Coon Creek Recreation Area

Campground fee required for beach access since it is campers-only; single electric sites $16/night, double sites $32/night, per shelbyvilleillinois.net (fees pertain to camping, not a separate swim fee).

The designated swim area is a sandy, buoyed beach with calm reservoir water and no boat traffic inside the buoys, which suits young kids, but Lake Shelbyville's USACE beaches (including Coon Creek) are unguarded, no lifeguard is mentioned in any official source, and the campground page separately warns that steep banks make water access difficult from many campsites outside the maintained beach, so supervision is essential.

No significant hike is required. The swimming area is close to parking and access.

Parking is at your registered campsite or the campground's internal roads/lots; there is no public day-use parking lot for non-campers since the beach is campers-only.

Coon Creek Recreation Area has its own boat ramp (per Recreation.gov), confirming motorized/trailered boat launching on-site. The reservoir also hosts multiple full-service marinas nearby (Lithia Springs Marina ~2 mi away, plus Findlay and Sullivan marinas), indicating general recreational boating, including paddle craft, is common lake-wide, though no source specifically confirms paddleboard use at this exact beach.

Campground (and by extension the beach) operates from the first Thursday in April through Columbus Day.

Beach is for registered campers only ('*campers only'), open daily 8AM-sunset; lake-wide safety rules require life jackets, swimming within buoyed areas, swimming with a buddy, no diving, and adult supervision of children; no alcohol permitted in the beach area; no outside firewood at the campground.

Coon Creek Recreation Area is on Lake Shelbyville, a natural reservoir verified in USGS hydrography data.