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i have some questions first,i want to bring my boat is the lake big is it deep where do you put in at? i had read that you can rent a slip for the day who do i contact? can you watch the races from your boat so you can get closer. is this a place to bring my kids?thank you for all your help
Grass is a pretty good size lake but shallow around Blarney's. there are alot of big boats out there and you should have no problems. Grass lake is connected to 7-10 different lakes that go all the way to the WI boarder, so it depends where you are coming from as to where you should launch. There is a free ramp right by Blarney's at the IL State park. As far as bringing the kids,
as long as they are going to stay on the boat their ok, but they don't allow anyone under 21 after a certain time on Thursday.
Well I am certainly no expert on the area but we where there all weekend with the Midwest Jet Boat Rally and we used the Chain O lakes state park and that is right at the Blarney Island area on Grass Lakes. We saw several big boats putting in at the park and the ramp had 4 nice slots with lots of parking and dock space.
When we left on Saturday night there was a 28 to 30 fountain putting in so the channel can handle your boat I think. I tried to stay in the main channel and my depth gauge read 2 to 5 feet most of the day in all the no wake areas.
Theh out of state 5 day permit was 25 dollars and some of us bought that right at the ramp in the park.
Good Luck
Randy H
I have never used the state park ramp (not even sure exactly where it is) but I've heard that it's a very nice ramp.
kphayes-how safe is the river that far north? Do you need to worry about digging bottom? How many locks?
WHEN YOU SAT BETWEEN 2 AND 5 FEET DEEP ARE YOU SAYING THE WHOLE LAKE. OR JUST A SMALL AREA I RUN A 26 DAYTONA I DONT WANT TO BLOW ANOTHER WATWER PUMP OR MAYBE WORSE.
Hi Dallas,
Well much of the channels between the lakes where reading 2 to 5 feet . The different lakes had varing depths. The deepest I can recall was 25 feet. Most are 5 to 10 feet the best I can remember.
When we parked for the races opposite the race strip from Blarney we where in 3 feet of water.
Sorry I cant help you more. Randy
dorc-I am looking at a map that I bought from the Fox Waterway Agency & Grass lake is consistently shallow. There are Four lakes North from Blarney's, they are deeper than Grass lake. The two Northern most lakes you will need to go under a bridge.(How big is you boat?) As far as locks, there are none North just far South in McHenry connecting to the lower river. (not really worth the trip through the lock.) There are red & green channel markers everywhere to show you where you need to be so I think you will be fine.(alot of big boats out there.) If you are going to use this chain I would suggest buying one of these maps if you are not familiar with it. The Fox Waterway has a web site that I think you can get these from. www.foxwaterway.state.il.us Lots to do on the chain, lots of restaurants and bars. Hope this helps.