Comlara Park, IL, August 2026
Park Information
The campground is open year round. Water is available from about April to October. The park website is here.
Warnings
| Poison Ivy: | Yes | Potholes: | No |
| Speed Bumps: | Yes | Narrow Roads: | No |
| Crime: | No | Limited Bridge: | No |
| Camp Residents: | No | Maintenance: | Yes |
| RV @ Check-in: | No | Trees Trimmed: | Most areas |
| Car Fee: | No | Person Fee: | No |
- The lawns are generally maintained. Trails are generally maintained, mowed, and 4 feet wide. Much of the park can be enjoyed without risk of poison ivy.
- Speed bumps
- One speed bump on the near side of the bridge
- Two speed bumps heading to the dump station / beach area
- There may be additional speed bumps on the far side of the bridge
- They limited the park stay to force the problematic people residing at the park to leave.
- Part of the area across the bridge is gravel
- Tree trimming and mowing are generally good. The loop at the end of the spur with site 32 is very small and the tree not trimmed back.
- There is a lane for a single RV to park to check-in. Going to the site or pulling off to the side headed to the campground seems better.
Infrastructure
| Office: | Yes | Boat Ramp: | Yes |
| Camp Store: | No | Shower house: | Yes |
| Rental Store: | Yes | Restrooms: | Yes |
| Nature Center: | No | Roads: | Good |
| Museum: | No | Bridge: | Yes |
| Historic Site: | No | Storm Shelter: | Yes |
| Campgrounds: | 2 | Camp Sites: | 156 |
| Modern Sites: | 0 | RV Sites: | 94 |
- Snacks and soda for sale at the park office
- The near side bathrooms are vault toilets
- Across the bridge, the road for sites 83-126 is gravel
- The bath house and beach house are the suggested tornado shelters. Both have cinder block walls.
Amenities
| Sites: | E 50/30/20 | Laundry: | No (El Paso) |
| Dump Station: | 1 | Washers: | N/A |
| Grey Station: | No | Dryers: | N/A |
| Water Station: | Yes | Slop Sink: | No |
| Recycling: | No (El Paso) | Power: | Semi-stable |
- There is a mix of E 50/30/20 and E 30/20 sites
- Dump station is located in the beach parking lot on the right
- El Paso is less than 10 miles / 15 minutes away
- Recycling is available for plastic 1-7 (remove caps), cardboard, and cans
- Remodeled nice laundromat available.
- Potable water stations are at the dump station and the campground.
- Power appeared stable, except for short (1 minute) outage during severe thunderstorms.
- Water pressure is good, but in 2026, there was a boil order on the water in the bathrooms. It appears to be resolved.
Activities
| Naturalist: | No | Hiking: | 30+ miles |
| Friends of Park: | ? | Kayaking: | Yes |
| Rentals: | Yes | Road Biking: | 5+ miles |
| Pool: | No | Trail Biking: | 10-15 miles |
| Beach: | May-Aug | Mountain Biking: | 0-15 miles |
| Playground: | Yes | Disc Golf: | No |
| Archery: | Yes | Pickle Ball: | No |
| Shooting: | No | Local Attractions: | Yes |
- If there is a friends of the park, they are not very active
- Rentals at the beach area include kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, and pontoon boats
- Archery range is on the far side of the lake across from the Shady Hollow Nature Area
- Kayaking has a $15 watercraft fee for your personal kayak
- Beach is currently closed, due to water testing
Park Overview
Comlara is a McLean County park that is on Evergreen Lake. The park includes multiple fishing docks, boat rentals (including pontoons), monthly boat dock rentals, swimming area (currently closed due to microbe counts), campground, visitor center and many pavilions.
The Campground sites are either non-electric, 30 amp or 50 amp. Water spigots are available in various locations throughout the campground. Campers close to the spigot tend to connect their trailer to the water line. The campsite we stay at, 32, does not have a water spigot nearby.
Three options for restrooms – RV, vault toilets, or bathhouse. Vault toilets are located throughout the park. There is only one bathhouse in the park that is not located near any of the campsites. The bathhouse is on the older side with cleaning in the mornings. The shower stalls are push button for flow. Expect to push the button often to get hot water and then throughout the shower to continue getting water. Only the handicap shower has shower hooks. Bath house water proofing was updated in 2026.
The grass is mowed regularly and kept in good repair. This week the grass around our site has been mowed twice… (Monday and again Thursday).
20% discount on weekly campsite rents. Normal rate is $28 night unless you are a McLean County resident who get $2 / night discount. There is a $10 nonrefundable reservation fee. The park requires 1 night + $10 reservation fee to hold the spot. The full payment due upon arrival. If cancelled, the fee to reserve is non-refundable. They do allow a 1-time transfer.
Most of the sites will need you to level side to side and front to back.
The dump station is not located in the campground area. You have to drive to the swimming area for dumping. The road to the swimming area has 2 speed bumps that aren’t fun with a trailer.
