It's easy to get to Rend Lake! Convenient Interstate access makes getting to Rend Lake a snap. Drive Time from.... St. Louis 1.5 hours Chicago 5 hours Champaign 3 hours Springfield 3 hours Paducah 1 hour Nashville, TN 3.5 hours Rend Lake is within 20 miles of Williamson Co. Airport (Marion, IL) and the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport offering daily air connections via St. Louis.