About Great Wolf Lodge Chicago, IL 

We Bring Joy to Families

Since opening our first lodge in Wisconsin Dells in 1997, Great Wolf Lodge has grown to 23 locations - and we're still expanding. We are proud to be North America's largest family of indoor water park hotel resorts. Our over 12,000 employees (we call ourselves Pack Members) are dedicated to our mission: Bringing Joy to Families. Every attraction, every experience, and every interaction is designed to create memories families will carry with them long after their visit.

Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee at a Glance

• Opened: July 2018, the 17th location to join the Great Wolf Lodge family, in the former Key Lime Cove resort
• Address: 1700 Nations Drive, Gurnee, IL 60031, near Chicago
• Suites: 414 suites in 10 suite types, from 369 to 1,146 square feet, including standard, themed, and premium suites
• Largest suite: the Deluxe Grizzly Bear Suite, which sleeps up to eight guests in 1,146 square feet; the Deluxe Cabin and Deluxe Wolf Den Suites sleep up to 12
• Guest elevators: 5
• In every suite: mini-fridge, coffee maker, and hair dryer; an iron and ironing board are available by request
• Microwaves: shared microwaves in the vending areas
• Check-in and check-out: check-in at 4:00 pm, check-out before 11:00 am
• Water park: 80,000 square feet, kept at 84°F year-round; open to overnight and Day Pass guests
• Features for young children: Cub Paw Pool and Whooping Hollow, with zero-depth entry and kid-sized slides
• Beyond the water park: MagiQuest, Howlers Peak Ropes Course, Rustic Ridge Climbing Wall, Howl in One Mini Golf, Ten Paw Alley mini bowling, Oliver's Mining Co., Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Northern Lights Arcade
• Meeting space: 8,535 square feet, with four breakout rooms
• Wi-Fi: included throughout the lodge
• Pets: service animals only; other pets are not allowed

Our Story

Great Wolf Lodge originally started as Black Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in 1997, and was one of the country's first indoor water park hotels. From here, we grew into a place where families could escape together, play together, and connect in a way that only a fully immersive resort experience makes possible.

Great Wolf Lodge Chicago / Gurnee sits at 1700 Nations Drive in Gurnee, Illinois, near Chicago. Before it joined the Great Wolf Lodge family, the resort was Key Lime Cove. After Key Lime Cove closed in 2017, Great Wolf Resorts renovated the resort and converted it to a Great Wolf Lodge. It reopened on July 22, 2018, as the company's 17th location, with two new raft rides: River Canyon Run and Double Whirlwind.

Families who want to explore beyond the lodge have plenty close by. Gurnee Mills, Extreme Flight Simulation, and Launch Family Entertainment are all in Gurnee. The lodge's guide to things to do also covers Chicagoland favorites such as Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is on the list too, from the Milwaukee Art Museum to the Milwaukee Public Museum.

As Great Wolf Lodge has evolved, we've continued to innovate:

2000s:

• Great Wolf Lodge opened its second location, in Sandusky, Ohio, originally called Great Bear Lodge, beginning the journey to becoming America's largest group of indoor water park resorts.
• Great Wolf Lodge goes international, opening its first location outside the United States in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
• We added an interactive magical scavenger hunt game called MagiQuest at all lodges.

2010s:

• We added indoor adventure parks, complete with ropes courses, rock walls, and other attractions to complement our water parks.
• The GWL (Great Wolf Lodge) Scholarship was founded. To date, more than two million dollars has been distributed to Pack Members and their families to support their educational goals.
• Lodges began special seasonal activities and events that have included things like a life-size gingerbread house during our winter Snowland, giant spiders made from balloons during Howl-O-Ween, and duck racing down waterslides during the Summer Camp-In.

2020s:

• We launched The Great Wolf Pack, an exclusive animated series, featuring our beloved characters, including:
• Wiley Wolf – The adventurous, energetic leader of the pack. Wiley is curious, brave, and always ready to explore something new.
• Violet Wolf – Wiley's sister. She's creative, kind, and loves music, art, and helping friends solve problems.
• Brinley Bear – Friendly, thoughtful, and dependable. Brinley enjoys nature and often brings a calm, encouraging perspective to the group.
• Oliver Raccoon – The inventive tinkerer. Oliver loves building gadgets, experimenting, and figuring out clever solutions.
• Sammy Squirrel – Full of enthusiasm and optimism. Sammy is playful, energetic, and always excited to join the next adventure.
• We celebrated 25 years of making family memories.
• At Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee, Barnwood, our rustic yet elegant a la carte restaurant, serves Lodge Crafted creations and local wines in a comfortable setting to provide a delicious but relaxed sit-down dining option for guests.
• We rolled out private cabana rental options complete with covered seating, mini-fridge, safe, TV, towels, overhead fan, and space for up to eight guests at all water parks.
• We opened three new fourth-generation lodges in 10 months – our biggest expansion at one time.

