This park is quiet and relaxing, but parts of it are run down. The mini golf is overtaken by weeds and not used anymore. There is an old water slide that looks like it was once fun, but is broken down and not it use. The pools were older, but clean and perfectly usable. The indoor bathrooms behind the office were lovely, and the outdoor ones were usable, but not always working properly. I thought $40 was a bit much to stake my tent, but there was nothing glaringly wrong at this place. We camped here in a Tent.
If you are looking for a nice quiet campground, this is the place. Well off the beaten track, but worth the drive. The roads from Amboy to the campground is not the best but we had no problem in our 30 foot Class C towing a car. Check in is done at a kiosk at the gate, no need to exit your rig. Roads are a little rough, but not bad. Site markings are a little confusing. Bathhouse was clean, however a bit of upgrading would help. Staff was friendly and helpful. Overall, a nice stay. We camped here in a Motorhome.
A clean and well run park with friendly staff. It has nice sized lots. A very good overall experience, and we are looking forward to going back again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We stayed for a Halloween themed weekend. The kids loved it, lots of fun activities. The campground is not being maintained very well. One of the shower buildings was very dirty and run-down. Something is killing the trees. Over 300 trees have been removed. A large branch fell on a neighbor's RV the day we arrived. We would not stay here again. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
This is a great place to camp with a large group. Many open and shaded sites for just about any type of camping you wish to do. Rental park models are also available. I always check out the shower and bath faciliites first. Not only are these clean, they have several convenient locations for the bath houses. Propane and firewood is avail. There is also a small store that can supply those forgotten items. All in all a very nice place to pull in and relax for a while. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 7 / 10 ]
June 2003
$30
This is a nice campground the only thing is the sites are a bit tight. We only stayed one night. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We stayed for 3 nights over Memorial Day weekend. Yes, they have pull-thrus, but they go to dead ends so getting out was interesting. Pull-thru sites were nowhere near level, and even with my extensive blocking capability I couldn't get the 5th wheel close to being level. Wi-Fi was a joke - I had to take my computer outside the office to have access. No Wi-Fi signal at all in the pull-thru area. Bathrooms, toilets and showers were filthy. Saturday morning two of three toilets plugged. Sunday morning three of three toilets plugged. Fortunately they left a plunger outside for community use. Illinois health department should shut this place down. I will never return to Mendota Hills! We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Review Rating
[ 2 / 10 ]
May 2009
$35
Wi-Fi was OK. Gravel roads with lots of dust. Even the golf carts created dust. Kids everywhere so drive with both eyes open. Very poor electricity with 104 - 106 volts during the day. It did finally get up to 110 volts in the evening but still would not use AC because being afraid of ruining the compressor because of low voltage. Had to use fans all night and couldn't open windows. Did I mention DUST. They did have a couple of lakes for fishing and a golf driving range for the older folks. Would not return to this campground if I'm in the area. I would look for another one with better electrical power. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Reserved a full hook up pull through and when we checked in, we were moved to another lot without sewer as the other lot was not available. They gave us the excuse of the people extend their stay one hour before we pulled in. There were other smaller lots they could have moved the small TT to as we were much longer and could not fit on the smaller full hook up site, but they did not care to do so.I will give the guy credit for bringing his honeypot out on Saturday to empty my tanks for free though. Only one shower location at office. The bathrooms throughout campground are port-a-potties. The website does not do this campground justice. Riding our bikes through the campground, we said hi to eleven seasonal sites and only one responded with a hi, the rest just stared. Not many activities for kids, unless you think old video games and an old pool table in bad shape are activities. I have seen worse, but this is just an average campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Not too much to do, but the frog jumping contests are wonderful for the kids. Two fishing lakes, one lake w/beach. Lots of land to run around. We will be back. Quiet place with lots of trees. