Dam East - McNair Campground
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 29 of the next 30 nights read 15:09 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 4847 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Dam East-McNair Campground is situated on the southern shore of Carlyle Lake, a prime getaway for city-dwellers and families. Located 50 miles east of St. Louis, the area offers the peaceful retreat of a small town combined with the grandeur of Illinois' largest man-made lake. Keep reading
Recreation
The area provides fun both on the water and on shore. Boat ramps and courtesy docks are located nearby, and the vast lake allows for plenty of water sports. Fishing is a popular pastime, and the lake offers year-round varieties of fish such as bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white bass, largemouth bass, freshwater drum, carp and walleye. There are multiple playgrounds on-site, as well as a swimming beach. A multi-use biking and walking trail is located a short distance away at the dam.
Facilities
Dam East-McNair Campground has one reservable group picnic shelter that can accommodate up to 80 people, as well as 47 individual campsites (1-32 located within the North and South loops of the campground, 33-47 located within the East Spillway loop below the main dam) that are available to reserve from the current day up to six months in advance. The facility also provides a swimming beach, bathhouses and laundry facilities. McNair has a nature trail and a multi-use trail, and is connected to the Dam East facilities.
Natural Features
Created in 1967, the 26,000-acre lake is recognized as one of the nation's top ten inland sailing lakes and hosts several annual races and regattas. Carlyle Lake is home to an array of wildlife that can be seen throughout the year. Its waters and shores are a resting spot for migratory waterfowl and other birds. There are six established Watchable Wildlife Sites with viewing towers open to the public around the lake. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (618) 594-2484.
Nearby Attractions
The Carlyle Lake Visitor Center, located in the Dam West Recreation Area, has information available and nature exhibits on display, including a 215-gallon aquarium with native fish.
Charges & Cancellations
Camping No Show - Camping no-show customers who do not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by check out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date will be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit their reservation. If the no-show service fee is greater than the reservation amount, the customer will not be charged any additional service fees. Cancellations - A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.
What the agency tells you
Dam East - McNair is 100% reservable, and available for same day reservations.
Dam East Spillway is now its own loop within McNair (Sites 33-47) and is open year-round.
Campsites are single capacity; no double capacity or buddy sites are available
Everything else this campground posts · 9
If the Group Area is not reserved, it will be available on a first-come, first-served basis
The Spillway Loop does not have a shower house, or dump station. Campers are able to use the shower and dumpstation at the entrace of McNair throughout the non-peak season. *Shower House may not be open 7 days/week.
No personal checks or cash are accepted at this time. Credit/Debit card only.
Camping No-Show - Camping no-show customers who do not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by check out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date will be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit their reservation. If the no-show service fee is greater than the reservation amount, the customer will not be charged any additional service fees.
Cancellation Fees - A $10 service fee is withheld from the refund anytime the customer cancels a camping or day use reservation. Depending on when the cancellation is made, it may be considered a late cancellation and additional fees may be forfeited. A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.
Check-out time is 4 p.m. / Check-in time is 5 p.m.
Firewood brought into this facility must be purchased, or collected locally due to invasive insects.
Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.
