5 Bedrooms,
2 Bathrooms,
Sleeps 19
Lodge
(4500 sq. ft.)
in Mt Vernon, IL
43.4 miles from East Fork Lake
Please check out the third picture in the photo gallery. It has an arrow that will take you to our YouTube channel and play a 4 1/2 minute video of the property!
We have added five hours to the cleaning crew. Absolutely everything is being disinfected and sanitized for safety. We take this subject very very seriously.
The entire 4000 square-foot lodge is only rented out to one group at a time. It will be 100% exclusive to your party.
This property is located in southern Illinois in the center of the United States. Easy access within 1.5 hours East of the St. Louis Missouri airport (Lambert Field) and we are located approximately 4.5 hours South of the Chicago Illinois airport (Ohara and Midway). This lodge is built out of timbers from the Evansville Indiana railroad station and are approximately 153 years old. The property is surrounded by woods and water. The 1/2 mile driveway brings you back to this secluded retreat with a 15 acre lake in the front yard. This lake provides row boating and paddle boating, fishing, and a beautiful stationary dock with a 14 foot diving board. The 20 acre lake in the backyard is 38 foot deep and has a covered boat dock with a 14 foot pontoon boat and trolling motor for great fishing experiences. A picnic table is situated on this pontoon boat to make for great eat on board enjoyment while you enjoy the wilderness. The primary two species of fish in both lakes are bluegill and largemouth bass. If you hunt deer you are probably reading this with the expectation of harvesting the big bucks that Illinois is known for. We have a separate experience for hunters, and more can be found by contacting us. Keep an eye out to the skies, bald eagles, (our nations national bird) has been seen numerous times through out the year. Deer, Bobcat, Raccoon, Opossum, Fox, Woodchuck (Groundhog), Coyote, Striped Skunk, Weasel, Mink, Muskrat, Badger, Turkey, Dove, Pheasant ( At Wayne Fitzgerald State Park), Geese, Quail, Hungarian Partridge, Rabbits, Woodcock, Squirrel, Crow, Teal, Rail, Snipe, Ducks, Mergansers, Coots, Brant, Waterfowl, Game birds, Fishing, Ginseng, Moral Mushrooms, and more. Don't forget your field glasses, binoculars and telescope. Your only 8 miles from downtown Mt Vernon Illinois, but it's not unusual to pick up planets, comets, and even the space station with the right equipment.
The two-story lodge is over 4000ft.² with an open concept on the second level with three semi private beds/bedrooms that sleeps nine or more. The upstairs bedrooms are semi private. This second level also offers a large bathroom with both a corner shower and a claw-foot slipper bathtub.
The main level offers two private bedrooms, the master bedroom is over 500 ft.² of geothermal heated floors and 15 feet of glass that overlooks the west lake. The main floor bathroom offers a large shower with a sitdown area and a two person air tub with bubbles, and heated back rest. This main bathroom can be entered by either of the main floor bedrooms. Also just added a newly constructed third entrance from the great room to the main floor bathroom.
The main level also provides a large kitchen and a main dining room table that can seat 10 comfortably and up to 14 if necessary. An additional bar and surrounding dining table can seat 7 to 8 more. The family room is very large with geothermal floors and a 60 inch flat-screen TV. Exercise in the family room with bow-flex extreme equipment and a MP3 spirit running track. Top all of this off with a sunken spa/pool. This endless pool is the largest available and the kids will love it. This pool provides approximately 92 degrees temperature geothermalcally heated water and a wave that can be adjusted for endless swimming against the current. Relax at the end of the pool in seated area with Jacuzzi bubbles massaging your body and windows surrounding yourself! The pool has four different depths. 48 inch, 40 inch, 28 inch and 16 inch.
Staying at the lodge reserves the use of all the boats, even the pontoon boat with a bamimi top with trolling motor and 2 batteries. Located on the boat is a picnic table and four swivel seats.
Lakeside ranch is an active cattle farm. If you would be interested in purchasing a fed out black Angus steer, just let us know. Typically the steer will weigh around 1100 pounds on the hoof. We deliver the animal to the processor, and you will pay them around $350 for 600 to 700 pounds of meat! We have cattle being delivered to the processor mid September 2020 and January 2021. The price is $2000 for a steer or $1100 for a half steer. A 50% deposit is needed when your order is placed.
Just added! Cell phone booster antennas. We went from 1 to 2 bars to an easy 3 to 4 bar antenna strength.
The children will enjoy the teeter totter, the clubhouse and slide, swings, sandbox, and a really fast merry go round!
Lake Side Ranch Lodge also provides two grills. A standard size propane grill with a side burner and an extra large kettle grill that burns both charcoal and wood. You can put around 150 hamburgers on this grill!
Newly added LED lights on the west covered dock for nighttime fishing.
Check in time is 5 PM, and check out time is 9 AM. Sometimes we can offer an early check-in or late check out. If this is something that you would desire, we would need to know when your reservation is placed. Extra help for cleaning is brought in when this occurs. There is a $50 per hour additional charge payable when you check in.