Thousand Trails Pine Country — Hotel in Bonus Township

Pine Country Belvidere, IL||Gave it a 1, because we were visiting family||If you bring your own unit, you will find Pine Country has well-kept grounds, clean bathrooms, pool area, and rec room. The people are friendly and approachable.||If you belong to the cabin and trails program, you will find the cabin are clean, and I liked how the linens, including the mattress pads, were in a bag for each bed.||Unfortunately, these are the only positive comments I have about our stay.||The site has pictures of the river, where you can fish. The stairs leading to the river were in desperate of repair. Once we trekked down, we found that there was no longer a path, so we made one by walking through the 4’ tall grass and brush, only to find there was no clearing by the river as in the picture on site.
||Saturday to Monday morning. Our first cabin should have the sofa replaced or have something placed over it, as the faux leather is peeling off in large chunks. On Sunday afternoon, we realized there was no hot water, even though the tank sounded like it was working. We went to the office first thing Monday morning and let them know. They would need to contact somebody, since maintenance was not in. Around noon, I went back to the office and heard another guest tell them her refrigerator was not working and requested another cabin. I inquired about the hot water in our cabin and was told that they were going to try to get somebody out if they could, and if not, the best they could do was move us to another cabin. I expressed how we would be out for the full day, and I was not thrilled about the possibility of having to move when we got back later that night. We returned around 9-10 pm, to find it was not fixed, and didn’t know when it would be fixed. They offered us another cabin.|The second cabin was worse than the first. Monday night, the temperature of the cabin was comfortable, but the water from the shower head was a bit more than a drizzle (reported nothing done). ||Tuesday: See Pics|Both AC units were set to the lowest temperature before we left for the day. We returned around 10 pm to find the cabin at 70+ degrees. The AC in the main room was dripping water and blowing air, and the AC in the main bedroom was also blowing air. I researched the operation of the remotes and units to make sure I was setting them correctly.||Wednesday: |The shower was not fixed. The office was closed when we left and when we returned. When I remembered to call, the office was already closed. The food in the freezer was starting to thaw, and the items in the fridge were warm with moisture on the outside of the containers. We set the controls to coldest.||Thursday: Before we left in the morning, I went to leave a note, but could not find a drop box or anywhere else to leave a message about the AC units and fridge. ||Thursday: See Pics|While out, I bought a refrigerator/freezer temp gauge to check the temp. When we returned that afternoon, the freezer items were completely defrosted, and the food in the fridge was bad. We threw away more than $70 worth of food. We decided not to finish our stay and packed up and...

I’m a Thousand Trails cabin pass holder and pay over $2,200 a year to access campgrounds across the U.S., including Pine Country. This was our second stay here, mainly because we have family nearby in Illinois and if we have events its close enough of a drive. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing on several levels.

To start, the front desk was rarely staffed during our visit, there was no one even available on sunday and we went in around 1230pm. There was no one around to provide assistance or information. During our stay, the power went out and was not restored for well over 24 hours. This created a number of issues, 7 of us no way to shower, cook food, and no air. Only grill is a metal lay across on the fire pit. There also was only three bathroom stalls that were usable during the outage — and they weren’t very clean.

The recreational amenities were also lacking. The pool wasnt usuable while the power was off, and The jumping pillow was deflated on Sunday, so the kids couldn’t use it. There’s a basketball hoop and volleyball net, but no balls available to play with.

The most unpleasant part of our whole stay was an incident involving my husband stopping briefly an parking — literally for a couple of seconds — to speak to our children before leaving. A woman in a maroon pickup truck confronted him, insisting he move his car, claiming the area was "her property." She was aggressive and dismissive, speaking over him even as he calmly tried to explain. This felt incredibly unwelcoming and unnecessary, especially since the spot was right lined up with the electric box on our side of our cabin and the site she spoke of was unoccupied and he wasn’t trying to park long-term, she was reiterating where "he was supposed to park " like he was an idiot. He said nunerous times it was a second, his car was still running and he was on his way out, she continued to tell him he was wrong.It gave the impression that some of the seasonal guests feel entitled, even though we pay the same rate if not more yearly to be here!She said she "pays alot of money to have these sites". I was floored by her behavior. The sites are also close together, leaving little room between "properties" . Additionally, there’s a shed butted right up against the electric box of our cabin — again, supposedly on “her property,” though it appeared no one was even using the site next to us. It was vacant.

To top it off, someone nearby was shooting a gun close to the campground out front of our cabin. We had to bring our kids inside as it sounded very close, just an unsafe situation all around.

The only positive I can mention is that the pool is really nice and big. It’s one of the few amenities that felt well-maintained and enjoyable.

All in all, this visit was frustrating and disappointing. Between the lack of staff presence, power issues, inadequate amenities, and the uncomfortable interaction with other guests, we most likley will not be returning to Pine Country. I expect better from a Thousand Trails location, especially given the cost of...

General Impression: A large campground with transients assigned to the gravel parking lot at the front Cost $89 Value: 1 – The sites available for transient and retail are not worth this amount. We’d be fairly upset if we were paying $89/night for this spot. Campground: Large campground branded Thousand Trails but only 12% of sites actually dedicated to TT members. The sites that are available for TT members are the less desirable sites that are difficult to navigate in or out of the park and the furthest from the amenities.

Campsite # 14 Our campsite was gravel back in with very little grass between the sites. It was wide, but not really long enough for our big rig. The campsite was level left to right, but definitely not front to back. We had full hookups with 50 & 30 #thifty It had a picnic table and fire ring with layover grill attachment. They offer propane refill and dump station. No wifi in the campground, but they offer it at the clubhouse. It is good enough for email and Googling. Starlink is capable of streaming. Verizon is okay for barely email.

Noise level: moderate noise road noise heard outside which was impressive because it wasn’t next to a major road. While we were there they had a concert at the clubhouse until after 11:30PM. We could hear it inside the RV and white noise could not drown it out.

Amenities: Only 3 bathhouses for this large campground. The bathhouse close to the front gate and the one near the pool had been newly renovated. The one at the front was clean. The one at the pool was dirty, had questionable stains, and reeked of sewer. Multiple dumpsters scattered throughout the facility and easily located though some of them were getting quite full. We did find a Laundry room even though it wasn’t listed on the map. It was located in the clubhouse, (not open 24 hours) with only 2 washers and 2 dryers. $1.75 per cycle that requires cash. They have a change machine as well as signs posted that their water contains a lot of iron and be warned against washing whites.

They have a large pool and a playground for small kids. Other facilities: Basketball, volleyball, tetherball, horseshoes, and shuffleboard. Inside the clubhouse they had tabletop shuffleboard, foosball, and pool.

Dog friendly: While they allow dogs, there were no pickup stations and no off-leash area. They did have green space located away from the camping areas to walk your dogs.

Camp store: No camp store they sell ice, firewood, and they have an empty vending machine.

Camp staff interactions: We had several camp staff interactions. The person who called us prior to check in with information was friendly, the one who checked us in seemed confused and unsure about how to give me directions...