Popular Illinois Beach Destination Won’t Be Opening For 2022 Season
I'm not gonna lie, the last two summers have been kind of a bummer. Pretty much all summer fun was either closed or canceled in the Summer of 2020 due to COVID and then there were the staffing issues causing many Rockford-area pools to close last summer.
At this point, everything looks good for summer fun in the Stateline area for 2022. Fair and festivals are scheduled, local pools and summer attractions are hiring and gearing up for their opening day, registration is open for summer camps, there's just the one small setback...
Before you start cussing out road construction for ruining your summer fun, let's try to look for the silver lining in this announcement. So Olson Lake won't be open this summer, BUT the majority of Rock Cut State Park will be. You can still hike, walk, run, bike, camp, skate, etc. at the park, you will just have to use the entrance on 173 to get into the park.
After seeing the above announcement on Rock Cut State Park Concession's Facebook, naturally, a lot of people had questions. Several people wanted to know if the hiking trails near Olson Lake would still be open. Others wanted to know if access to the water for kayaking and other water sports would be available by the pier and ramp area, and the short answer from Rock Cut State Park Concession was;
the Olson annex will be closed completely. The trails throughout the rest of the park will be open.
I also noticed a few people asking if improvements to Rock Cut's camping area would be coming in the near future, and Rock Cut State Park Concession said;
we were told Phase III will be the campground. We have no involvement with this. We just do as we’re told!
So, the good news is, it looks like a major glow-up is planned for the entire park, we just need to be patient and find other ways to enjoy Rock Cut until it is all finished!