In September, I met the Girl Camper Group at Clinton Lake Recreation Area in DeWitt, Illinois, which is just south of Bloomington, Illinois.

The campground is huge, with over 300 campsites! There are 10 loops, and we were in the A loop. It seemed like several loops had trails down to the lake. The shower house was a bit far away, but overall, I really liked the campground. 

The park also has a bike trail that runs from the campground entrance to the beach, which is about a mile long. I really liked riding the trail since it was wide and flat and kept you off the road away from vehicles. 

We also hiked the Lakeside Trail, which takes you around the coves and inlets of the lake and provides some great, wooded views of the lake. We hiked from loop A to the Mascoutin Shelter, which is almost at the end of the trail. We hiked about three miles round trip. 

The next day, we hiked the trails just north of the beach. The trailhead is off a small parking lot, and we started out on the paved, wheelchair-accessible trail and hopped on various other trails that follow the lake and wind through the woods. The All Trails app was really helpful when hiking these trails since they are not really presented on the map below. We hiked a large loop, which totaled about three miles. The trails were wide and fairly flat. 

The next day, we drove to the Parnell Boat Access, which was about 15 minutes east of the campground to kayak. This site was recommended by the ranger. We kayaked under the Liberty Road bridge and explored the lake. Be sure to check out the water lilies towards the back part!!  

This recreation area also has a swimming beach, which was closed while we were there since it was after Labor Day, a boat ramp, which was really busy, and a marina with a restaurant. 

Be sure to check out this hidden gem!