Badlandz Paintball Field

When kids are left to attend other kids there will always be a problem. This was My first and last time playing at this facility. I booked a private game for my son’s birthday. I had four players come join the party. As the rest was explaining the rules and regulations of the facility. One of the questions was can we use our own paint. And turn the rough answered yes this is a BYOP facility. Then later to three games in another rough then snatches one of the players paint hopper off of his gun. Causing all of the paint to spell out on the course. Like some gangster or something. Causing a huge commotion. Saying we ALL needed to purchase their paint to play. Which is totally crazy why is it OK for a walk on games to use BYOP. But private games are forced to pay extra to use their paint. Furthermore what gives these kids the rights to touch anyone or their property. And doing things in this manner unsupervised things can go bad very quickly. Not to mention there is a large array of poison ivy on the property one of the kids had an allergic reaction to poison ivy which I will be uploading a picture of. This facility is very poorly ran and very poorly supervised. There needs to be a ADULT to manage these kids the oldest person on this property was no older then 19. i will never return to this place again nor will my son and his friends. A shame a kids birthday had to be ruined by one person Napoleon complex. Any of my future events will be booked at paintball explosion or CPX

Went to play a big game at badlands yesterday ¹¹⁄₃₀. I played once here a couple of years ago and had no issues. Well I had about 3 cases of left over paint varying in color. I had pink, green, yellow and white. Only reason I came to this field was to shoot all my old paint. Well they ended up canceling the big game because no one showed up. So we just had to play open play. They did the briefing and explained how some colors is not allowed. Most field do not allow red paint so I knew that was one of them. However when they said white fill isn’t allowed I was dumbfounded. Someone asked why it wasn’t allowed and the head referee claimed because white fill hurts the environment and stains people’s gear and clothing. I call bs on that. This field just wants you to buy their paint. So I had already filled most of my pods with white paint. The head ref then stated that you will be kicked out if your caught with white paint. I then emptied all my pods that had white paint in them and switched it out. Well once I got to playing I believe I shot someone and ref stated I had white paint. Well I forgot to empty the hopper completely. I had a couple white balls left in there. Well I got yanked off and was explaining to the ref that my Valken graffiti paint all have the same shell. My white filled graffiti looked exactly like the shell of some green filled graffiti. So the head ref handed me off to a african American ref that begins getting loud with me and is not listening to the situation. He goes on a rant about how he knows that my team plays at another field that uses white fill. He was not letting me speak at all and begins poking me on my arm. I simply ask him not to touch me because I don’t know this individual and I don’t like people physically touching me. Well that angered him more and he said «oh you wanna play like that?» He then stated he was going to cut my wristband. I then said fine cut it but before you do let me explain what had happened. I explained the situation and he then agreed to not cut it and let me keep playing. Why did it have to get to that point? I played a couple of games with my buddies and left. Oh also I do not understand as to why this field did not use armbands for any games. No one knew who was on whose team. It was just all a mess. Anywho I will not be coming back to this field what so ever. Save yourself from the frustration and go to great fields like paintball explosion, blast camp or cpx.

I don’t recommend this place for several reasons. One it was not explained that you could not take your own paintballs if it was a private event, all we got was some rude black dude walking up to us barking that he had to take our paintballs instead of walking up to us and explaining the situation. Second when we approached the counter to ask for an explanation the young lady behind the counter rolled her eyes and even before reaching the counter she gave us attitude. Instead of working with us they said you either buy more paintballs or leave. Will not be going back thankfully there are plenty more establishments, ake your business to CPX or to Paintball explosion the staff at these establishments is very professional.

There’s a difference between approaching a group to explain that your own paintballs are not allowed during a private match (after a match was played), and aggressively approaching the group to forcefully try and remove the paintballs from the trunk of our car! If the staff would have approached us in a different manner then we would have given an appropriate tip along with a positive attitude back.
Unfortunately this place is the first and last time I will ever be coming.
Do not recommend at all. Go to CPX or paintball explosion instead. Save yourself the time and headache!

Play here almost every weekend in the summer with my paintball team I can’t think of paying anywhere else. Good paint for sale and they always take back defective or broken paint. Newer speed ball bunkers always a nice field set up every Sunday and Saturday. Ive played at them all in the Chicago land area and then some, badlandz beats them all.

