Blackhawk Valley Campground
RV Park
Write a Review 6540 Valley Trail Rd Rockford, IL 61109 815-874-9767 Official WebsiteGPS: 42.1838, -89.0464
Overview of Blackhawk Valley Campground
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by TheRoamingNelsons on 10/25/2024
Longest RV Reported: 36 feet (Fifth Wheel)
Reported by snelson600 on 10/12/2019
Weekly Rate Yes
Monthly Rate Yes
Number of Sites 130
Open Seasonally April 15th - October 15th
Elevation 688 ft / 209 m
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Blackhawk Valley Campground
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 815-874-9767
RWCrockett asked on 1/19/2024
How hard would it be for a 45' Class A RV towing a vehicle to navigate the entrance and steep road?
Reviews of Blackhawk Valley Campground 13 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 7 Users
Last reported 10/25/2024
Confirmed by 3 Users
Last reported 8/27/2021
Confirmed by 3 Users
Last reported 10/25/2024
“Free camping in exchange for sales pitch, got our moneys worth.”
Reviewed 10/25/2024
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
| RV Length: | 30' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
Formerly a typical family campground with seasonal campers, it has now been bought out by Venture Out resorts. We signed up for a voucher for 21 nights of free camping at an RV expo in exchange for listening to their 2 hour sales pitch to buy in as members ($10,000+). As other reviews have mentioned, this was a very unpleasant sales pi... more
Formerly a typical family campground with seasonal campers, it has now been bought out by Venture Out resorts. We signed up for a voucher for 21 nights of free camping at an RV expo in exchange for listening to their 2 hour sales pitch to buy in as members ($10,000+). As other reviews have mentioned, this was a very unpleasant sales pitch that came across much like a timeshare (despite them insisting it wasn't). The pitch was largely based around building fear of camping at state parks because of criminals and immigrants. They also spent a good amount of time talking about the problems with people living in RV's and the "cousin Eddies" (we had not disclosed that we are full-timers). During the tour of the campground most of the time was spent talking about how they were working on evicting long-time seasonal/year-round campers and making the campground safer. We were a firm no on their pitch, and after a few attempts to change our mind, they finally gave us the camping voucher.
Fast forward a few months to late July when we redeemed our first nights. Staff was friendly, although our security escort to the site got lost and could not find the site (when they went the wrong way a second time, we split off as we knew where to go). Site was tricky to back in to as roads are narrow and the ground was soft. Overall sites are fine, a good variety of styles and a few nice riverfront ones. Facilities are run down (They claim to be making upgrades) but overall fine. Campground was surprisingly empty during our stay. A handful of seasonals and maybe about half the sites still open.
If this campground was still available to non-members we would probably stay here again, although our preference would be the nearby Rock Cut State Park which offers far nicer sites and facilities at a fraction of the price.
A few other notes, water quality was good, power service was good, good access to nearby activities, steep entry road, little to no cell service.
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Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Horrible”
Reviewed 7/22/2024
| Nightly rate: | $19,000 |
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| Days stayed: | 2 |
| Site Number: | 79 |
Overall Rating
When we purchased our new camper in May of 2024, the dealer told us they were giving us “21 free nights” of camping. Shortly after, Venture Out contacted us to schedule a two-night stay at Blackhawk Valley Resort in Rockford, IL. They explained that in exchange for the free stay, we needed to attend a 2-hour meeting. Immediately, we kn... more
When we purchased our new camper in May of 2024, the dealer told us they were giving us “21 free nights” of camping. Shortly after, Venture Out contacted us to schedule a two-night stay at Blackhawk Valley Resort in Rockford, IL. They explained that in exchange for the free stay, we needed to attend a 2-hour meeting. Immediately, we knew this would be some sort of timeshare pitch but agreed.
