Campsites plentiful at Rend Lake
Rend Lake in south-central Illinois has a wide-variery of camping spots, and plenty of fun things to do while exploring the area.
Besides camping, there is fishing, boating, hunting, shooting sports, hiking, bicycling, swimming, golf, and many interesting places to visit, including shops and eateries.
If you are looking for a new place to camp, Rend Lake ought be near the top of your list. It is close to anyplace in the Tri-State area, and has 1,100 campsites ranging from full-hookups to remote primitive sites. It’s a place you can always find a level campsite, usually in the shade or on the lake shore.
Rend Lake is just off I-57, about 20 miles south of Mt. Vernon, IL. Located just outside of Benton,campers and other visitors are only about five minutes from most all the local conveniences, such as restaurants, hotels/motels. movie theater, wineries, an opera house, horseback riding, roller skating, bowling, and golf courses.
The lake itself is nearly 19,800 acres at normal level and is surrounded by another 24,000 acres of state and federal land, most of which is managed by the U.S. Army corps of Engineers. In southern Illinois, there is nearly 400,000 acres of public land. The Shawnee National Forest has about 300,000 and Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge totals 48,000.
Rend Lake was built as a joint project by the Illinois Department of Conservation, the Rend Lake Conservancy District, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir was built to provide a dependable domestic water supply to a two-county area beginning in 1965. Construction of the $60 million project took five years to complete with the final filling of the lake in the early 1970’s.
Since that time, many improvements have been made resulting in the current quality facilities that are currently available. Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area was developed to provide public hunting, and other recreational opportunities.
Wayne Fitzgerald State Park on the central part of the eastern shore has excellent camping facilities. Some are located directly on the shoreline with beautiful views of cross lake sunsets. There are nearly 400 campsites, and besides many shoreline spots, others are well shaded.
Corps of Engineers recreational facilities and boat ramps are scattered around the lake. There are nearly 700 campsites. The Visitor Center is located at the east end of the main dam Road.
There is plenty to do for everyone. The Southern Illinois Artisans Shop and Visitors Center is the flagship of three Illinois State Museum shops with samplings of the Illinois Artisans Program. Some of the state’s finest craftspeople offer their handcrafted items. There also is an art gallery in the same building.
The nationally known Red Lake Shooting Complex offers trap, skeet, sporting clays and facilities for archery enthusiasts. It is a state-of-the art facility.
The 27-hole golf course is rated one of the best public courses in the Midwest. It also has a lighted driving range.
Not only will visitors see many types of ducks and geese, but the cranes, herons and even a eagle once in a while. Black pelicans make a stop during their migrations. Deer are seen everywhere as well as raccoons, fox and opossums. Take your camera.
Rend Lake is a relatively shallow reservoir, productive for sport and commercial fisherman alike. All species of fish that are common in southern Illinois can be found at Rend Lake. There is an abundance of large crappie and channel catfish. And the lake has a reputation of being one of the better waterfowl hunting areas in the state.
Mike Hooe, Rend Lake fisheries biologist, says he is really excited about the lake’s crappie, since a creel limit of 25 was established. Of the 25 fish, 15 must be under 10 inches in length.
While some anglers initially objected to the regulations, he said they became very supportive “once the regulations began to work…We have had seven consecutive years of good crappie fishing…We don’t now have the boom and bust year cycles.”
Rend also has good largemouth bass and catfish fishing. The white bass angling is good, but less stable due the dependence on spring water spawning conditions in the feeder streams to the lake. “We have some really good 14-16-inch white bass, and fishing should be good the next two to three years,” he said.
“We don’t stock catfish because we don’t have to…We have a lot of channel catfish and decent flat heads,” he added.
Largemouth bass last year were supported by a supplemental stocking of 58,000 fish, and an enhanced forage base with stocked threadfin shad. The Corps of Engineers also had dumped timbers into the facility to add additional cover.
“This past year, 35 percent of the bass we surveyed were 14 inches or longer<, said Hooe. Should you want to vist the lake, but not camp, beautiful Rend Lake Resort at the north end of Fitzgerald State Park has 110 rooms and a boat slip for each room. Now is a good time to plan a visit to Rend Lake.
Rend Lake contacts:
Rend Lake Visitor Center, 618-439-7430
Fitzgerald State Park, 618-629-2320
Rend Lake Resort, 1-800-633-3341
Todd Gessner Outdoors (fishing and hunting),618-513-0520 (toddgessneroutdoors@yahoo.com)
Contact writer Phil Junker at: outdoorscribe@yahoo.com.
