Clinton State Lake Recreation Area

This lake is actually enormous and provides plenty of room for boats and jet skis of all sizes! There aren't any homes or private properties along the beaches so you can pull up to any beach and relax. Because the lake is used to cool off machinery used at the nearby nuclear power plant, some areas of the lake are really warm. If you are located by the main cooling area, the temperature can be well over 100 degrees! Highly recommend coming here for some boating if you are looking for a spot within three hours of Chicago.

Very relaxed, fun campground. The beach is a good size, and perfect for something to do while you're here. There is a $2 fee per person for the beach. If you don't have a boat, besides swimming and hiking, there aren't many activities especially for the kiddos.

The bathroom situation here is not ideal AT ALL. You have to be a real trooper to use the "bathrooms" in the camping area. They're really just glorified outhouses or port-a-potties. And they STINK. I'd rather go in the woods or walk all the way up to the shower house, which is also equally if not more creepy. The showers feel very prisony.

Camping spaces for rvs is really nice. There's a good amount of space to spread out, grill, or play whatever lawn games you surely brought along.

all in all, this is great for the adventurer and seasoned camper. Just don't focus on hygiene

Great area and nice campground. The campground bathrooms closest to our spot had run out of toilette paper. When this was brought up to the "camp host" he replied that it wasn't his job. When probed for more he said they were filled last night and someone must be taking it. The toilette paper is padlocked closed and can't be taken. They simply were not restocked. At no point did he offer to help resolve the issue and drove off in the golf cart saying "whatever." Also, the camp host would not let us put up a hammock (for sitting, not for sleeping) in the common area of our loop, of which we had every spot reserved by our group. Great area, just be aware of the camp hosts.

I have been coming to this State Park for over 22 years. Love this park. The DNR Camp host are amazing. The boat ramps are great and Kayla who owns Boondocks Resturant and Bait Shop is the nicest person you will ever meet. This park has huge sites. Some are full hook up, but not a lot of those. Most sites are either 30 or 50 amp, and only have electric. They have two dump stations. Go on the web site to make reservations as this campground fills up fast. The new reservation web site is camp.moreil.com

Clinton Lake is truly an undiscovered beachfront. It's a modest but cute lake with a, well, modest but cute beachfront way out in the middle of nowhere in Central Illinois. No, it it not associated with the Great Lakes- rather, it's a teeny little independent lake in DeWitt. I was the guest of a couple of friends whose karate team came up here for practice, which is how I learned of its existence.

While no Lake Michigan, I still thought this was a cute little place to go. The beach was nice and quiet, even though it was a hot day in the middle of the summer, and the sand had a nice, firm consistency, making it good for walking on and sand castles. The water was still, making it swimmable, and not too chilly for the Midwest. There's also a large grassy area, which makes for a nice place to picnic without having to eat sand.

Just make sure you follow the rules of the park - AND PAY THE $1 ENTRANCE FEE TO THE REALLY BORED LOOKING 16-YEAR-OLD GUY IN THE FRONT! My friend and I didn't know about the fee, and we almost got written up by some cranky small-town park ranger with an attitude. It would've been pretty funny if she hadn't terrified us earlier with her yelling at a group member who'd snuck in his dog, followed by a near-strip-search of our coolers for alcohol (which we didn't bring). Seriously, don't these people have better things to do with their time?

Great park, sites are large and clean. Shower houses are getting run down and need more maintenance. Stores are with in 15 min. The camp store is little. Large lake to fish, ski or whatever. No motor restrictions and no minimum on boat lenght. Restaurant at the campground gets overwhelmed easily and takes a long time for food.

This is my FAVORITE summer swimming spot to spend on my days off. The beach is big enough to have your own private area away from others while laying out or swimming. Family friendly and its a great place to get a nice dark Illinois tan. I love it here. I've been coming every year since I've had my drivers license lol

While reading "review of the day" of a fellow yelper, I came to know about this place. I really owe a big one to that yelper :). Every vacation we travel to distant places, but this 4th of July we decided to stay at home. I was missing traveling and was just remembering my time at LA beach last year. I believe God was listening to me and that's why that particular review was chosen as ROTD. I got so excited that I dragged my husband to this place. It was awesome. It has a small beautiful beach, lovely trails and camping facility. I just stayed at beach so cannot comment about other attractions. Since it was a weekday, it was not that crowded but I can assume that it would be crowded on weekends. Water was warm and nice to take a swim. There is a $2 beach fee per person. Alcohol is not allowed on the beach and it closes at 7 pm. Shower area and restrooms were clean. Shower area closes at 6:30 pm. There is a nice little restaurant located nearby. It was fun to visit and was relaxing.

Wonderful area to stay! It offers a variety of fun things to do! Remember this is a state park and like most state parks in our experience they do not offer laundry facilities. It is very clean and the back in spaces are easy to get into. Lots of area in between you and your neighbor with well kept lawns, bushes, trees etc. I highly recommend this RV park to everyone, families included!

Camp host didn't enforce quiet hours or no alcohol policy in our loop, resulting in a sleepless night next to a large group of partiers.