Today, with 23 lodges across the United States and Canada, we're proud to welcome more than 10 million guests each year. As we've expanded, we've worked hard to make sure there's a Great Wolf Lodge a short drive away, no matter where you live.

Rooms Built for Families

At Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee, our guest suites are designed with families in mind. Unlike a standard hotel room, our suites are built for families, with layouts that sleep five to 12 guests, so families can be together with enough space to relax after a day of fun.

Each lodge is a little different, but they all feature themed suites which embrace the Northwoods feel, including a separate kids' sleeping area with bunk beds built right into the room, turning bedtime into part of the adventure. Unlike a standard hotel, we love to embrace the fun of a weekend get-away with kids.

At Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee, there are 414 suites across 10 suite types, from 369 to 1,146 square feet. The Deluxe Queen Suite has two queen beds and a twin sleeper sofa for up to five guests. The Family Suite swaps in a full sleeper sofa for up to six. The Deluxe Family Suite offers 485 square feet, two TVs, and a balcony or patio, also for up to six. To make it easy to get to and from your room, the lodge has five guest elevators.

Themed suites put kids' fun front and center. The Wolf Den Suite pairs a queen bed with a bunk bed and a full sleeper sofa for up to six guests. The Junior Cabin Suite also sleeps up to six, with a queen bed, a day bed, a bunk bed, and a twin sleeper sofa. Both come in versions with a balcony or patio.

Premium suites have room for extended families and groups traveling together. The Deluxe Grizzly Bear Suite offers 1,146 square feet, with two bedrooms and two full baths. It has a king bed, two queen beds, a full sleeper sofa, and a balcony or patio for up to eight guests. The Evergreen Family Suite sleeps up to 11 with four queen beds, two sleeper sofas, and two full baths. The Deluxe Cabin Suite and the Deluxe Wolf Den Suite each sleep up to 12, with three queen beds, a bunk bed, two full baths, and two fridges. Accessible versions of many suite types are available.

Every suite comes with a mini-fridge, a coffee maker, and a hair dryer. Irons and ironing boards are available on request. Microwaves are available for shared use in the vending areas. Our spacious suites give families more time to make memories together and less time spent worrying about logistics.

Free Daily Events

Every lodge offers free daily activities for everyone who is staying overnight or visiting with a Day Pass. All these events are family-friendly and include things like morning family yoga, story time, character appearances, arts & crafts, games, and our signature nightly family dance parties.

Character appearances feature the Great Wolf Pack cast — Wiley Wolf, Violet Wolf, and their friends — which we know are meaningful for younger guests. We pay special attention to all the details to make sure our music is fun (and PG rated) and all activities work for every age group and ability level.

At the Gurnee lodge, the daily lineup includes Yoga Tails, Meet the Great Wolf Pack, Arts & Crafts, Epic Story Time, the MagiQuest Ceremony, and our Family Dance Party.

Attractions

Beyond the water park, Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee is full of indoor attractions for every age. Test your courage on the Howlers Peak Ropes Course, balancing on ropes, crossing bridges, and climbing through obstacles from the safety of a climbing harness. Take on the 28-foot Rustic Ridge Climbing Wall, where our staff fits every climber with a safety harness. Play nine holes at the indoor Howl in One Mini Golf. At Ten Paw Alley, shorter lanes and smaller balls make mini bowling fun for everyone from toddlers to teens. Pan for gemstones at Oliver's Mining Co., then visit Northern Lights Arcade and Build-A-Bear Workshop.

MagiQuest is one of the attractions outside the water park that sets Great Wolf Lodge apart from other water park resorts. It turns the lodge into a live-action interactive fantasy adventure game where guests are the star. Players choose a magic wand, top it with extra powers, and set off on a quest throughout the lodge.

Every day, the MagiQuest Ceremony welcomes our newest members into the order of the Magi. Check the Great Wolf app for event details.

Water Park

Water Park Attractions

The indoor water park is the heart of every Great Wolf Lodge: a massive, climate-controlled space kept at a comfortable 84°F year-round, regardless of the weather outside. Inside the water park, expect pools, slides, toddler areas, a giant water-tipping bucket, and much more.

At Great Wolf Lodge Gurnee, the indoor water park covers 80,000 square feet. Adventure seekers head for Coyote Cannon, a 40-foot drop into a water-jet-fueled vortex that spins tubes around the basin before a splash landing. On Double Whirlwind, the whole pack boards a raft and whirls through two vortexes before splashing into the landing pool. Alberta Falls races tandem tubes through four stories of banking turns, outside the building and back in again. River Canyon Run takes the whole family down a curving river in a raft, and Otter Run is a high-speed body slide full of tunnels and quick turns.

