10/26/23 This hide has completely changed. No more PAF's! It is much simpler of a hide until I can figure something else out. Please tuck back in properly so it doesn't get muggled. By the way, watch out for muggles here, there can be many at times. Good Luck!!
I first started coming here in the late '80's when I started windsurfing. It has never been the greatest lake for windsurfing but I could get off work at 4, get here, rig, be on the water by 5 & sail for a couple of hours til the sun went down. Due to its size, it was a great place to work on jibes & tacks. Windsurfers have pretty much abandoned this lake for others. Every couple of years I will rig up & go out for old times sake.
Just because the windsurfers have left, doesn't mean everyone else has. Sundays & Wednesdays you can still watch the sailboats race. Rowboats, paddle boats & even kayaks are for also rent here. Fishing is allowed but you need a state license and possibly another one from the park. There is the par 3 golf course with a foot golf course intertwined with it. (Which means, Dragon can play golf with his clubs & I can use a soccar ball to play along side him!) There is a walking path around the east side of the lake with a great playground my kids used to LOVE. In the summers there are bands on Wednesday nights & a movie nights also. There is also a very limited concession stand in the boat/club house in case you need a refreshment of sorts. This place can be VERY muggly.
Wildlife does abound here from fish to snapping turtles, ducks, geese, squirrels, skunks and when we played foot golf a couple of weeks ago, a number muskrats were seen on the course.
I could give you the official history on this place but instead I will give you the version handed down to me by many a sailor. In the late '50's when the expressway was being built, this area was slated by the state for water runoff for the expressway. As the bulldozers were prepping the area one of them unknowingly hit an underground stream & the area started to fill. Before anyone could say or do anything, Lake Opeka was born. The land, now useless to the state, was sold to the park district for the whopping price of $1. Even back then, this was a steal. The park district jumped at the chance to turn it into the area it is today. Another story passed along happened sometime during the late '70's - early '80's. A regular here was messing around with some friends. He decided to drive his jeep out on to the frozen lake. Yep! You got it!! He luckily got out of the jeep in time to watch it sink to the bottom. The jeep is still down there.
As for caching here, this is where we tried for our first geocache hidden by Greenback. We must have been here 6-7 times before I finally realized it was hidden on a bench that was gone. Greenback, being the wonderful guy he is, still allowed us to log it since we had told him that the bench was gone. With that cache being archived, it has allowed me to place one here. So, have fun & hangout here for a bit. I do suggest bringing a soccar ball & checking out the foot golf. It will cost ya about $9 or so to play but I have to admit, it is a nice twist to golf. (Traditional garb not required but may be fun!) Also, don't forget to grab "Fenced In or Fenced Out ?" on the other side of the lake.