Dunewood Camp Ground
3 reviews for Dunewood Camp Ground
Birthday weekend trip! The Indiana Dunes State Park is booked for the rest of the summer...BTW. We arrived around 12 on Friday to find that out...but were directed to Dundewood! Lovely campsites!
There are a number of special gems in this campground. First, the sites are well planned and spacious. Second, the bathrooms are REAL (no pit toilets) and clean. Complete with a shower that had water pressure that blew me away. I mean really, really strong. The best shower I have ever had, anywhere. Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn? Nope, Dunewood!
On Saturday night, the rangers offered a presentation about the Dunes that was informative and interesting. The ranger was super nice and really knew everything about the Park! I was really impressed with the photo slide show.
The only downside was that I was eaten alive by mosquitoes but that is because it rained all of Friday night and they came out fighting on Saturday!
My flesh must taste good.....oh, also if you go, there is a Marathon gas station across from the entrance of the park that has really good, old school soft serve ice cream. In chocolate, vanilla, and swirl. Damn, that stuff was good on a hot day!
I would really only recommend this place for the walk-in sites. The sites along the lot are exposed and practically right in a traffic lane.
We got there on Friday morning at 10am (only an hour and a half drive from Chicago) and there were only 4 of the 24 sites left. (It was memorial day weekend) We chose site W-24 a lovely, privately wooded site.
They're really serious when they mean "No Alcohol." Although signs were posted everywhere we softies are used to camping in California where rangers couldn't give 2 F--ks. We figured as long as we're respectful and quiet they wouldn't bother us --- WRONG!
Around 11pm a ranger hear my depositing our bottles in the recycling. A few minutes later he returned and gave us a 20 minute tedious lecture on the rules of the park while going through all our stuff (coolers, tents, trash bags) We had had a few beers with dinner and a bottle of wine, WERE NOT at all drunk, rowdy or dancing on tables.
He decided not to kick us out of the camp site, instead left us with a $75 ticket.
Other than that, we only spent our evenings at the site, the rest of the time we watched the sunset from Mount Baldy, hiked around one of the old pioneer trails, and played Frisbee at the Indiana Dunes State Beach.
We bought all our food at the Jewel-Osco about 10 miles away (also a great place to purchase firewood) and returned back to Chicago relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated.
I'm not what you would call an expert camper, and neither was my friend I headed up there with. We were more concerned how we were going to sneak in booze as opposed to things like...silverware.
This was a great little campground off the dunes and I had a great experience. The walk-in sites were really spread apart and you couldn't see or hear your neighbors at all - this is even with every site taken! It was quiet, clean and relaxing. We picked a spot way in the back (#19 the best spot ever) and set up for a great evening.
The whole "process" of getting a spot was quite tricky and I became easily confused. If you aren't used to the whole process here's how it goes:
1. Arrive EARLY, especially if you are going on a Saturday. The sites renew at 10 a.m., check out is noon. I recommend getting there around 9:15 a.m. to get there before people leave and have first dibs.
2. Stop at the little ranger house and pick up a yellow envelope. The envelope has two parts. One part is to reserve your spot on the reservation board, the other is to put money in once you pick your spot.
3. Drive to the walk-in site parking lot. Take a look at the board and see what spots are available, pick a spot and then clip your piece of paper (without the money) to the board.
4. Grab your stuff and walk to the site. If the site is somehow taken, you can't do anything about it - first come, first serve basis.
5. Repeat 3 & 4 until you find a spot.
6. Go back to the ranger hut and deposit your money.
7. Drag your crap through the woods and set up camp!
*Hint* The spots towards the front are easier to get to, but also noisier and your neighbors are closer. The mid-20 numbered sites seemed to be the best spots.
Also, I saw a lot of online bickering in regards to alcohol. Here's the deal, be courteous, be responsible, get some plastic cups and that giant keg for the picnic table is not a good idea. They come around around 9 or 10 to "check" the site and lecture you about peeing in the woods (I got caught with my pants down). Keep it on the DL and don't be a jerk and you'll be a happy camper!