Cedar Lake

Carbondale was recently named by Outdoor Life magazine as one of the top 200 towns for sportsmen and is home to one of Southern Illinois’ most beautiful recreational facilities right in its own backyard --- Cedar Lake.

Enjoy a day fishing or relaxing on the beach at one of the most beautiful lakes in Southern Illinois: Cedar Lake. The City owns and maintains a public beach and boat dock at Cedar Lake. The beach is best known for its family atmosphere and beautiful scenery and fishermen enjoy regular success reeling in crappie and bass amid the beautiful coves surrounded by towering bluffs.

The beach opens Memorial Day Weekend, starting on Friday, May 27, 2011. Beach hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays. The Poplar Camp Beach sandy waterfront leads to a swim and play area, an area for rafts and floats, and a lap lane. Red Cross certified lifeguards are on duty during beach hours and Cedar Lake personnel and the Carbondale Police patrol the beach. Restrooms, picnic tables, and a concession stand are also available. After August 14, 2011, the beach will be open on weekends only, and Labor Day is the last day the beach will be open for the season. The fee for a single admission is $2.00 and children 4 years of age and younger are admitted free. Ten (10) visit passes are available for $15.00 and twenty (20) visit passes are available for $25.00. Passes bought are good for the entire 2010 beach season and can be used by anyone at anytime.Children twelve years old and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

The boat dock at Cedar Lake allows access to the lake for boats with a ten (10) horsepower motor or less. The lake is located south of Carbondale. To drive to Cedar Lake, take U.S. 51 south to the intersection of Old and New U.S. 51, follow Old U.S. 51 approximately 2 mile to Cedar Creek Road, travel west on Cedar Creek Road and follow the signs to the beach or the boat dock.

We hope to see you there thissummer!

For more information, call 618-549-8441.

Grant Funds To Provide Improvements for Cedar Lake

After thirty four years, Cedar Lake will be getting some needed improvements and repairs. The City of Carbondale, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agencys Bureau of Water and the Division of Water Pollution Control are combining funds to stabilize eroded shoreline and work in the watershed with the goal of keeping leached and eroded soils out of the lake. These efforts will help keep the lake from silting in and will help maintain water quality and capacity for years to come. Much of the City owned land around the lake is hilly woodland. Over time gullies and ravines have developed due to heavy rains and uprooted trees causing erosion of soil into the lake.

Crews will install small dams, water diversion devices, and use other techniques to slow running water and help keep soils from entering the lake. Small ponds that would be used as sediment traps may also be built if the engineering shows it to be the best solution for that part of the watershed. The City boat ramp on the north end of the lake has been chosen to be the staging area for the barge operations. A loading pier will be built just north of the existing parking lot. It is expected number of parking slots may be roped off to allow for dump trucks delivering the rock to maneuver. Barge work is expected to begin in the fall of 2009 or early spring of 2010. Depending on total funding and bids, it is expected that up to 10,000 feet of shoreline will be stabilized. It will take two to three years for the entire project to be completed.

The final phase of the project includes: conversion of the loading ramp into a wheelchair accessible fishing pier, installation of a canoe and kayak launch site, construction of a new comfort station, improvement of existing lighting and resurfacing of the parking lot. Finally, the existing fishing pier will be removed and replaced. Costs are expected to be around $1,150,000 with the City share, depending on future grant funding and financial aid from the U.S. Forest Service, in the $325,000 range. Anyone with questions on the project can call Ted Mieling, Cedar Lake Supervisor, at 549-8441.