Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area — Attraction in Illinois

⚠️ Warning: No Paddleboarding or Kayaking Allowed We drove all the way out here planning to paddleboard, only to find out—after inflating our board—that it’s not allowed. Only motorboats are permitted on this body of water. There are no visible signs indicating this restriction, making it incredibly misleading for visitors. Thankfully, a kind boater warned us right before we were about to put our board in the water. He said if the game warden had caught us on the water, we could’ve faced a $500 fine—no warning given. He mentioned friends of his were fined under the same circumstances. To make matters worse, the warden saw us setting up & said nothing. He was waiting to catch us in the act to issue a citation. Be careful—this is a trap for unsuspecting visitors who had no way of...

I have been going here since it opened to fish, go to the visitor center, and walk the trails. On this visit I noticed the visitor center has been shut down for quite sometime as grass is growing in the asphalt parking lot. The boat rental and bait shop are gone. There were only 10 trailers in the lot at 3:30 in the afternoon. I havent fished there since they removed the power plant that generated electricity and provided current from the north side to the south side of the lake. I had alot of great times put there over the years and caught some really nice fish. It's sad to see that it is not being used...

It"s a beautiful place for fishing if your lucky. But hopefully those people that fish there take good care of their trash. Please respect the wildlife and your fellow fishermen. Be responsible for your own trash. Mexican beer bottle and cans was being seen around. Empty bait containers, cigarette boxes etc. If everyone doesn't care about garbage whats gonna happen in our wildlife? Be...