10/20 Carlyle Lake, IL

Carlyle Lake is the biggest lake in Illinois.  The lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) as are many of the artificial lakes in the country.  Most of the time, when the Corps creates a lake, they also build recreational facilities, including campgrounds. When I am looking for a place to stay, I always look first to see if there is a COE campground in the area.  I like these for two reasons:

1. They are always very well done.  They have very large, paved camping pads, almost always with electric hookups.  Most importantly, the sites and facilities are in good condition and well taken care of.
2. They are cheap for seniors.  If you are over 62 and have a federal senior pass, you get a 50% discount.  This spot cost me $9 per night, which is about a third of what a state park would cost.

This particular campground is called Dam West, obviously because it is west of the dam.  There are a couple of other COE campground on this lake, as well as a state park.

Note how big this spot is and how even the picnic area is paved.

 Since the weather was so nice, I got my bike out and went for a ride. This is the dam.  

Nice bike path on top of the dam!



This is the beach.  They were taking in the ropes marking the swimming area.

 

 

 

These were some migrating white pelicans sitting away from the wind near an island across from the campground.