Illinois Beach State Park, IL

Illinois Beach is the only remaining beach ridge shoreline left in the state, with dunes and swales, sprawling marshes, forests of oak and vast arrays of animal life and vegetation.

More than 650 species of plants have been recorded in the dunes area alone, including dozens of types of colorful wildflowers. Prickly pear cactus thrives in large colonies in the dry areas, and the wet prairies are carpeted with a wide variety of grasses and sedges. Large expanses of marsh in the swales support dense stands of cattail, grasses, big bluestem and sedges. 

The sandy ridges are crowned by black oak forests with an open, savanna-like appearance. Several kinds of fragrant pines, introduced a century ago, also prosper in the southern area. Just north of the pines is the Dead River, a stream blocked by sandbars much of the year, features an abundance of aquatic plants and fish that belie its name.

Ryan is trying the new bivy, its small and is not self supported. This took a bit of time to get used to. Once inside, the bivy does not allow for much movement but Ryan liked it. https://www.rei.com/product/147956/rei-co-op-superlight-bivy

The campground in the southern unit at Illinois Beach provides 241 Class A Premium sites with electricity and access to showers and sanitary facilities. We were campsite 248.

Happy to be camping again, Ryan does a little lakeside run. The waves cooperate along with the disappearing light to make a pretty memorable scene.

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Sunrises are always special to witness. Today we faced East and had a great morning surprise. Make sure and use the 360 feature to look up and down the lake or sit back and relax to sound of gentle waves.

The sun is awake and we talk about the howling coyotes near our campsite.

We explore our campsite for future reservations. Use the 360 video features to see what campsite 248 has to offer.

We are following the hikes in our “60 hikes within 60 miles of Chicago” book. It’s interesting to see how similar the swamp-ish areas are between IL Beach State Park and the Indiana Dunes.

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A good reminder to check in and confirm your trails are open. This hike ended abruptly and sent us back to the start. Make sure and keep your eyes open for wild life.

The Dunes Trail may be haunted but its worth the hike. Starting inland and working its way toward the beach, this trail leads straight to the beach. Be sure to prepare for swimming if you can.

Its difficult to believe this is Illinois. See the Dunes of Northern Illinois and a beautiful section of Lake Michigan. The Summer conditions and a good camera help make this video very inviting. Put on your VR goggles and enjoy.

The final stretch on the north side of the south branch of IL Beach State Park must have been very popular in the past. This is Lake Michigan at its finest.

A quick video of the main beach area of IL Beach State Park for those who might want to visit. As can be seen in the video there is still a lot of beach left.

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Winter Camping

IL Beach State Park Winter Camping is a different experience. First, there are only about 10 other campers in the whole campground. Second, its all walk-up camping. We arrive after dark, find our campsite and then pay the next morning. There are payment envelopes at the ranger station and we always have 1-2 site specific envelopes from every campsite with us.

Another nice thing about winter camping is the wildlife. For the most part, the local animals hold on to their territory because there are not enough people to scare them off. On this night, we had 2-3 deer hang out with us. The coyotes don’t visit but they sing. Typically, the coyote concert begins at 9pm with new vocal sets every 90 minutes until dawn. Its pretty cool to wake up to in the middle of the night.

It’s about 8am in November and the sun has just come up. It’s cold but beautiful along the lake front. Watch and use the 360° features with our 4K quality video to have the best viewing experience.

We are discussing the Owls talking to each other during the night. Then we talk about the deer at the campsite next to ours. The animal life is really something great during winter camping. We also talk about our winter camping hack: electric blankets. Yes, this is a luxury in the same sense that a wrought-iron pan for eggs and pancakes is a luxury. As we discuss, alternatives for heat that we’d use for back country winter camping are 20x more expensive. Electric blankets are perfect for car camping in the winter at campsites with RV outlets in them.

What’s in our bag? We talk about our clothing and gear for staying warm in winter camping. It’s still November when we recorded this and camping along Lake Michigan helped keep the night temps stable. Look at the color of that sky. Its about 8am, the sun is rising and it’s a beautiful day.

We return to site 256 at IL Beach State Park. Winter tent camping on fallen pine is pretty nice. So are electric blankets.

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning, in the woods, at a State Park. It doesn’t get much better than that. Also, check out that fog! We are exploring campsites 254, 255, 256, 257 in this video as well as campsites 330-350.

We are the only ones at this campsite camping in the winter in tents! My electric blanket broke in the middle of the night (don’t sleep with the power cranked too high!).

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