Sankoty Lakes Resort welcomes public for ‘glamping’ tours at…

SPRING BAY, Ill. (WMBD) — On Saturday, staff at Sankoty Lakes in Spring Bay opened the doors, welcoming people to an open house at the restort.

“We’ve brought ‘glamping’ to the Midwest,” said Janessa Birkland, Director of Operations at Sankoty Lakes Resort.

Birkland said the property is more than 200 acres and features glamping tents on the lakes and streams.

Staff said the owners redeveloped the land to create a weekend destination for families. They said the biggest feature is the mile-long trout stream.

“It’s all man-made, and it pumps from the aquafer lakes here on the property. So it’s the cleanest, purest water around here,” Birkland said. “The fish that we’ve brought in, you can’t find anywhere else in the Midwest but here.”

The resort opened in March, and Birkland said business is steadily growing. She said more guests arrive every weekend.

One guest is Andrew Tyra, who visited with family and friends from Dunlap. He said the short drive for a weekend away was worth it.

“The kids are having a blast. First time fly fishing. It’s just a lot of fun,” Tyra said. “Yeah this is really unique. It’s an awesome place. It has like several different lakes you can fish in. Right behind us here is this trout stream, which is awesome. There’s nothing like this around.”

Besides the “glamping” tents, staff also said there is plenty of space for RV parking.