We arrived at our site on Friday evening. As we were getting settled in, a man rode up on his golf cart. He was very friendly, pet our dogs, let us know that there would be movie with popcorn after dark and that the next day there was a BBQ at his campsite up by the office. We would later discover this man to be the sales manager. We attended the movie that evening with our 8 and 10-year-old boys and found it very strange that we were the only ones there. The next morning, we got up, and our boys jumped on their bikes to explore the campground like they always do when camping while we relaxed with our coffee. Late morning, we walked around the grounds and found it very odd that it was so empty in the middle of summer (July 13) and that so many of the spots that would be reserved for seasonal campers were empty. We immediately assumed that the sales pitch would be to become a seasonal camper there. We spent some time at the “beach” and our boys swam in the river for a bit before it was time for our 2-hour meeting. While my husband and I were in the meeting, our boys spent some of the time playing board games at our campsite. By the time we got back, they were playing with another boy about their age. We would find out later in the evening that the boy’s family was from Texas and living at the campgrounds for the summer while his dad worked in IL. We listened to the sales pitch and as it turned out, Venture Out had purchased Blackhawk Valley campground the summer prior and was in the process of kicking out the seasons; some of whom had been camping there for 40 years and were trying to turn it into a private campground for members only. The sales pitch was to become a member. Although they kept telling us it was not a timeshare, it sure had the feeling of one. The entire time, the woman we met with, talked about how in California, they passed a law that anyone, even felons could reserve campsites in the public parks, and how things like this will happen in IL soon. She also talked about feeling unsafe camping in Las Vegas when she found out that people working in the area from out of town were living there as seasons and you would never find that kind of thing happening at one of their campgrounds (remember the boy and his family that was playing with my sons?) She kept telling me that a good camping trip is only good when “mamma bear” feels safe and happy. And by becoming private members, we will know that criminals and “Cousin Eddies” will not be camping next to us because they run background checks on everyone they sell a membership to. She even said that they ran background checks on the seasonals that were still at Blackhawk and they had to ask some of them to leave because they came back with records. It all left a bad taste in our mouths. We politely told them no, we were not interested in becoming members. That is when we discovered the man from the night before was the sales manager because he came in from the back and tried to hard sell us. We again said no and they drove us back to our campsite. When we got back, we gave our boys my debit card and told them to walk up to the camp store and buy some firewood. The teenage security guard drove them back to our campsite with the firewood, we thanked her and she went on her way. Fast forward about 45 minutes later. My 8-year-old was playing with the kid he had met earlier and my husband was fishing with our 10-year-old. The same security guard who had dropped off my boys and the wood came back with another woman. They handed me a piece of paper, telling me that it is a written warning. They were claiming that my boys had been in the camp store trying to steal and that they had even overheard them say they were going to steal money from me to buy wood. I explained that I had given them my debit card to buy wood, they had no need to steal. Furthermore, she had driven them to our site less than an hour earlier with the wood. Why didn’t she say anything at that time? None of it added up. They also claimed that they were harassing other campers who were trying to play bags. After they left, I walked over to the men playing bags and asked if my boys had given them trouble. They said no. Turns out they were all seasons who were being evicted from the campground. They asked if we had been told that background checks were run on everyone. I told them yes, and they said it was a lie. Background checks had not been run on anyone. They told us that the campground was so empty because most of the seasonals left because they did not want to become “members”, some were still there just for this summer trying to find alternative places to put their campers, and a few had decided to become “members”. When my husband was back from fishing, I explained to him what had happened and we walked up to the office. By this time, everyone except for the teenage security guard was still there. When we confronted her about her accusations that our boys were stealing and bothering other campers, she stammered and couldn’t give us any straight answers, telling us that the manager would be back in the morning.
It began raining pretty hard, early Saturday evening, so we went inside and called it a night. The next morning, my boys were riding their bikes around while I was drinking my coffee outside and my husband was still sleeping. Within a short time, two men rode up to me on a golf cart, again, handed me a piece of paper, and told me it was a written warning claiming that our dogs had attacked someone. I was thoroughly confused because our dogs were tied up outside next to our camper and I was sitting there drinking coffee. I asked how that was possible when I was sitting there and never saw this happen. They then proceeded to tell me that the dogs could not be staked into the ground, they needed to be on leashes and the leashes needed to be held at all times. Keep in mind, even when these two strange men rode right up to me on a golf cart, my dogs didn’t even bark at them. I woke my husband up, telling him that I was pretty sure they were harassing us because we had said we were not interested in buying into their membership.
I walked down to the office and spoke with the sales manager. I told him about what had happened the night before with the accusation of theft and now our dogs were being accused of attacking someone and I was told they had to be on a handheld leash at all times. I told him that I felt like they were targeting us because we had said no to the membership. After all, the day before, he had complimented us on how polite our boys were and he had come to our campsite when we first got there on Friday and pet our dogs-never mentioning that they needed to be on handheld leashes. He insisted that it wasn’t true and got the general manager. I told him the whole story about how overly nice everyone was until after our 2-hour meeting where we declined membership, and not even an hour later, we were being accused of things and harassed.
We camp almost every other weekend in summer and have been all over the country camping. I can honestly say that we have never had such a miserable experience. Buyer beware when dealing with Venture Out!!
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Great Staff! Beautified Park And Amenities. ”
Reviewed 7/11/2024
| Days stayed: | 2 |
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| Site Number: | 107 |
Overall Rating
I had to change my reservation due to delays because of surgery. The staff was so friendly and always call to check on arrival time. It was very helpful when I got delayed in traffic on the way there.
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Verizon 5G
TravelPatt would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Lovely campground”
Reviewed 9/18/2023
| Nightly rate: | $45 |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
| Site Number: | 52 |
Overall Rating
The drive coming into the campground is down a hill so it’s a little steep. Check in was super easy. We parked in our level spot and hooked up. The best spot is a level spot! The campground iteself is lovely with a big field in the middle with tons of activities. There is a playground, small basketball court, volleyball, tetherball a... more
The drive coming into the campground is down a hill so it’s a little steep. Check in was super easy. We parked in our level spot and hooked up. The best spot is a level spot!
