East Central Illinois boating

Cableguy Greg

My wife and I are contemplating moving to the Champaign/Urbana area of Illinois. Are there any good lakes or rivers that are good for cruisers in that area. Chi town is a 2 hour ride and seems a bit far to have the boat moored there and use it every weekend. Currently in Pittsburgh we spend every weekend on the boat, which gives us a lot of boating time. I would like to be able to do the same, but I can't seem to locate any place with a similar atmosphere in that area.

randy56

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jme097

Why the move? 

Glassguy54

There are not many large bodies of water near Champaign/Urbana. Lake Shelbyville is only 11,000 acres, about the same size as Lake Red Rock in Iowa, "Iowa's Largest Man Made Reservoir". We have been there (Red Rock) and it gets boring REAL fast! 
Shelbyville's water clarity seem ok, 3-6ft. It would be about 3 hrs over to the Mississippi from Champaign. We take our 246 up to Dubuque or Guttenberg about every weekend, but it is just over an hour's drive for us. There is a great web site for lake info for many midwest, southern and eastern states at Lake Browser. Lists all the major lakes, stats about acres, water clarity, depth, fish species, marinas, etc. I refer to it frequently to plan our annual long haul to some of the beautiful lakes that we are not fortunate enough to have in Iowa, Table Rock Lake in Southern Missouri being the most recent, 3 weeks ago. Fantastic Lake! 43,100 acres, 6-10 ft clarity.

Cableguy Greg

jme097 said:

Why the move? 

My wife is from that area and we don't have much family around Pittsburgh to help with watching my 18 month old child. It is in the discussion stage and nothing has been set in stone.

randy56

If you move to the mid west, you will have to ditch the Steelers, and become a Colts fan, LOL caught flying a steelers flag on your boat would'nt be good.

Cableguy Greg

randy56 said:

If you move to the mid west, you will have to ditch the Steelers, and become a Colts fan, LOL caught flying a steelers flag on your boat would'nt be good.

I am a season ticket holder and I bleed black and gold. I will be at the Turkey Day game sporting my colors. I already told the wife that I plan on going to 4 to 5 of the Steelers home games. It's a long **** road trip, but well worth it.

ivy282

Clinton Lake is a good lake for Illinois, it is horseshoe in shape so always a place to get out of the wind. Plus it is warmed by a nuclear plant. That gives you a month or more of boating weather. I have swam in it for years and still have 3 nipples. But overall Illinois doesn’t have any good lakes.

Stodge

We have 1 or 2 nice lakes here in Michigan. Some folks say they're Great in fact.

rinker270nb

Look up the exodus numbers of Illinois as you consider a move.  Then look up the drop in University attendance, it's dropped to the point where state colleges will be closing soon.  Home values are not increasing and property taxes constantly rise.  It's a sensible decision to be near family but look before you leap.  You will see Uhauls leaving Illinois as you are entering.  It's a strange feeling I imagine.

skennelly

@rinker270nb - agreed!  I really can't imagine anyone moving to Illinois.  I think we've been in the running as the worst state for quite some time

Cableguy Greg

This is an old thread, so as of right now, I am staying in Pittsburgh. When I started this in 2016, we were considering the move. If we did make the move, I would slip my boat on the Little Calumet River. I could go thru one lock and be on Lake Michigan.

Cableguy Greg

Well, times have changed. I am moving to Illinois in March. I am now looking for options to slip my boat. I am on a wait list for Clinton Lake. I am trying to talk to admiral into going north, but time will tell. There is a big marina in Hammond, IN along the lake, or the Calumet River would be another option. Hopefully I can get in somewhere. It will be a different boating experience for sure.

skennelly

Hammond is a nice marina...with a casino on premise.  Not far from the city.  Lots of people from chicago have migrated to Hammond because prices are cheaper.  Good luck with the move.

randy56

Congratulations Cable, I looked at Clinton on google maps looks nice.

Dream_Inn

Congrats Greg!  I'm sure you'll find some decent boating around that area.  Good luck and as always, stay in touch!

TonyG13

Marina Shores at Dune Harbor in Portage, IN might be a nice option. Would be about a 2-hour drive from Urbana-Champaign.

captkevin

We boat on Shelbyville &  have for a long time. We also make a couple trips a year to other lakes further away - Lake of the Ozarks, Bull Shoals & Lake Norfork.

You might what to try out both Clinton & Shelbyville before committing to one. We have a house in Sullivan & spend the majority of our time on Shelbyville. Had a camper at Clinton for a couple of years & had fun but it is pretty small but was over a hour closer to our house. In the end we went back to Shelbyville & never looked back.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Cableguy Greg

Looking at the marina in Hammond, IN. According to GoogleMaps, it is 1 hour 45 minutes to the marina from our house. I like the idea of being out on the lake. I don't like the idea of being that far from the boat. I am on a waiting list at Clinton and Shelbyville. Now I need to convince the admiral where to slip the boat at. I am leaning on a dock that I can get out on to Lake Michigan.

TonyG13

And whatever money you don't spend on the boat you can lose at their casino! 

Firefly

Hammond is a great marina, this will be our second year there after being up in Chicago for a few years before that. I love being on Lake Michigan, but a couple things to consider... our season is really slow to get started. The lake is big and cold, and in spring and early summer you might be pushing 90 degrees down south and we might have a nasty 65 degree wind off the lake. The water also takes a really long time to warm up.. probably won't get into the 70s until July.

However, there's a few decent beaches near Hammond, and downtown Chicago is only about 30-45 minutes by boat with a few anchoring spots. Going down the Chicago river is a fantastic trip too. No shortage of things to do up here, hopefully you'll be able to spend a few days at a time and not have to drive back the same day. 

Cableguy Greg

@Firefly thanks for the information. We are used to captive boating, meaning and long trips require going through a lock. We have 16 miles in one pool here, but the others are shorter, some longer. Going to the lake will be a different experience. Currently we spend every weekend on the boat, Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. We would follow the same pattern there. If we end up at a lake down state, we will probably be day boaters.