## Overview

 Opossum Creek Recreation Area has a quiet campground that sits on the western shore of Lake Shelbyville in the heart of central Illinois. The lake and surrounding land offer outdoor activities for people of all ages, including fishing, swimming, picnicking and simply relaxing. [Click Here for a Virtual Tour][1] 
## Recreation

 Lake Shelbyville offers a multitude of fishing opportunities for catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, muskie, walleye, white bass and bluegill. Opossum Creek provides a fishing pond for children age 12 and under with an accessible fishing dock. There are also several other ponds with farmed fish available around the lake. Hunting areas located within a short drive offer numerous game species, including quail, rabbit, pheasant, deer, dove, turkey, waterfowl and woodcock.
## Facilities

 Most of the campsites have electricity and accommodate both RVs and tents, though there are several tent-only non-electric sites as well. Flush toilets, showers, a playground and dump station help create a comfortable camping environment.
## Natural Features

 Opossum Creek overlooks the lake shore and provides plenty of shade. Oak and hickory are the lake region\'s dominant tree species. Foliage turns a variety of red, orange, purple and yellow each fall, while prairie flowers dot the landscape in spring and summer. 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. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Wolf Creek State Park, Woods Lake Waterfowl Refuge and Okaw Bluff Wetlands Complex are popular locations for wildlife watching, birding and hunting near Lake Shelbyville. 

[1]: http://www.photographyoptions.net/images/usace/shelbyville/flash/PhotographyOptions_shelbyville.html

Opossum Creek

The Opossum Creek Recreation area is open year-round for the boat ramp and Disabled / children fishing pond and pier. The campground is only open Memorial Day to Labor Day. I camped here in June, however I did the photography in October so there are no campers in the shots. This campground is only about 6 miles from the town of Shelbyville where there is a Walmart, restaurant’s, gas stations, bait, hardware stores, medical care, the Shelbyville Dam, Beach, City Park with lakeside trails and firewood. This proximity to facility’s makes it popular, so having less than 100 campsites it tends to fill up quickly. It is advisable to book ahead on-line if you want to stay here. The sites are nice and the park is clean, but the sites are close together. The boat ramp is well thought out with tons of parking and being close to town is usually busy in the summer season. This campground is also cared for by the Corps of Engineers and seasoned camp hosts man the gate house at the campground. The disabled fishing pond is well stocked so it is easy for wheel chair bound fishermen to catch their daily quota. I recommend this campground for people with motorhomes, fifth-wheels and campers that want to take in the Shelbyville lake town experience while visiting.

Nice so can be crowded

Plenty of shade. this is an older campground showing some of its age. The few full hook up sites are beautiful. Many of the other sites are out of level. All the site are pretty close to the water.

Many of the campers also have boats here that they anchor right by their sites

Beautiful mature oaks abound

There are  81 sites in total, 17 tent with electric, 17 full hook up  and the remaining are electric RV sites. There are 6 water hydrants in the park that make it easy for all not water sites to fill up with their hose.  There is a dump station, boat launch and fish cleaning station.   There is one main shower and bathroom house with a second bathroom only site.  There are porta-potties at each of the three tent groupings.  There is a children's playground and trails to walk toward the lake and fantastic views.

  

If you don't care about full hook up, try for the sites 39 to 46 and 11 to 34 that offer more privacy.   We were in spot 11 that is  right next to the shower house, but faces away from it and your view is trees and the lake. 

  

Less than 10 minute drive to the town of Shelbyville and the US Army Core of Engineer Visitor Center and dam.  Lots of great fishing around and several marinas if  you don't have your own boat.

Tent sites  have amazing view, RV Full hook-ups close, electric only spaced

We got 4 families from our block together to get down to this campground for the 4th of July weekend. We reserved sites 27, 28 and 29.  27 is right down by the water and has amazing views. We used this as our hang-out and cooking area. I'd suggest getting 27 and 28 as they are kind of on top of each other.  You can't swim right off of site 27 but behind 28 there is a little train down so a swimming cove that is pretty nice. 

As I always do...I got a pontoon boat to take out on the lake.  I'm just a sucker for that kind of thing.  You can get them from Findlay Marina or Lithia Springs. Last summer we camped at Coon Creek and got a boat from Findlay.  It was fine but the drive over the water takes quite a while.  A storm swept in last year and it was not fun taking that boat all the way back up to Findlay. This summer, I went to Lithia Springs Marina to rent the boat and it took about 10 minutes from this campground. Worth the extra 5 minute drive. We got a regular pontoon on the 3rd and the big ol' party barge on the 4th. 

Back to the campground! Sites 27 and 28 are really big. They sit on a big hill with lots of space for the kids to play.  The other sites I saw were more standard sized. 

Bathrooms and showers were clean and nice.

Great Views and well maintained campground. 

We stayed on site 39.  Quiet view of woods and part of cove. Plenty of parking and can walk down to the lake. Water hookup and electric.   Full hookups available closer to front of park.  We like quiet and this site was great.  I tent camp too and the sites at the end of our "leg"  look great.  Even got our kayaks to the water not far from our campsite which was a bonus!  If you have a boat, there is  boat ramp too with large parking lot. Not too far from Shelbyville and the dam also.  Overall a great campground! 