The campground iteself is lovely with a big field in the middle with tons of activities. There is a playground, small basketball court, volleyball, tetherball and mini golf. We played a few rounds of tetherball, mini golf for $4, billiards for $.50 and foosball for $.25 (both of which were inside the store/clubhouse). It was a blast. There’s also a small beach by the river where you can hang and launch kayaks. The bathrooms were very clean as well. Loved this campground after a long day of driving.
Signal was good as well. We didn't even take out starlink, especially for just the one night. The hotspot worked just fine.
WithLoveMelissa would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Nice spot for the kids ”
Reviewed 9/8/2023
| Days stayed: | 7 |
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| RV Length: | 30' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
Beautiful campground with river access to swim. Cute mini golf and play ground, lots of open space for other games. Steep narrow driveway, W/E with dump station, clean showers and laundry. Verizon service was bad and Starlink struggled because we were behind some trees, other spots would have a clear view. There was some noise from the... more
Beautiful campground with river access to swim. Cute mini golf and play ground, lots of open space for other games. Steep narrow driveway, W/E with dump station, clean showers and laundry. Verizon service was bad and Starlink struggled because we were behind some trees, other spots would have a clear view. There was some noise from the airport next door from 11-11:30 every night but didn't bother us.
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Verizon 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Hidden Gem of a campground”
Reviewed 5/28/2023
| Days stayed: | 1 |
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| Site Number: | 65 |
| RV Length: | 32' (Class C) |
Overall Rating
We stopped here for a night while on the road. Very convenient to the interstate yet quiet and peaceful. Lots of trees and birds, large grassy areas and a nice river. I would have liked to stay longer. They have great wifi that makes up for the poor cell service.
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Verizon 4G
Lynne would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Wonderful Campground ”
Reviewed 10/6/2022
| Days stayed: | 2 |
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Overall Rating
Lots of trees and beautiful sites. Staff was very helpful. Activities for children. Nice spots by river and grass for tents. Good place to be
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Verizon 4G
Je917 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Quiet Campground in the trees”
Reviewed 7/14/2022
| Nightly rate: | $40 |
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| Days stayed: | 4 |
| Site Number: | 73 |
| RV Length: | 31' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
This was a quiet campground with plenty of trees. The pull thru sites near the river alternate so your front door is facing your neighbor’s front door. Great if camping with friends, could be an issue with some people. Our neighbors where awesome, we sat around the fire talking for hours. Friendly hosts, nice Mother’s Day breakfast, cl... more
This was a quiet campground with plenty of trees. The pull thru sites near the river alternate so your front door is facing your neighbor’s front door. Great if camping with friends, could be an issue with some people. Our neighbors where awesome, we sat around the fire talking for hours. Friendly hosts, nice Mother’s Day breakfast, clean showers.
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Verizon 4G
jaybird208 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Well maintained park”
Reviewed 8/27/2021
| Nightly rate: | $50 |
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| Days stayed: | 7 |
| Site Number: | 64 |
| RV Length: | 29' (Travel Trailer) |
Overall Rating
The entire park is well maintained and groomed. Nice paths to walk along. Facilities are very nice, only downside is there is no pool.
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AT&T 4G
T-Mobile 4G
mspain9089 would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Mixed review”
Reviewed 10/12/2019
| Nightly rate: | $40 |
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| Days stayed: | 1 |
| RV Length: | 36' (Fifth Wheel) |
Overall Rating
Well, I have to say it is a beautiful campground! Well manicured, Scenic, laid out nicely. Sites are a little tight, intermixed with big old oak trees! Several seasonal homes/trailers here, but beautifully maintain and landscaped! A beautiful walk along the river. Even a small “beach“ for swimming in the river. Ultimate camping experie... more
Well, I have to say it is a beautiful campground! Well manicured, Scenic, laid out nicely. Sites are a little tight, intermixed with big old oak trees! Several seasonal homes/trailers here, but beautifully maintain and landscaped! A beautiful walk along the river. Even a small “beach“ for swimming in the river. Ultimate camping experience! That is until 2 AM. Nearby Rockford airport has a very large UPS and Amazon hub there. The night we were there, UPS had 23 flight scheduled from 2 AM to 3:12 AM. And naturally we heard one take off every seven-ish minutes. The wind was from the west, so of course we heard them as if they were taking off in our bedroom! I checked with the cargo dispatchers and they say yes that is a regular schedule. Unfortunately, despite all the beauty and great camping that we enjoyed, we will not be going back.
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AT&T 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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Amenities
Hookups
- 50 Amp
- 30 Amp
- 20 Amp
- water
- sewer
- Full Hookups
Connectivity
- wifi: free
Recreation
- basketball court
- Game room
- book exchange
- fishing
- playground
- rec hall
- water access
Site Amenities
- big rig
- picnic table
- pull thru
Facilities
- dump station
- laundry
- rv storage
- trash
Discount Clubs
- Passport America
Pets
- pets
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