Almost all of the roads were repaved in 2023. The only section not paved was sites 83 through 126. The campsites are grassy gravel.
There is a lot of wildlife – Great Blue Herons, Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, song birds, squirrels, White Tailed Deer, and turtles.
Main Campground Loop
There is a primary campground area for RVs and tents. There also a White Oak Primitive Camp that does not have RV sites. White Oak is not covered here.
Campground Loop Overview
| Sites: | E 50/30/20 | Laundry: | No |
| Dump Stations: | 0 | Washers: | N/A |
| Grey Stations: | 0 | Dryers: | N/A |
| Water Stations: | 10+ | Slop Sink: | No |
| Shower Houses: | 1 | Restrooms: | 1 |
| Private Showers: | No | Vault Toilets: | 1 |
| Hot Water: | Yes | Clean: | Yes |
- There is no dump station in the campground. It is at the beach.
- Potable water stations are sprinkled through the campground
- Several along the water side of the pull through block of sites
- Dual spigot at the campground entry on right past the entry shack pad
- Showers are stalls with curtains and hooks in the main bathroom. Showers control is a push button that can spray from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Two normal and one handicap shower per gender.
- Restrooms are reasonably clean. Vault toilets are clean, except for the flies and spiders.
Site 32
| Type: | Back-in | Pad: | No |
| Utilities: | E 50/30/20 | Pad Length: | N/A |
| Length: | 70 ft | Pad Type: | N/A |
| Width: | 14 ft | Shade: | PM |
| Driveway: | Gravel | Fire Ring: | Yes |
| Front Slope: | Slight | Restroom: | 350 ft / 1200 ft |
| Side Slope: | Severe | View: | No |
| Difficulty: | Moderate | Quiet: | Yes |
| Fits Cars: | Side-by-side | Channels: | 7 |
| Provider | Down | Up | Latency | Jitter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile 4G: | 17 – 22 | 0.1 – 0.6 | 41 – 57 | |
| Cricket Mobile 4G: | 39 – 56 | 0.25 – 2.5 | 20 – 23 | |
| Crickey Mobile 5G: | 42 – 49 | 1.0 – 2.7 | 20 – 26 | |
| Starlink: | 132 – 227 | 17 – 32 | 20-25 | 4-11 |
- The site is angled the wrong way for backing in as you drive into the loop. An untrimmed tree in the turn about means larger RVs want to back in from the drive in. It is manageable, but it is better with no one parked across the street.
- Large grassy site with one large tree in the back left of the site.
- Starlink is unobstructed siting on the ground in the front right of the site.
- Severe slope side to side reques two thick boards and possibly a thin one.
- Slight down slope front to back
- Site gets a little muddy in the rain, but not badly.
- Channels include CBS, Laff, Bounce, Mystery
Site 7
| Type: | Pull-through | Pad: | No |
| Utilities: | E 50/30/20 | Pad Length: | N/A |
| Length: | 120 ft | Pad Type: | N/A |
| Width: | 11 ft | Shade: | No |
| Driveway: | Gravel | Fire Ring: | Yes |
| Front Slope: | Flat to Moderate | Restroom: | 150 ft / 950 ft |
| Side Slope | Slight | View: | Partial |
| Difficulty: | Easy | Quiet: | Yes |
| Fits Cars: | Inline | Channels: |
| Provider | Down | Up | Latency | Jitter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile: | ||||
| Cricket Mobile: | ||||
| Starlink: | 190 – 230 | 18 – 32 | 18 – 26 | 5 – 7 |
- Long pull through site
- Large grassy site with a small tree on either side. no poison ivy in site.
- From main road, turn in wide to avoid hitting the site marker.
- In the middle, slight slight side to side that requires one thing board
- Front to back moderate slope up to flat in the middle to slight slope down
- Enter from side road for short stay, down slope should allow for level without unhooking.
- Minimal water pooling.
- Starlink mounted on ladder with RV roughly centered in the site
- Water spigot 30′ from RV
Alternate Sites
- Site 6, E 50/30/20, 125 ft pull through, water spigot between 6 and 7, (mostly) unobstructed Starlink
Driving Directions
To the park
From the park
Medical Facilities
- SmartVet – From an internet search with reviews. They appear competent, but maybe not superior. Surgery vets appear to do what they want, not what you ask.
- (309) 830 – 6454
- 1537 Fort Jesse Road, Normal, IL 61761
- Town & County Vet – Local recommendation. Not used. Good reviews.
- (309) 452-1717
- 901 N Linden St, Normal, IL 61761
- Carle BroMenn ER
- 1304 Franklin Avenue, Normal, IL 61761
- OSF St Joseph Medical Center ER
- 2200 E Washington St, Bloomington, IL 61701
Attractions
- Arcadia Playable Pinball Museum, McLean, IL
- Caterpillar Museum, Peoria, IL
- McLean County Museum, Bloomington, IL
- Pontiac Oakland Auto Museum, Pontiac, IL
- Route 66 Museum, Pontiac, IL
- Swinging Bridges, Pontiac, IL