Carlyle Lake is a man-made lake operated by the US Army Corp of Engineers. There are many miles of paved roads and also unpaved trails with crushed limestone surfaces. The roads are all low trafficked and have slow speed limits which make for easy riding. The trails are on top of the Levee System which flank the dam on the east side and are perfectly flat with a nicely maintained crushed stone surface. An abundance of wild life can be seen along the roads and some beautiful views of Illinois's largest man-made lake.