This place is fun for the price and way more laid back then CPX. You can bring you’re own paint, cheap entry fees, reefs are mostly laid back and will let you decide maps (when possible)
I do wish they’d update the maps more and have some more urban options. But this place has always been a reliable go to park since I was a little kid. Leave the drama, high prices, and armed cops at cpx.

For the parent waiting for the kids, thus is a peaceful woodsy place to be. Staff & fellow paintballers are all polite & accommodating. We will be back– often!

Whether it’s paintball or airsoft, GREAT FUN is to be had here! It definitely is worth the drive. Pack a lunch or eat there while taking a break from the outdoor fun.
Parents: if you can’t «hang» at the level of marksmanship of your kids, you can drop them off and go shopping nearby. There’s Walt’s for groceries or a Culvers too!
Good times for all levels and all size groups!

This place is great for beginners all the way to advanced. This being my first time, I loved the structure and guidance they provided for us newbies! You learn by the end of the day whether your the type of player to bum rush the opposing team unleashing multiple paintballs or hide in a bush or fort. You really get your money’s worth. Multiple courses to play on and they have a food court. Tried the bacon cheese burger, it was better than drive thru good!
Play by the rules here and everyone has fun!
Don’t forget to check in on Unilocal,they sometimes offer check in deals to this place:)

Great staff, friendly referees, and reasonable prices. went to the place in Joliet and they charge almost a hundred dollars for a box of paintballs. @ Badlandz it cost us half that! We will be back!

The worst field I’ve ever experienced.
I went there primarily because its website advertised that they would divide players into 4 groups beginner 1, beginner 2, advanced 1 and advanced 2. What a joke. There is only 1 ref, for almost 30 open play players. Seriously, ONE ref, for ALL non-​private group players, with vastly different skill and equipment levels. How can they divide?
When playing, the two sides have no armbands. Seriously, no armbands. How can you identify your teammates and enemies when you are playing with other 40 strangers, without yellow armbands???
This only ref was also incompetent in dividing groups. Most of the «advanced» people were from the same team training there, so the ref put them together. Fine. He then pulled more guys with their own equipment into their team, to make the two sides with equal number of players. What a joke. All the rentals are on the same side, practicing being the moving targets for $ 500+ paintball markers.
They ran games EXTREMELY slow. Average wait time was at least 20 minutes between games. The longest was 40 minutes, and everyone was waiting for that one ref. All other refs seemed to be assigned to private groups.
They advertised that they are able to successfully regulate players’ shooting speed (balls per second) and velocity (FPS). What a joke. None of the employees was checking anyone’s gun, and my friends and I were shot with EXTREMELY hot guns. We had the worst swell after playing. Still hurting. We’ve played enough paintball to know what it feels when being shot by a 300 FPS gun. Many people, actually most people with their own guns there, were shooting hot.
As Arista O. pointed out, the (only) ref couldn’t care less about this situation.
The fields are extremely «rustic». Not enough man-​made bunkers to make it fun. ANY field, around Chicago, has better fields than this place. Trust me.
In the end, I feel cheated by the false info posted on their website.
It seems that there are a lot of private groups there. If it’s cheap, private game is always fun.
Avoid their open play, at all cost!

I have played paintball a few times in my day. I may not look like it, but it is a game that I enjoy. That being said, I know a little bit about the rules and etiquette involved. I came here with a group, and all of us ended up with some very significant bruises because at least one person was shooting really hot. When five of us approached the ref to tell him this, his response was «well, you’re probably just playing with someone who has a better gun, if he does it again, just shoot ‘em in the face». It has nothing to do with the gun. It’s how high you have the pressure turned up, and they weren’t measuring this at all. Despite our warning, the ref ignored us, and shortly after, as we were leaving, someone else got really hurt. Several days later, my friends and I still look like we were all in a car accident. I have a bruise on my leg that takes up the whole thigh and spots where blood wept through unbroken skin… This is not supposed to happen…
Perhaps this is just a review of one bad ref. I hope that is the case. But I will not be going back here.

