Great Lakes Naval Training

We were pleasantly surprised by this campground, especially after reading some earlier reviews. First, the Naval base is gorgeous - mix of historical brick-covered buildings and newer builds housing the multitudes of young recruits and trainees. The road to the campground was paved and just fine - the base had repaired any potholes, etc so no issues. The campground was clean, although some of the permanent/seasonal rigs there had messy yards, but it was right on the lake and clean. The sites were smallish, but for our purposes - visiting family in Chicago - worked just fine. Overall a "find" this close to Chicago!!

The people at the marina building are very nice however there’s no hooks at the RV park. They tried to scrape the road and it still ends up with potholes. They increased the rates, with no added value. Only power at RV site, no water or sewage. The grass isn’t cut regularly in the growing season. Management doesn’t seem to be concerned about welfare of patrons. Rules seem to change at random, and you must comply. I think MWR can do better for the quarterdeck of the Navy!

Pros- Beautiful view of Lake Michigan. Nice little sandy beach. Nice playground about 2 miles down the road. Clean and nice bathhouse. Ok laundry room. Everyone we dealt with there was nice and helpful. Cons- If it rains the whole camp area gets very muddy and wet.

We spent 5 nights here in our 44ft 5th wheel toy hauler. There wasn’t an issue with potholes, they were filled on the roads. There was however big flooded puddles around the campground & sites because it had rained. That can be fixed with new gravel. The biggest issue is the very cramped sites. You are on top of each other. We couldn’t even put our back patio down because we were afraid someone’s fire pit would be too close & we would literally be in our neighbors space. We couldn’t even back all the way in cuz we wanted some space in our yard. There are electric only 30/50 sites in the rv park itself & 20 amp in overflow. The potable water fill up & showers are about a 3 min drive up the road & 3 more min to the dump station, laundry & office. The laundry & showers are adequate. The view of Lake Michigan is great if you get the front row or can see it through your neighbors. The have private little beaches & good dog walking. The MWR that runs the rv park I think are more concerned with lake activities than the rv park. They need to spend the time & money & it would be a great place. Because of the extreme closeness it’s very questionable if we’d be back. Commissary & exchange are off base but very nice & good size.

$20 a night, weak WiFi, electric only sites, right on Lake Michigan. Road down to camp paved and in great shape, gravel drive in camp was good, grass was mowed. Beach house (flush toilets & showers) too far away to walk and the in camp “pit toilets” were dirty and full of mosquitoes. Dump site, laundry, and other showers were at the marina (check hours open) were 1/2 mile away. We saw small overflow RV parking closer to beach house that had 110 power and water at sites; had we known we would have parked there!

I don’t see any changes since the review from Deb in 2019. The grass has not been cut in a long time. Road craters are still here. The trees on the road to get here has low hanging branches so you have to weave back and force to get to the campground. Long term campers with trash all over are still here.

Campground offered level sites with electric directly on Lake Michigan as well as all the conveniences of a military installation (BX, Commissary, Movie theater, bowling, snack bar, as well as an MWR office for rental of water-related recreational equipment and discounted area attraction tickets. It was also great to have a major federal hospital near by to get medical prescriptions renewed while traveling. Reservations and check-in is handled Navy Gateway Inns & Suites (Bldg 62). Of course it's only available to service members and retired veterans but it's a great resource if your able to take advantage of it.

100% agree with Deb’s review, we probably won’t stay here again. Great Lakes Navy Base is very nice place and campground is next to the lake. Shame on the management who ruins this beautiful place.

I was not expecting much as the reviews were very bad, but I like to save my opinion to experience things for myself. Which I did, and here are my thoughts. 1. Full time campers with their sites ls full of junk. *see photos. One guy even had an inflatable hot tub, which I could not figure out where he got the water from as all the sites are without water and sewer. 2. Pit toilets were nasty dirty and not cleaned once during our stay. 3. Campsites so cramped you could here water running in the next RV. 4. One full timer had his black/gray tank hose emptying into and open home depot bucket. 5. Showers are dirty and in another building a mile away. 6. Lets not forget the loop road! Pot holes as big as a crater. Thord world countries have better roads than this. This Naval Station is absolutely gorgeous. Chock full of historic buildings and so well preserved. It was utterly shocking to see this gem of a base have such a poorly maintained and embarrassing campground. The view from camping was stunning and should be capitalized on. The CO should be ashamed for not overseeing better management.

Updating Review: Spoke with Harbor Master and he helped us by personally assisting in putting our RV directly on the water. Our toyhauler deck is over water. Excellent staff and beautiful views