! They had bean bag games, pedal cars, horse shoes, basketball and volleyball courts. The grounds were clean and well maintained. The sites are typical for a place like this...fairly close together but there were huge trees everywhere so we had shade and gave it a little more wooded feel (I hate camping in a big grass field). Cost: We paid $45 a night for water and electric (no sewer) which I think is reasonable because you're paying for all the facilities as well, not just the camping. They do nickle and dime you a bit...you gotta pay to use the pool, carts, and some activities. As long as you're OK just using the lake it's not too bad. Checkout time is non-negotiable. We wanted to stay an extra hour or 2 after checkout time so we had to pay for a whole extra night. Most places don't mind if you stay a little longer if the campground is emptied out. The kids really wanted a little extra time so I ended up paying for the extra night and we stayed until dusk so I could get my money's worth. One last note...the owner has a lot of rules and he enforces them. They are mostly to keep the kids safe and keep the camp family friendly. He was out multiple times during the day making sure the kids in the lake had their life jackets on and had parents watching them. If you're planning on partying loudly until 2 am, don't bother coming. He will kick you out if he has to. This has led to some bad reviews from scorned folks, but it's nice to see a campground enforce their rules for a change. Since I was there to enjoy family time it worked out well for us.

Great for family's. Lots to do. Halloween was best... Camp…read moresite are two small. Shower needs some help too

We really enjoyed our stay here! We thought we were just staying for one night but with the great…read moreprices (we used Passport America), super chill atmosphere and GREAT swimming pond we ended up staying three nights. They had Karaoke on Friday night and a band on Saturday in a barn on the property. We didn't go to either but since the barn is fairly enclosed it didn't bother us. This place is pretty quiet durning the day, like I said it's a super relaxed vibe, maybe because when we were there lots of spots were open. Management is great, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. There are lots of seasonal's and plenty of nightly camping spots too. The RV spots are basically in a grassy field with some gravel, not perfectly level but not so bad that we had to pull out leveling blocks. Big nice trees everywhere. They have a nice playground and a great pond! It seems that they go to the effort to dump fresh sand on one side of the pond so that it's kind of like a beach and it makes to bottom of the pond sandy instead of muddy. There is also a big fountain in the pond that helps circulate the water and I suspect filter some of it. They don't have wifi but we didn't mind. We have been to so many RV parks that "offer" wifi but then you get there and it's so crapy that you feel a little cheated. I'd much rather know what I'm in for up front. AND we had great cell service (att) so we could do anything we wanted to. Happy camping!!

My boyfriend and his friends have been coming to this campground for years. We stayed on the…read moreprimative campground so I can't comment on thev area with trailers. Our area was nice and clean but that portapotties were kind of gross. Can't beat the price... I think it was $7 per person per night.

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 have been seasonal campers at GRO for 4 years. The owners of the campground have been wonderful…read moreto us. The park is clean and we'll maintained. So many kids activities and the cutest store ever!

While this is a mostly seasonal campground, rentals are $70/night. It is not worth it. The grounds…read moreare not that well maintained, all roads need a layer (or two) of gravel, I saw one public restroom and the owner spoke to our friends very rudely. The speed limit is 5, but if you're not a seasonal camper you'll get yelled at no matter if you're obeying that limit. There are 2 pools and playgrounds but don't look like the pictures. I called, left a message and called probably 5 times before I got someone on the phone. Their outgoing recording says to leave a message and they'll call you back but they don't. They state they won't "nickel and dime you to death" but they charge $10 to check in early and $5 for each visiting person to your site. I've camped at way nicer places for half the price.

Checked out area one day to see if we would enjoy staying there. Lots of families, kids etc. loved…read morethe area. Went in mid August when quieter. Loved our short stay. Staff very friendly. Very clean areas. You can rent golf carts .They have different theme weekends as well as activities available. We walked around, a lot of seasonal RVs ,spots for tent as well as RVs. You can see the owners take pride in their grounds. Definitely recommend this place! Thank you Glenda for making our stay exactly as we hoped it would be. We will be back. C&B

We just spent 2 nights here. Weather was perfect! The people working the campground are very kind,…read morefriendly & helpful. We have been thinking about getting a seasonal lot, however after renting a golf cart & driving around the campground several times, we were saddened to see so many completely neglected campsites. Lawns that were in need of mowing and string trimming and campers that were moldy and long past their prime. We really wanted to like this campground a lot more due to the positive reviews, but sorry to say, this was a HUGE turn off for us. Because of this, we will look at other locations for a seasonal site.