Pine View Camp Ground

Let me start by saying that I stayed at Pine View campground over Labor Day weekend. I was a little worried because of the mixed reviews it got on Google Maps but there was nowhere else to stay remotely close to Starved Rock that wasn’t full except Papa Murphy’s (you can read my review on that place). Pine View is a place owned by an older couple (she (Pat) was behind the counter reading when I walked in and he (Larry) was rocking in his rocking chair a dog on either side of him — It was classic). They were always nice and friendly and very helpful. This campground is 80% seasonal residents. A very small part of the campground is for «weekenders». The residents were very friendly and always waved or said hello. The campground itself is very pretty in my opinion. The whole place is under very tall pine trees. This can make it very difficult to setup your campsite depending on what kind of gear you have (GREAT for hammocks though!!). To make it more difficult the campsites are very small! If there are more than 2 in your group I would strongly suggest getting 2 campsites (We had 4 adults and a small child and the 2 sites were perfect for us). Having a water spicket right at our campsite was nice. I was very glad I brought a short hose though since the electric and water are on the same post (dumbest/​most dangerous setup I have seen). We got lucky and our neighbors were not too noisy for the most part. Down the way, though, there was a very large group (I’d say they had 6 or so campsites) of Hispanics blasting music with an obnoxiously bright shop light… yeah a shop light. Luckily we were far enough away it didn’t bother us too much. This is a campground where if your neighbors are not polite it could ruin the trip… like I said… small campsites. The bathroom/​shower was what you would expect from a mom and pop campground. Working… but dirty. This is not a KOA, folks. If you plan on showering here you will most likely want shower shoes. A guy I was camping with freaked out showering cause he looked over and a frog was chilling on the shower curtain. They will deliver firewood right to your campsite. $ 10 for about 60 pieces. It was a heck of a deal! Great firewood, too! The fire pit is nothing to write home about. A small steal ring in the ground. Not much airflow so you couldn’t get a very big fire going (though the campground probably did that on purpose). The grate from a Weber grill fits over the fire perfectly! That’s how we did most of our cooking. I suggest this campground on the average weekend because there wouldn’t be many people or on a busy weekend if there is nowhere else to go. All in all it was a great time!
**EDIT
I forgot to mention it is VERY family orientated. Kids running around the park screaming… it’s a good thing but I know it drives some people crazy.