Boat Ramps in Illinois
We list 800 public boat ramps and launches in Illinois, spread across 90 counties. The waterbodies with the most listed launches are Illinois River (56), Fox River (45), Rock River (34), Mississippi River (29), Rend Lake (18).
Listings come from OpenStreetMap; no statewide agency boat-access dataset has been merged for this state yet.
Before you launch: boat registration in Illinois is handled by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and fishing licenses are sold by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Map shows a sample of 400 launches; open a county for every ramp.
Counties in Illinois
- Adams County (7)
- Alexander County (9)
- Bond County (5)
- Boone County (2)
- Bureau County (8)
- Calhoun County (26)
- Carroll County (7)
- Cass County (4)
- Champaign County (7)
- Christian County (1)
- Clark County (3)
- Clinton County (15)
- Coles County (2)
- Cook County (67)
- Crawford County (1)
- Cumberland County (1)
- De Witt County (9)
- DeKalb County (4)
- DuPage County (7)
- Edgar County (1)
- Effingham County (1)
- Fayette County (7)
- Franklin County (16)
- Fulton County (6)
- Gallatin County (6)
- Greene County (1)
- Grundy County (17)
- Hamilton County (3)
- Hancock County (2)
- Hardin County (10)
- Henderson County (3)
- Henry County (9)
- Jackson County (15)
- Jasper County (3)
- Jefferson County (12)
- Jersey County (12)
- Jo Daviess County (7)
- Johnson County (2)
- Kane County (29)
- Kankakee County (7)
- Kendall County (4)
- Knox County (7)
- LaSalle County (15)
- Lake County (42)
- Lawrence County (2)
- Lee County (3)
- Livingston County (1)
- Logan County (1)
- Macon County (12)
- Macoupin County (3)
- Madison County (9)
- Marion County (4)
- Marshall County (2)
- Mason County (6)
- Massac County (7)
- McDonough County (3)
- McHenry County (20)
- McLean County (5)
- Mercer County (4)
- Montgomery County (5)
- Morgan County (3)
- Moultrie County (5)
- Ogle County (5)
- Peoria County (12)
- Perry County (16)
- Pike County (13)
- Pope County (6)
- Pulaski County (5)
- Putnam County (2)
- Randolph County (13)
- Richland County (1)
- Rock Island County (22)
- Saline County (19)
- Sangamon County (8)
- Schuyler County (4)
- Scott County (3)
- Shelby County (12)
- St. Clair County (8)
- Stephenson County (4)
- Tazewell County (13)
- Union County (2)
- Vermilion County (13)
- Wabash County (4)
- Washington County (5)
- White County (4)
- Whiteside County (15)
- Will County (21)
- Williamson County (26)
- Winnebago County (21)
- Woodford County (6)
Popular lakes & rivers in Illinois
- Illinois River (56)
- Fox River (45)
- Rock River (34)
- Mississippi River (29)
- Rend Lake (18)
- Carlyle Reservoir (15)
- Des Plaines River (15)
- Lake Shelbyville (15)
- Ohio River (15)
- Peoria Lake (12)
- Hennepin Canal (11)
- Crab Orchard Lake (10)
- Kaskaskia River (10)
- Lake Decatur (9)
- Lake Michigan (8)
- Wabash River (8)
- Clinton Lake (7)
- Kaskaskia River Navigation Pool (7)
- Lake Springfield (7)
- North Branch Chicago River (7)
- Big Muddy River (6)
- Horseshoe Lake (6)
- Kankakee River (6)
- Kinkaid Lake (6)
- Lake of Egypt (6)
- Kishwaukee River North Branch (5)
- Middle Fork Vermilion River (5)
- DuPage River (4)
- Gages Lake (4)
- Long Lake (4)
- North Shore Channel (4)
- Pecatonica River (4)
- Pohman Slough (4)
- Wolf Lake (4)
- Bangs Lake (3)
- Cache River (3)
- Casey Fork Subimpoundment Dam (3)
- Channel Lake (3)
- Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (3)
- Devil's Kitchen Lake (3)
- Hennepin Feeder Canal (3)
- Homer Lake (3)
- Kishwaukee River South Branch (3)
- Lake Storey (3)
- Little Grassy Lake (3)
- Nippersink Creek (3)
- Potter Lake (3)
- Salt Creek (3)
- Sangamon River (3)
- Spring Lake (3)
- Third Lake (3)
- Apple Canyon Lake (2)
- Belmont Harbor (2)
- Burnham Harbor South Basin (2)
- Busse Lake - Main Pool (2)
- Cal-Sag Channel (2)
- Calumet River (2)
- Cedar Lake (2)
- Clear Lake (2)
- Crabapple Lake (2)
Cities in Illinois
- Chicago (32)
- Decatur (10)
- Springfield (8)
- Ottawa (7)
- Elgin (6)
- McHenry (6)
- Channel Lake (5)
- East Peoria (5)
- Geneva (5)
- Havana (5)
- Rockford (5)
- Aurora (4)
- Cairo (4)
- Des Plaines (3)
- Gages Lake (3)
- Galesburg (3)
- Lemont (3)
- Loves Park (3)
- Machesney Park (3)
- Metropolis (3)
- Mount Carmel (3)
- Naperville (3)
- Pekin (3)
- Peoria (3)
- Rock Falls (3)
- Savanna (3)
- West Dundee (3)
- Alton (2)
- Apple Canyon Lake (2)
- Batavia (2)
- Braidwood (2)
- Carpentersville (2)
- Cave-In-Rock (2)
- Channahon (2)
- Charleston (2)
- Cordova (2)
- Crystal Lake (2)
- Dixon (2)
- Eureka (2)
- Grayslake (2)
- Grayville (2)
- Hennepin (2)
- Hillsboro (2)
- Joliet (2)
- Keithsburg (2)
- Lake in the Hills (2)
- Litchfield (2)
- Macomb (2)
- McLeansboro (2)
- Meredosia (2)
- Moline (2)
- Morris (2)
- New Boston (2)
- Oak Run (2)
- Plainfield (2)
- Pontoon Beach (2)
- Rock Island (2)
- Round Lake Beach (2)
- Shelbyville (2)
- Skokie (2)
- Spring Bay (2)
- Spring Valley (2)
- St. Francisville (2)
- Third Lake (2)
- Vernon Hills (2)
- Wauconda (2)
- Waukegan (2)