Fulton Co. Camping & Recreation Area

The Fulton County Board leases the 440 acres of land, which contains 12 lakes and 134 acres of surface water from the metropolitan sanitary district of greater Chicago. The Illinois Department of Conservation signed a cooperative fisheries management agreement with Fulton County for the lakes in 1985 and then continued this agreement as IDNR in 1995 to the present.

The 4 major lakes at the site are described as follows:

Lake #3 has a surface area of 45.6 acres, maximum depth of 20 feet, with an average depth of 10.0 feet. The shoreline length is 6.3 miles with a watershed of 450 acres. The lake is a long, narrow final cut with an aquatic vegetation coverage of less than 10 percent of the surface. The major aquatic vegetation consists of coontail, curlyleaf pondweed, american pondweed, filamentous algae and duckweed.

Lake #3.5 has a surface area of 15.3 acres, maximum depth of 18 feet, with an average depth of 6.0 feet. The shoreline length is 2 miles with a watershed of 450 acres. The lake is a long, narrow final cut with an aquatic vegetation coverage of less than 10 percent of the surface. The major aquatic vegetation consists of coontail, curlyleaf pondweed and duckweed.

Lake #4 has a surface area of 18.5 acres, maximum depth of 33 feet, with an average depth of 16.51 feet. The shoreline length is 2.1 miles with a watershed of 450 acres. The lake is a long, narrow final cut with an aquatic vegetation coverage of less than 5 percent of the surface. The major aquatic vegetation consists of coontail, curlyleaf pondweed, american pondweed, brittle naiad, water milfoil and small pondweed.

Little Sister Lake has a surface area of 35.8 acres, maximum depth of 25 feet, with an average depth of 10.87 feet. Storage capacity is 388.15 acre-feet, with a shoreline length of 11,550 feet and a watershed of 1,556 acres. The lake is characterized by a long (4,290 feet), narrow (330 feet average width) basin. Submerged trees, logs and stumps are abundant in the upper half and coves of the lake. Extensive littoral areas throughout the lake often contain dense growth of coontail, curlyleaf pondweed and filamentous algae. The upper end of the lake and the back of coves have accumulated leaf litter and sedimentation over the last 48 years. This flocculent material has reduced water depth and created anaerobic conditions in these areas.

2 pole and line fishing only. Boat ramps are available at each main lake.


Largemouth Bass: 12-15" protected slot length limit with 3 fish daily limit
Channel Catfish: 6 fish daily limit
Bluegill and Redear Sunfish: 25 fish daily limit
Muskie: 36" minimum size limit and 1 fish daily limit

Are there places to stay in the Fulton Co. Camping & Recreation Area area?