Click here for a virtual tour of Carlyle Lake
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 48 · 1 group
- Hookups
- 47 electric, 21 water
- Longest rig
- 117 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 15 of 48 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 11 of 48 campsite records
- Showers
- Accessible Showers
- ACCESSIBLE SHOWERS on 11 of 48 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 11 of 48 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 15 of 48 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 25th darkest of 30 in IL
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:09 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 15:03 UTC. See them
OpenBookedClosed
Every one of the 47 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 21 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 15:09 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Camping No Show - Camping no-show customers who do not arrive at the campground or group facility by check-out time the day after arrival or does not cancel the reservation by check out time on the day after the scheduled arrival date will be assessed a $20.00 service fee and forfeit their reservation. Cancellations…” · this campground’s own no-show terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 15:03 UTC
- Dam West CampgroundCarlyle Lake · 2.2 mi · 4 of 108 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:09 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
48 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 47 mapped sitesAll 48 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 46 of the 48 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| McNair Group Area C | C | group standard electric | 20/30 amp | 506 ft | 599 ft | ||
| NORTH LOOP | 21 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 51 ft | 223 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 22 | standard electric | 61 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 51 ft | 193 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 23 | standard electric | 64 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 56 ft | 189 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 24 | standard electric | 97 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 65 ft | 178 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 25 | standard electric | 65 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 65 ft | 242 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 26 | standard electric | 100 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 161 ft | 199 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 27 | standard electric | 57 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 69 ft | 279 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 28 | standard electric | 58 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 69 ft | 328 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 29 | standard electric | 60 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 60 ft | 272 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 30 | standard electric | 73 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 60 ft | 320 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 31 | standard electric | 73 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 108 ft | 410 ft | $20 |
| NORTH LOOP | 32 | type not stated | 74 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 473 ft | ||
| SOUTH LOOP | 1 | standard electric | 75 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 59 ft | 499 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 10 | standard electric | 85 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 61 ft | 521 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 11 | standard electric | 80 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 63 ft | 440 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 12 | standard electric | 80 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 61 ft | 517 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 13 | standard electric | 81 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 63 ft | 409 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 14 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 68 ft | 494 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 15 | standard electric | 81 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 50 ft | 460 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 16 | standard electric | 117 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 50 ft | 441 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 17 | standard electric | 95 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 52 ft | 389 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 18 | standard electric | 75 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 70 ft | 383 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 19 | standard electric | 65 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 72 ft | 324 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 2 | standard electric | 72 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 68 ft | 476 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 20 | standard electric | 70 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 70 ft | 318 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 3 | standard electric | 63 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 68 ft | 424 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 4 | standard electric | 65 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 56 ft | 502 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 5 | standard electric | 61 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 71 ft | 433 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 6 | standard electric | 83 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 56 ft | 513 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 7 | standard electric | 83 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 67 ft | 444 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 8 | standard electric | 88 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 67 ft | 476 ft | $20 |
| SOUTH LOOP | 9 | standard electric | 75 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 76 ft | 474 ft | $20 |
| Spillway | 33 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 104 ft | 208 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 34 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 104 ft | 120 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 35 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 71 ft | 110 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 36 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 70 ft | 179 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 37 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 77 ft | 120 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 38 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 58 ft | 185 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 39 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 130 ft | 201 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 40 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 57 ft | 241 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 41 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 57 ft | 234 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 42 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 81 ft | 240 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 43 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 93 ft | 437 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 44 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 93 ft | 506 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 45 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 106 ft | 503 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 46 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 95 ft | 462 ftKaskaskia River | $20 | |
| Spillway | 47 | standard electric | 20/30/50 amp | 95 ft | 541 ftKaskaskia River | $20 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 48 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Dam East Spillway (Day Use)1.5 mi
Dam West Spillway1.8 mi
Dam West Campground2.2 mi
Coles Creek Campground4.8 mi
Lotus Group Area5.2 mi
Boulder Campground7.7 miFrom I-57, take Old U.S. Highway 50 west for 22 miles to the Dam East Entrance road. Turn north and continue through the four-way intersection to the McNair Group Area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Carlyle, IL
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 22°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Dam East - McNair Campground is in Illinois’s 12th congressional district. Its representative, Mike Bost (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyMike BostU.S. Representative · Illinois’s 12th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRichard J. DurbinU.S. Senator · Illinois
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTammy DuckworthU.S. Senator · Illinois
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois
Dear Mike Bost, I’m a constituent in Illinois’s 12th district. I tried to camp at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 47 of the 48 campsites the agency files at Dam East - McNair Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dam East - McNair Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam East - McNair Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dam East - McNair Campground (Illinois) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois
Dear Richard J. Durbin, I’m a constituent in Illinois. I tried to camp at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 47 of the 48 campsites the agency files at Dam East - McNair Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dam East - McNair Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam East - McNair Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dam East - McNair Campground (Illinois) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois
Dear Tammy Duckworth, I’m a constituent in Illinois. I tried to camp at Dam East - McNair Campground, Illinois, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 47 of the 48 campsites the agency files at Dam East - McNair Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 47 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Dam East - McNair Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Dam East - McNair Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Dam East - McNair Campground (Illinois) via campanac.com