baw, the closest motel will be in Murphysboro. If you like bbq check out 17th st bbq. if you like Italian a little place called cumaries. both are in Murphy. been thinking of trying kinkaid this year. I live about 20 miles from it. It was really muddy. The north end stays fairly dirty much of the time in the spring. have not talked to anyone that has fished it in the past couple of weeks. It can be tough sometimes trying to get a large boat in the lake from the norh ramp at times. They have had problems with siltation in the lake.