Saturday, April 9, 2011

McCollum Lake, IL

This was my first time out on McCollum Lake. It is a nice quite lake that is good for a few hours of paddling. I was only out for a little over an hour and I made it around the lake once at a very slow pace and then floated out to the middle of the lake.

As you can see, the water was flat as could be. There was a breeze from the east, so I really didn't notice it till I got to the west side of the lake. That's when there was some very minor chop.

This is a great little lake to go hang out on. There is plenty of cool houses to look at and the lake gets very shallow near the shore. The cat tales take over in the summer so the usable area of the lake gets considerably smaller. I launched at the Petersen park area and that stays pretty open and cat tail free, but there is a 50 yard portage from the lot to the lake.

If your in the area, I would diffidently hit McCollum lake for a nice relaxing paddle. There are other lakes in the area and you have the Fox River nearby, but there is no user fee on McCollum and I don't see it getting crazy busy in season.

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