The boat launch with the deepest channel. The trail to the gorge. The farm stand that takes Venmo. The icon you've heard of and the one you haven't.
A 118-room lakefront resort and marina on the southwest shore, in the Fairfax State Recreation Area — hourly and daily rentals from WaveRunners to pontoons to double-decker yachts through the on-site Paradise Rental Boats, plus wet slips and winter storage.
The rental operation at Paynetown on the lake's east shore, next to the Paynetown General Store and the state park's paid boat-launch ramp — pontoons and fishing boats, the option apart from the Fairfax/Fourwinds side of the lake.
A public swim beach with a gradually sloping bottom next to Fourwinds Lakeside Inn & Marina, plus a playground, tennis court, basketball court, and a small mini-golf course — the developed hub on the lake's west end.
A U.S. Forest Service recreation area on the lake's Hoosier National Forest shoreline — a campground, boat launch, swim beach with playground, and the Hardin Ridge and Ted T. Turtle interpretive trails, part of a 36-mile trail network (Pate Hollow, Peninsula, Grubb Ridge, and more) that makes Monroe as much a hiking lake as a boating one.