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very nice/clean camp ground. Tons of stuff to do mini golf, paddle boats, canoes, water slides, 3 pools, 3 hot tubs, crafts and when we were there they had dog races! Huge Ice Cream cones for 75 cents. Rained heavy on our way there and our original site was flooded there was no problem with switching our site. Very nice and dogs are welcomed. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This park was very nice and the people were very helpful. The park was clean. Our spot was by the lake: about 25 feet from edge, in a nice shaded spot. The fishing was not very good, just small bullheads. The pools and beach were very good and clean. Lots of stuff for little kids to do, but I do advise renting a golf cart for $60 for the weekend for this is a big park. One day just about sunset, I was fishing and looked up and saw a full grown eagle flying over lake. It was nested in a tree by the camper: very cool! This park is worth the price if you have little kids. We would camp here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We stayed here for two nights with our 7 year old grandson. Having taken him to other Yogi Bear parks, I decided this one was geared to older kids. Golf carts flew around the park like they were crazy, and a girl fell off one right in front of our trailer as we were watching. There were not many activities for younger children as there are in other Yogi Bear parks. We saw Boo Boo once on a "heyride," but he didn't even stay around to greet the kids. In 48+ hours, we did not see any of the other bears. The workers were cordial, but I wouldn't say they were friendly compared with the other parks we have stayed in. Our rate is based on a midweek two-for-one rate. We might consider staying again due to the midweek rate. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
The Bad: Lots of fees to pay including a facility fee of $9 on top of the normal nightly rate. We had family come and stay one night on our site in a tent, and they had to pay the full rate of $55 to sleep on a site we already paid for! We only wanted to stay Thurs and Fri but were required to pay for Saturday as well, even though we didn't stay Saturday night. Mini golf, paddleboats and rides down the waterslide are also extra charges. Waterslide is located too far from the pool to make it worthwhile. The Good: The campground itself was nice, with clean bathrooms and showers. Heated pools and hot tubs are clean well maintained. Pretty little lake with wooded areas for primitive camping and short hikes. We did have the whole place to ourselves Thurs and early Fri as it didn't get crowded until Friday night. The pool and hot tub were great. Unless you stay by the lake will you will have very little to no shade. Staff was friendly but not very helpful. I will go back since the kids had a great time - just know your stay can get expensive. We camped here in a Truck Camper.
This is a wonderful family campground. We have camped here 3 times this season and we experience something new every time. Beautiful river through the property with a large lake where you can rent paddle boats. Park is large and clean and everyone in the park is friendly and ready to help. I highly recommend this area. Only two downfalls...must watch out for the golf cart traffic and it can be a bit crowded. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We have 3 kids 5 & under, they enjoyed the pools, painting, flying kites, riding bikes up and down the street. The staff was helpful, they showed up in minutes when I needed a pair of pliers to take down the awning. We lucked out as we where in a sparsely populated area of the park with no immediate neighbors. The only two problems was trying to get garbage picked up by the guys on the golf carts flying up and down the road. I finally had to wave them down. At one point there where a bunch of drunks speeding around the camp ground honking horns and making a ruckus on golf carts, but at least it didn't come directly by us. I'd consider going back. I enjoyed bike riding around the lake myself. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Most games in arcade were broken. Store, comfort station and playground areas are in need of repair. On the bright side, swimming pools (3) were is good conditions. Golf karts were excessive running up and down the roads at all hours. Our site had no grass, luckily it didn't rain during our stay. Sewer connections were 4 inch pvc pipe sticking out of the ground, with out proper fitting, so the sewer gas smell got strong at times. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Horrible! The staff is the worst I have ever experienced. We rented a golf cart for 10 minutes. I allowed my 4 year old grandson to sit in my lap and pretend to drive. They came to the pool and publicly took the cart from me and kept my security deposit because I broke the rules and allowed a 4 year old to drive. The staff was rude, crabby, and not helpful. It was rather ironic that we were treated like trouble makers for allowing a 4 year old to pretend to drive and the partiers that blasted songs with [obscene] lyrics were left alone. I expected it to be a nice family place. