Cedar Lake Ministries RV Park Good Sam Verified Campground

My husband, 85lb Goldendoodle and I stayed here for 3 months the summer of 2015. We have a 36ft travel trailer with 3 slides, 30amp.. Pros: 1. Excellent Internet included. This park is small and they have Internet just for the rv park that does not include the conference center so speed and coverage was very good. No problems watching YouTube and Netflix. 2. Large sized camping spots with plenty of green area around your fire ring and patio area. Not too close to neighbors if you like privacy... Read More

My husband, 85lb Goldendoodle and I stayed here for 3 months the summer of 2015. We have a 36ft travel trailer with 3 slides, 30amp.. Pros: 1. Excellent Internet included. This park is small and they have Internet just for the rv park that does not include the conference center so speed and coverage was very good. No problems watching YouTube and Netflix. 2. Large sized camping spots with plenty of green area around your fire ring and patio area. Not too close to neighbors if you like privacy and space. If you like peace and quiet, this is the park for you, (with a few exceptions listed below). Non smoking/No alcohol policy keeps rowdy campers away. No problems from staff when we would enjoy our wine from time to time. 3. Very friendly, kind and helpful staff. 4, Decent showers/restrooms. 5. Pets allowed, except for tent campers. 6. On a lake with full access for those who have boats and like to swim. Swimming is allowed in this lake, (not that I would swim in it because it looks pretty filthy). Kayaks available on a limited basis to rent at the main office for $20 per hour for a single passenger kayak. (When they have groups at the conference center, the RV campers do not have access to the kayaks). 5. Generous sized Grocery store, Dollar store, Public Library, and Post Office within a mile of the campground. 6. Close enough to Chicago to take a ride to enjoy the city. (About 1.5 hour drive). Cons: 1. Pricey. For full hookups, 30/50 amp electricity included, water and sewer was 744.00 per month. If you opt for 30amp only with no sewer its a more reasonable rate of 528.00. I'm not sure about the daily rate as this didn't apply to us. In addition, like most campgrounds, they do not offer extended stay discounts for 3, 4, and 5 month stays. That was frustrating. I feel this monthly rate is over priced compared to the competition. Even if you had to pay for electricity based on usage, this is still over priced by $100 or more. There are no special amenities except for the internet. This, in my opinion, does not justify the high cost. At the very least, they should allow campers free kayak access included in the rent if they are going to charge such high prices. Campers are so limited when they can use the kayaks anyway. I get the feeling they know they are overpriced but are taking advantage of the fact that they are the only campground in this area. They certainly need more competition, but that doesn't really make it OK to take advantage of people -- especially a non-profit Christian Organization. 2. Horrible Water. The water in Cedar Lake has quite the reputation in the area for its high sulfur and hard mineral deposits. You'll definitely want to use filters and buy your drinking water. 3. Shower house needs updating and more frequent cleaning. I certainly don't expect shower facilities to be 5 star, but tile floors are literally erupting and cracking and the cleaning crew could clean more often and do a better job. 4. MOSQUITOES are horrible. I think due to the lake and heavy rainfall at times this summer the mosquitoes were unbearable. Most campers were stuck inside most of the summer because they were so bad. I only saw the staff spray 1x this summer and only in the areas where standing water accumulated. Even when I visited family within 6 miles the mosquitoes were not nearly as bad. Something about this location in particular seemed much worse than surrounding areas. 5. The campground is about a football field away from the train tracks with trains 3-4x a day. Not so pleasant. The noise I was referring to above was Lawnmowers, Tractors, Oh My! The campground is next to the facilities garage for the conference center and they use the road that goes straight through the campground to get to the facilities barn. We had to listen to lawnmowers and tractors just about every day/all day except Sundays, starting early in the morning and going until dusk. This was annoying and took away from the camping experience. I'm not sure of a solution, but it would be helpful if they used the main road into the campground rather than the campground itself to gain access to the facilities barn. You would still have the noise, but not as bad. 6. Nothing spectacular about this area. Basically there's nothing scenic here. We stayed here to be close to family. The only appealing thing about this area is access to Chicago and the Indiana Dunes. All in all, it was a pleasant stay and we'll consider coming back. Although the prices will be a very large factor in that decision.
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