Lake County Launches New Boating Website

By: Jonathan Jones 05/24/2013

They don’t call it Lake County for nothing. Home to 75 inland lakes and a beautiful Lake Michigan beachfront, Lake County is the perfect setting for fun on the water. So much so that Visit Lake County recently launched a new boating website, BoatingLakeCounty.com.  This new site will be updated all throughout the boating season, be sure to check back often for new information.

The website is not exclusively about boating, however. It features cool downloadable apps for your smart phone, updated weather conditions, local maps and suggestions for all sorts of fun activities on the water in Lake County.

If you’d like to while away the afternoon canoeing or rafting, you can find listings of rivers and marinas in the area that offer these services. The listings also offer information on sailing and campgrounds where you can canoe all day and enjoy the great outdoors at night.

On this new website, fishermen will find no shortage of locations to cast their reel. Whether you’d like to go it alone for some peace on the water or charter a fishing boat, Lake County can accommodate. From the forest preserves to the park districts to the Lake Michigan shores, opportunities for fishing are abundant in Lake County. At the harbors of Winthrop and Waukegan you can hop aboard one of over one hundred charter fishing boats and sail the blue waters of Lake Michigan. Whatever time of the year you go, you'll find expert charter fishing captains ready to make your time on the water a great one.

Or if you’re looking to spend the day or the weekend with family and friends and want to

have options when it comes to activities, check out the Lakes/Rivers section on the site.

[caption id="attachment_1497" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Sailing off Waukegan Beach by Mike Trahan"][/caption]

From Illinois Beach State Park that offers camping, hiking and biking trails, and picnic areas, to the award winning Lake County Forest Preserves, you’re sure to find something for everyone to enjoy.

Two of the attractions found on the site that offer the most boating and waterfront activities in Lake County are Chain O’Lakes State Park and the collection of Forest Preserves throughout Lake County.

Located in the heart of Illinois' largest concentration of natural lakes, Chain O'Lakes State Park is a water oriented recreation area with outstanding opportunities for boaters, anglers and skiers. The park borders three natural lakes, Grass, Marie and Nippersink, as well as the Fox River. The park also contains a 44-acre lake within its boundaries.

Comprised of more than 6,000 acres, the Chain O’Lakes park includes two campgrounds with over 230 sites with a youth group area that accommodates 150 youngsters, seven picnic areas and trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding with horse rental and horse-drawn wagon rides during the warmer months. Hunting, ice fishing and ice skating are offered in the fall and winter months.

Sprinkled throughout Lake County, you’ll also find a vast collection of forest preserves that offer innovative educational, recreational and cultural opportunities for all ages. The Lake County forest preserves consist of more than 30,000 acres of land and visitors enjoy more than 150 miles of trail for a variety of outdoor recreation uses, fishing ponds and lakes, public access to the Fox River and the Lake Michigan shoreline, award-winning nature and history education programs and events, and three public golf courses. Open from 6:30 a.m. to sunset every day of the year, the forest preserves are home to notable attractions like the Discovery Museum, Greenbelt Cultural Center and Ryerson Woods.

BoatingLakeCounty.com also offers helpful resources for boaters. You’ll find boating

[caption id="attachment_1496" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sailing on Sylvan Lake by Mike Trahan"][/caption]

applications, waterway user fees and sticker information, and boating safety and education materials.

From finding fun to staying safe, BoatingLakeCounty.com is your complete resource for boating and water recreation in northeast Illinois, check back throughout the summer for new information. For more on Lake County and its other attractions, check out VisitLakeCounty.org.