Solid place for paintball. Games run throughout the day and the waiting period between games is enough to get you restocked and reloaded but no so long that you end up taking a nap.
The one downside is that many kids/​teens are here and either don’t know the rules/​etiquette of paintball or don’t care enough to follow them. A lot of teamkills from kids shooting anything that moves and shots in the chest from surprised teens at 10 feet when you sneak up on them and ask them to surrender.
Other than that, great places. Refs are fair and involved. Highly recommended if you can go on a day when the number of kids are low.

I’ve been to Badlandz twice and both were with Groupon tickets. Paintball is not cheap and the Groupons cut the price in half. Definitely grab some of those before you go. You rent the gun, mask (bring cleansing wipes) and get 500 paintballs for $ 24. However, they only hold a certain amount of equipment for Groupon holders, so get there early.
As for the place itself, Badlandz is pretty… rustic. About 75% of the courses are in a wooded area (some courses are flat, others are full of hills and valleys). My friends and I went during the middle of summer, on a 90 degree day. The woods were full of mosquitoes and god knows what other bugs. Bring bug spray! Best advice I will ever give you. The other 25% of the courses are in an open field with metal tubes and inflatable shields. I had way more fun playing in those fields. Less mud and bugs, more cover.
I should note that the second time my friends and I went to Badlandz, the weather was much nicer. So less bugs, but more people. If you’re a first timer, you might be intimidated by all the regulars. They ALL wear camouflage or black and have super fancy equipment. Luckily for us, they do not let the more experienced players play with the newbies. Also, your first instinct will be to team up with people you know (there are always two teams), but I suggest you play opposite sides. It is way more fun to hit a friend!
Last, but not least. Be prepared to get bruises. Getting hit does sting a bit. If you’re worried about that, then don’t go. No one likes a whiner.

I came here a few weeks back with a group of 8. We had a groupon and most of us have never played. It was actually a lot of fun and pretty well organized for as crazy as it was. We got to play several rounds in different areas. The refs do give you instructions and are actually very nice if you pay attention and follow the rules.
I don’t know if I would play paintball again, but I would recommend going here if you were looking for a place for a large group. They were very accommodating. My only complaint is that it is so far from the city.

Did the kid parent day and it was alot of fun. You need to dress in layers to cushion yourself from hits but it was fun and my 10 year old enjoyed it.
We were secluded from the older participants and able to play at a kid friendly pace. Our Ref and leader was great. By its nature it may draw abit of a rough crowd but we had no problems. If you have a younger child who wants to try it, I would suggest this Kids Day for you and your child

stuff stolen in parking lot, guys leering at my wife and daughter, crappy road and parking lot. What’s not to like?
Oh, yeah. Son learned to smoke pot too. Have fun parents…

This place has great prices and good fields. The one thing I really like about this place is that it has plenty of 4500 and 3000psi air stations and they always put you at the max level (unlike CPX).
I also love that you park near the staging area and can keep all of your stuff locked in your car while you play. You can also tailgate here (unlike CPX). If you have a private game you also get the free pic for your party (unlike CPX).
There’s no indoor bathroom (portapotty) and the fields aren’t as elaborate as CPX, but it’s definitely worth it the price of playing here. Your pocketbook will thank you, trust me.

My friends and I came here for our first-​time paintballing trip. It was a lot of fun. We definitely became fans of paintballing after this. My only gripe is that they have porter-​potties for bathrooms.
I also would not suggesting playing hyperball for your first-​time. That was painful! But the woods and the fort were good places to start. We had lots of fun and would definitely go paintballing again.

YOU READY??? 3…2…1…GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!
From newbies to professionals, this place has it all, it’s no wonder this places exceeds it’s reputation. Woods ball, speed ball, hyper ball, are all located fairly close to the parking lot. The referees are exceptional at what they do, paint checks, velocity checks, and separating the newbs from experienced (unlike FOX Paintball), and are real easy to get along with.
Open games, where all people can play, the ref’s do a good job of teaming you with your buddies as well as making the teams even. In private games, they are well organized with other staff so that you can get to the field of your choice.
The cost to play is inexpensive compared to some other places (Challenge Park Xtreme). Also, check online for coupons/​deals and for events that can save you money on an outing. Most of the players there are there to just have a GOOD TIME, making it a great place for potential new comers to the game become easily addicted.