For a slower pace, float the Crooked Creek lazy river, catch the swells at Slap Tail Pond, our wave pool, or shoot hoops at Chinook Cove. The four-story Fort Mackenzie treehouse is filled with interactive water toys and body slides, and Totem Towers offers gentle slides sized for small and tall alike. Our youngest guests have their own spaces: Cub Paw Pool welcomes toddlers with geysers, tiny kiddie slides, and an 18-inch "deep" end, and Whooping Hollow has smaller slides just right for little ones.

Open seasonally, weather permitting, the outdoor Raccoon Lagoon pool offers a three-foot, six-inch deep play area with plenty of poolside seating. The water park is included with every overnight stay. For families visiting for the day, Day Passes are available, including a Half Day Pass from 4:00 pm to close.

Safety

At Great Wolf Lodge we take safety seriously. We are proud to have a partnership with Ellis & Associates, the global leader in aquatic safety and risk management. Every lifeguard at our facility is trained through the International Lifeguard Training Program™ (ILTP®). This training includes advanced water rescue techniques and emergency care. Lifeguards must pass both written and practical evaluations and maintain proficiency through regular testing and certification renewals.

We also use the Ellis Aquatic Vigilance System (EAVS) which uses high-definition analytic cameras to help monitor every body of water in our lodges. We combine our diligent and well-trained on-deck lifeguards with the live feeds monitored by a certified lifeguard in the onsite control room to provide even more attention to safety.

Local Events

Plan your trip around some of the area's favorite local events, including Gurnee Days and the Holiday Train. No matter when you visit, Gurnee and the wider Chicagoland area have plenty to explore on your way to or from the lodge.

Our Values

We take our company values seriously and incorporate them into how we treat each other and guests.

• We Are One Pack: We help every Pack Member feel they belong. We assume positive intent, and listen with empathy and curiosity.
• We Improve Every Day: We always reach for more. We value feedback as fuel for growth and stay adaptable in the face of change.
• We Get It Done With Care: We're creative in finding solutions, take pride and ownership in our work, and we celebrate the wins — big and small.

Our Gurnee lodge partners with Visit Lake County, and the two often work together on community events.

Accessibility

To support our mission of Bringing Joy to Families, we want all kids to feel welcome and supported in our lodges.

Sensory Accessibility

We have partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), an organization that specializes in autism and neurodiversity training. You'll find sensory guidelines to help evaluate all water slides, pools, attractions, arcade, shows, and activities. Each item is rated and described for expected sound, lighting, touch, smell and movement. This allows families to plan activities based on their child's sensory preferences before arriving at the lodge. We know, with many kids, a little planning goes a long way.

As part of the IBCCES partnership, Pack Members receive training designed to help them better support autistic guests, sensory-sensitive children, and neurodivergent families.

Physical Accessibility

For guests with physical disabilities, we work hard to ensure guests can experience as many attractions as possible. We offer ADA-compliant guest rooms, accessible entrances and parking, pool lifts, sloped entries, or transfer systems (depending on the attraction), and closed captioning or transcripts for certain entertainment experiences, including MagiQuest content where applicable.

Service animals

Great Wolf Lodge permits trained service animals throughout the resort, including most public areas. Because of health regulations, service animals are not allowed in or immediately adjacent to pools, but they are welcome in other accessible areas of the water park.

Our Leadership

Great Wolf Resorts is led by a team of experienced hospitality professionals united by a shared passion for families, team members, and operational excellence. We are proud that many of our lodge General Managers and Assistant General Managers start as front-line Pack Members. Supporting Pack Members and providing training and professional development is part of how we Improve Every Day both at lodges and at our corporate support center, in Chicago, Illinois.

The General Manager of the Gurnee, Illinois lodge is Brieanna Ruggia, supported by an experienced and professional staff leading Aquatics, Attractions and Retail, Engineering, Entertainment, Finance, Food and Beverage, Group Sales, Guest Services, Housekeeping, Human Resources, Security, and Technology. There is always a manager on duty to support guests with anything they may need during their stay.

Recognition

Great Wolf Lodge has been recognized repeatedly as one of the best family resort destinations in North America, including:

• 10 Best Indoor Water Parks — USA Today (2026)
• Best Family-Friendly Waterpark — WhereverFamily (2025)
• Best Play-filled Water Park - Good Housekeeping Family Travel (2025)
• 24 Best Water Parks in the U.S. - U.S. News & World Report (2025)
• National Family Travel Award – Parents Family Travel Awards (2023)

Great Wolf Lodge is a great place to work, and was cited by Newsweek as one of "America's Greatest Workplaces" for diversity, for women, and for Gen Z!

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Wolf Out With Us

With 23 lodges across the United States and Canada, you are probably just a short drive away from a great adventure for your pack. Each Great Wolf Lodge features our signature indoor water park, themed accommodations, restaurants, a full arcade, and free daily events and activities designed for every member of the family, from toddlers to grandparents.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. Chicago, Illinois www.greatwolf.com

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. is owned by Blackstone.