Dam West Picnic Shelters (Shelbyville)

This day use area sits on the southwest shore of Lake Shelbyville in the heart of central Illinois. The facility has a variety of amenities and offers outdoor activities for people of all ages, including swimming, walking trails, picnicking, fishing, boating, and simply relaxing. The area features a public beach, boat ramp and fish cleaning station, and multiple picnic areas. It also features the General Dacey Trail, a multi-use biking and walking trail which extends through the south end of the lake, spillway, the dam, and into the city park. The shoreline is accessible in some areas for fishing; some of the local fish in the lake are catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, muskie, walleye, white bass, and bluegill. There are two picnic shelters. The large group picnic shelter has 11 picnic tables, 2 group grills, 4 flushable restrooms attached to the shelter, overhead lights, 14 electrical outlets, water hook-ups, water fountains, and a large paved parking lot; a sidewalk connects it to the public beach. The ramp point picnic shelter has 7 picnic tables, 1 group grill, flushable restrooms attached to the shelter, overhead lights, 8 electrical outlets, and a paved parking lot. The day use area has a perfect, wide-open overlook of the lake. Numerous species of songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl and raptors inhabit the lake area, as do mammals such as cottontail rabbit, white-tail deer, gray and fox squirrel, muskrat and mink. The Lake Shelbyville Dam and the Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center are located south of the day use area. Directly west are the city park and the town of Shelbyville, which offers small town boutiques as well as eateries to explore.