A very Kidical Mass camping trip

After doing a bike camping trip this weekend with some families I am kicking myself for never organizing a formal one as part of Kidical Mass, especially considering that we spent $85 for the luxury of a truck to haul our gear and a poorly laid out route with little in the way of amenities. We can get that shit for free. 

Have you ever camped at Chain O' Lakes State Park? It looks like it would only be a 5 mile ride from the Metra stop in Fox Lake and it's lovely up there to boot. I'd like to book a group site for September which would probably be easier there than Bong, which while great is maybe too far from the Kenosha metra and on too busy of roads for the kiddos to bike on their own.

Metra can be strict on what sorts of kid carrying vehicles are allowed on the train so families would be welcomed to drive up as well and do a mid-day ride around the park as well. 

If Chain O' Lakes blows I'd love some other options that are <10 miles from a Metra stop and within 90 minutes of Chicago by car. 

Views: 136

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by S on July 15, 2012 at 2:12pm

I'd look at Illinois Beach State Park by Zion.  There's a nice trail that leads up to it and it's only about one mile from the metra stop at Zion.  It's about an hour from most places in chicago.  There's been previous trips there by the group so you can get routes although I think the route consists primarily of riding  the LFP to the end and then getting to the green bay trail / north shore trail until you hit the park.

Permalink Reply by Ash L. on July 15, 2012 at 2:15pm

How's the noise there from the Waukegan airport? 

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 15, 2012 at 2:38pm
Oh my nephew and I would love to join you depending on the weekend.
Permalink Reply by S on July 15, 2012 at 4:39pm

I don't remember hearing any noise from the Waukegan airport when we were camping out at the beach park. 

Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on July 15, 2012 at 5:24pm

Same.  I went up there for a weekend last summer and don't remember hearing any planes at all.

S said:

I don't remember hearing any noise from the Waukegan airport when we were camping out at the beach park. 

Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on July 15, 2012 at 5:51pm
Chain o lakes is just okay in my opinion. It can get very buggy. I'm not sure if there is a real swim area. One note of caution: to get to the actual park, you have to cross a long bridge on a busy road in Fox Lake. Be careful of that!

One nice thing about chain o lakes, though, is that it's about a mile away from a pretty cook corn maze. That might be fun for the kids if you go on the fall.

I quite liked Illinois Beach State park.
Permalink Reply by igz on July 16, 2012 at 3:09am

zion does not have noise from the airport but you may hear some buzzing from the reactor.

 

chain o lakes is nice, and you can easily get to the corn maze at richardsons family farm through a subdivision and country roads, but that short little trek across the bridge just after getting off the metra is a disaster.  you will want someone on the rear as a guard, or, if you could, a car or police escort - just to get over that bridge.

Permalink Reply by Ash L. on July 16, 2012 at 3:18am

Ugh, I was afraid of that. I'm thinking that Zion might be the way to go. We'll probably detour a ways through the town to get a real ride in before heading to the camp site. I'm not fond of the path conditions up there (lots of glass and some crossings without curb cuts), being able to easily hop on quiet roads is a plus. 

Thanks for the help friends! I'll wrangle a few families to commit this week before booking a big site and then post up the event here in case anyone wants to hang in kiddie land for a weekend. 

Permalink Reply by igz on July 17, 2012 at 9:29am

the kids would love this!

http://www.fieldcandy.com/cribs/bigtop.htm

 

 

Permalink Reply by Ash L. on July 17, 2012 at 9:35am

I'm sure the powers that be would not mind that I dip into the KM coffers for that. Anyone need a short bus while I'm feeling spendy?

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