Spillway Group Area
October 2026
About
Overview
Spillway Recreation Area— the perfect place to enjoy a wide variety of activities, events, and nature with the best sunsets of Southern Illinois. Rend Lake is made up of 20,633 acres of water and 19,523 acres of land. Whether you're looking for high adventure, a peaceful retreat, or something in between, you'll find it here!
Recreation
Within the area, visitors can access the Rend Lake Bike Trail—over 20 miles of paved pathways that guide riders through scenic woodlands and across views of Rend Lake and the Big Muddy River. The area offers abundant opportunities for boating, hiking, fishing, hunting, swimming, and general outdoor exploration. Additional recreation features around Rend Lake include an archery complex with a 3D trail and elevated shooting platform, a dog park with a swimming feature, and two public swimming beaches (including the pet-friendly North Marcum Beach).
Facilities
Spillway Group Area offers 10 acres for company picnics, weddings, church gatherings, family reunions and many other outdoor events. The area includes a large shelter (250 capacity) with electricity and overhead lighting, an amphitheater (250 capacity), and a small gazebo (30 capacity), a swingset, and direct access to the Rend Lake Bike Trail. The area also offers picnic tables, flush toilets, and drinking water in order to provide a comfortable experience for guests.
Natural Features
The fields, forests, and waters of Rend Lake provide a natural haven for wildlife and an outdoor wonderland for you. Woodland areas are made up of hickory, oak, and beautiful maples providing habitat to white-tail deer, turkeys, racoons, and many more native species. The shorelines are an excellent viewing area for waterfowl, shorebirds, and bank fishing the known crappie population.
Nearby Attractions
Rend Lake Project Office/ Visitor Center
Rend Lake Bike Trail
Contact Info
For facility specific information, please call (618) 724-2493.
Amenities
Phone: 618-724-2493
Is SPILLWAY GROUP AREA fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches SPILLWAY GROUP AREA in Benton, IL for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching SPILLWAY GROUP AREA for cancellations is the paid part.