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is the best campground for families. Plenty of activities, great staff, even Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and Cindy Bear are in attendance! A little difficult to find if your not familiar with the area, but well worth the trip. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We camped in an open area that was way too crowded, and there was no policing on noise. The staff was tired and crabby, and not helpful in any way. We couldn't wait to get out of there, and were gone within 36 hours. We won't be back. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Our favorite campground. Very friendly staff. Huge sites. Lots of activities for families. You pay more but you get lots and lots more. We love the security and enforcers of quiet hours. Excellent campground! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This place has gotten too big for itself. It used to be a relatively quiet campground with lots of activities for the kids. In recent years it has expanded into a former cornfield with very little shade. They began renting golf carts and this has turned the place into a speedway. All day and evening, teens are zooming around in overloaded carts not paying attention to the road. I've nearly been hit several times. Games in the game room tend to just take your money, and good luck finding an employee who cares. Since the owners retired last year, the new managment leaves a lot to be desired. The water electric sites are ridiculously crowded and sometimes inaccessible if you didn't get there early enough. Bathrooms and showers tend to be dirty, especially on popular weekends. They should have enough staff to handle this. Also in the last few years, there seems to be a lot lower standard of clientele that tends to make the park uncomfortable. We have been coming here since 1993, but I dont think we'll be coming much more. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
September 2006
$50
This was a great weekend, we were here with a large group and we were not cramped at all. They had large sites, clean restrooms/showers, 3 pools. Activities to keep everyone busy, outdoor movies, bingo, a dance, mini golf. We had our 2 little dogs and this campground was the great with them, people walking and socializing with their dogs, we felt like we belonged, not social outcasts. We did go on a weekend but school had started so only some kids but you can get away from the kids, the hot tubs are 18 and older only and they have lifeguards to enforce this. The lifeguards also supervise the kids at the pools so they are not out of control, which was great, since some kids can get pretty wild. The only problem I saw was their WiFi didn't work long enough to log on, when asked they said it should, I was at a couple different sites and it never worked. Staff was friendly and always around so if you had a problem they would be there to help. This is a great campground for a family. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
We found the park to be great for the kids. They had a great time in the pools, water slides, paddle boats, mini-golf. The kids said the arcade had defective games. We are usually picky about the campsites we choose. The site we were on had a couple of trees and was near the boggy part of the lake. When we first arrived we thought the mosquitos were going to have a feast on us but to our surprise there was not a single bite between us... We were located on a corner lot so the autos, and golf carts were always driving by. We will return. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Definitely a lot of activities for the kids, including a craft buidling where you can buy craft and assemble them while you are there. I had heard great things about this campground and was a little dissapointed mostly because of the poor cleanliness of the bathrooms and shower house. The lake is nice, though the young kids giving out the lifejackets were a little too young and didn't know how to adjust them. Finally, the small town of Amboy itself has nothing to do. Very few restaurants and certainly no social activities. So only go if you want to stay at the campground for all your entertainment and meals. It's a long drive to any towns with more facilities. We camped here in a Tent.
Amboy is the best campground I have ever been to. It has good facilities, also has good
people. If you are going during summer with your friends, best place to spend it is at amboy. I went downtown for a fest they had called Depot Days. Me and my family go to amboy every year. If you are a teenager and your tired of going to boring campgrounds with nothin to do, go to amboy, it has a dance on saturdays. All teens come out after 10. No little kids, no parents, and if they are there, they are drunk. Thats what amboys all about, having fun. I will never stop going there. Everybody there is so welcoming, and everything is just what I hoped it to be. I would rather go to Amboy, I camp at yogi bears then go to Hawaii or Florida or whatever. Amboy just has that effect on me. Best campground ever. We camped here in a Tent.
