I took this picture on one of the trails near my house in Mokena, IL today.

It’s beautiful outside.  Why don’t you go for a hike?

Being a backpacker in Illinois is certainly more difficult than being one from California, Wisconsin, New York, or a whole bunch of other states in America.  Starting about five years ago, though, I began compiling a list of places within the Chicagoland area that I could travel to for short trips – trips lasting about a weekend or so.

Here’s a short list of some of the places I frequent around Chicago:

1. Buckhorn State Park, WI – The annual trip I take every June with some friends was here last year; sadly, this is not the best place to go in the early summer months.  Our group camped at a hike-in site that was a little over a mile walk from where we parked.  The area was pretty secluded – not too many other campsites around – yet, everything was kept in good order.  We camped on a piece of land set up atop a beach overlooking an expansive lake.

   So why should you avoid Buckhorn in the early summer months?  Insects.  Not just flies, but mosquitos that literally cake the air, and ticks that latch onto your body in bunches.  This trip exposed me to the worst mosquito swarms I’d ever seen, and have still ever seen.  The only thing that saved us were the winds, which blessingly blew hard for most of the weekend and kept the pests away.

   I’d highly recommend Buckhorn for the right time of season, but avoid it at all costs in and around June.

2. Governor Dodge State Park, WI – Gov. Dodge is at the very top of my list as far as places I enjoy visiting.  This is another hike-in campsite, and I’ve visited it more than a few times in the past five years.  They’ve got clean facilities, beautiful campsites, and reasonable prices.  The hike-in areas are a little over half a mile – pretty much all uphill.  There are very few of these sites, so be sure to reserve early.

   This park also has two beaches that aren’t too bad.  It’s a bit more touristy than Buckhorn State Park, which leads to more people ruining the peace and quiet that I consider a necessity to any camping/backpacking trip.  Also, a few of the trails aren’t very scenic – walking you through large barren fields or heavily trafficked paths.  Then again, what are you supposed to expect at a state park so easily accessible?

3. Yellowstone Lake State Park, WI – Yellowstone is primarily a park-in campsite.  That is, all of the campsites are along small roads that wind through the park.  While this is annoying, and generally takes away from the camping atmosphere, Yellowstone was still a delightful camping experience.  An abundance of bats in the park keep mosquitos to a minimum, rangers make sure the park is safe at all hours, and there are a few nice shacks within walking distance (~ mile) that you can grab a bite to eat at.

   Yellowstone is highly commercialized and set up for comfort.  If you’re looking for an original camping experience, I probably wouldn’t recommend going here.  However, if you’re looking for a place where you can cook out, rent a fishing boat, and sit out on a patio overlooking a beautiful lake while eating a burger – this might be your place.

4. Kettle Moraine South, WI – I winged a hiking trip with a friend one weekend out towards the Ice Age Trail on Kettle Moraine South.  We arrived late Friday, and ended up camping outside some restaurant that was renting tent spaces.  That night we got smashed on whiskey and met some shady individuals who we made sure not to meet again in the morning on our way out to the trailhead.

   The next day we hit the trail it was clear we wouldn’t be hiking as far as we’d expected.  About five miles later or so, after walking through beautiful fields and pretty dense forests, we set up camp on a clearing right off the trail.  Kettle Moraine South provides shacks to sleep in, but we decided to pitch a tent anyway (the shacks are not kept clean, but what do you expect?  It’s not the AT).I’d very much like to go back to Kettle Moraine South and do a 20+ mile hike, and I may just do that in late May.  This place seemed to have a lot of potential.

Anyway, I’ll be sure to update this list when I have more places to add and am running on more sleep.  Until then, feel free to leave your suggestions for other great camping & backpacking sites around Chicago in the comments!

The Sierra Club is an established organization that was created in the late 19th century. They do a lot of good environmental work – legal, legislative, informative, or otherwise. They’re also widely respected; a difficult achievement for an environmental organization. I’ve been a member for 3 or 4 years, gone on Outings, went to meetings… and overall, I like it.

But they’re growing old.

I don’t have access to any statistics that might tell me what the average member age is, but I’m guessing it’s right around the time when the warranty starts running out on your body. Not to tease Sierra Club members – they’re some of the most dedicated environmentalists out there today. Yet, at the same time, it’s disappointing to see the lack of involvement by so many people my age in their 20s and early 30s. What happened to all that Obama energy?[1. Anyway, I've been ranting about this for days now to various friends and cohorts, who've all responded by suggesting I read Catch-22. Once I finish up with some more Bukowski, I guess I'll have to head in that direction]

If you’re not a member, you should consider joining. Not to be part of anything, or because I suggested it, but because you learn a lot AND their outings are incredibly well planned and take you through some of the most beautiful pieces of this country. And because I suggested it.

Anyway, I’ll be going on a mid-May trip with The Club[2. The first of several summer trips. Drop me a line if you're interested in "The 5th June Annual Camper", or some other backpacking adventures I've got lined up] @ Hoosier National Forest; I’ll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here’s a few photos from my last Outing to get you interested: