Health Department Issues Beach Closures Due to E. coli
Indian Trail Beach in Lake in the Hills is among the beaches that will close until the health department can sample the area again.
The McHenry County Department of Health has closed two McHenry County beaches, including Indian Trails Beach in Lake in the Hills, due to high levels of bacteria.
Also closed is Wonder Woods 4, 5200 Wonder Woods Drive in Wonder Lake, according to a McHenry County Department of Health press release. Meanwhile, Veteran Park Beach, 322 W. State Road in Island Lake, has been placed on advisory.
All of the beaches will be re-sampled. All beaches on the 13 licensed lakes in McHenry County are tested every two weeks for E. coli by the McHenry County Department of Health.
Last year, Indian Trails Beach — located at 228 Indian Trail on Woods Creek Lake — was closed several times during the summer due to high levels of E. coli.
This year, much fewer beach closures have been issued by the MCDH during this dry, hot summer. Heavy rain can often lead to more beach closures as bacteria in water runoff gets into the lakes.
In addition, the location ofIndian Trail Beach at the bottom of a hill has a lot to do with the number of closures, park officials told Patch last year. After a rain, runoff will make its way down the hill and into the lake.
