Friday afternoon B, H and I met up to play and swim at the beach area of Moraine View State Park. It was great! When we arrived there were only three other families there and by the time were winding up we had the beach to ourselves. Ducks were frequently swimming by and turkey vultures flying overhead. We saw a deer on our way in and got nibbled by fish.
The park is free, beach parking is free, and entrance to the beach is $1 per person. There are no lifeguards on duty, but there is a Department of Natural Resources staff person there. The beach is open from noon to 8 pm, Thursday-Monday, Memorial Day to Labor Day. The beach is pretty good size, probably close to 150 ft wide with trucked in sand. There are two changing sheds and a pop machine and shade trees in the grassy picnic table area. The swimming area is roped off from the boating area and gets about 6 feet deep. The lake is the perfect temperature for swimming. Take a trip there before it closes Labor Day. We'll be going back.
The park is free, beach parking is free, and entrance to the beach is $1 per person. There are no lifeguards on duty, but there is a Department of Natural Resources staff person there. The beach is open from noon to 8 pm, Thursday-Monday, Memorial Day to Labor Day. The beach is pretty good size, probably close to 150 ft wide with trucked in sand. There are two changing sheds and a pop machine and shade trees in the grassy picnic table area. The swimming area is roped off from the boating area and gets about 6 feet deep. The lake is the perfect temperature for swimming. Take a trip there before it closes Labor Day. We'll be going back.
4 comments:
Regarding the pop machines... If you are at all arachnophobic, stay away. I bought a 20 oz Diet Pepsi for $1.50, I slid my two $1.00 bills into the machine before I realized that the area where the bottle would fall was completely inhabited by many large spiders and their densely woven webs. I had to muster up my courage to reach in and extract my soda, and then I had to wipe away all the sticky webs and entombed insects that clung to the plastic bottle. Getting my $.50 back out of the change return required even more strength of will, as it was too small and a dark of a crevice to see what horrors might lie in wait. At the end of the day my horror at leaving behind 50 hard-earned cents overpowered the horror of sticking my finger into the unknown. So, I grit my teeth and stuck my finger in, and got my two shiny quarters back.
We ought to take H & A before the summer ends. Let me know if you are up for it.
Sounds like a good plan to me.
I would like to see a review of other "natural" areas around Central Illinois. Two of my favorites are Lincoln Memorial Gardens in Springfield and Sugar Grove just south of Bloomington.
I do like Moraine View State Park but the only time I was there it was eerily deserted. Must have been off season.
Jennifer
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