Review Rating
[ 6 / 10 ]
2003
$45
I have to agree with the first review.....if you have kids this is a great campground. But, for just going and relaxing.....not going to happen. The shade is mainly in the permanent site area, we were in a big open field with no shade at all, just alot of barking
dogs which management didn't seem to care to stop even when notified. Restrooms were very wet due to all the swimmers using them. For the price, probably won't return. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
2003
$42
We had a wonderful time. Our children ages 5, 11, and 13 had a great time at mini golf, the pool, waterslides, paddle boats, bingo, arts and craft, and "hey-ride". The only bad thing that happened was some of our neighbors were loud and drunk. I guess stupid people can be anywhere. We plan on going back soon! Hopefully our neighbors will be better. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 4 / 10 ]
2003
$45
Aaaaaaaaaattention Campers! This resort-style campground had the loudspeakers going all day long to announce activities (usually with an extra fee), small, cramped sites and just too many campers. Not our style. Others with tweens love it for the pool and the activities which include a waterslide, mini-golf, paddle boats, a kids fishing lake and more. Just not our cup-of-tea. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
This campground has no business letting "outsiders" in. This establishment only caters to the seasonal camper. Rules of the campground are not clearly posted anywhere. There did not seem to be any organized activities. There were no tents there at all when we camped. Staff was rude and refused our attendance on their "hayride". The only bath house was lacking attention and extremely dirty. Doors falling off of hinges and cobwebs everywhere. The swimming hole looked like a mucky swamp infested with bacteria. Fishing pond was also lacking attention. Not much in way of a store with camping supplies. Sites were tight for the more modern campers with slides. Only nice feature was the beautiful pine trees. I would not camp here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Unbelievable. Most terrible camping experience we've ever had. The owners were rude and belligerent. Do not come here and do not bring your children. The owners screamed and yelled at us and my children, threatening to throw us out of the campground for singing children songs on the hay ride. My 5 and 7 year old were in total fear...screaming, crying. I argued with the owner after we were threatened and accused of using profanity...something we never did, nor did anyone else on the hay ride. I cannot explain their behavior, but they did call the sheriff to have us thrown out. This is a place for regulars...yearly and seasonal guests. I suggest if you consider coming for a weekend stay, that you do not. You will be an outsider and they will throw you out for any reason they wish, truthful or not. The bathrooms and showers were disgusting. I felt that my family was in danger staying there. Signs all over the grounds read "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". The playground sign reads "if you are older than 6 years old, and caught playing here, you will loose your playground privileges" How can they even prove age? Do they ask for the child's drivers license? The pond is considered "great for swimming". I wouldn't let my kids put one toe in that disgusting water. We camped here in a Tent.
If you like quiet, this seems to be the place. The sites are shaded by tall pines. Some sites are a little tight. We have camped here three times now and it has never been crowded. They have a great park for little and big kids. They do have a swimming "hole" and a fishing pond. This park would be perfect if it had a pool. We camped here in '04, '05, and '06. We plan on coming back again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This is camping in a pine forest in the middle of Illinois corn fields. It is 40 acres of tall standing pines. The campground is small -- only 30 sites available for transients. It has a small swimming lake/pond and separate fishing lake/pond. The playground area is beautiful. They have a separate playground for 6 year olds and younger with well maintained equipment along with a sandbox. The playground for bigger kids/adults include standard playground equipment along with volley ball, shuffleboard, and basketball equipment. The camping sites are a variety of sizes (usually long and narrow) since you are camping in/around the pine trees. Since the ground is covered with dry pine needles and pine cones, all fire rings are in-ground with steel covers. There are two toilet and one shower stall (with locking door) per gender. According to the seasonals and owner, the campground only gets filled on holiday weekends, so there really isn't a big contention for bathroom facilities. The grounds are very well kept. There is a very small on-site camp store. This is not a camping resort or high-key/fast-paced environment. This is a great campground to kick back and relax under the pines. I would have given this campground a 10 if they had better swimming facilities. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.