Illinois

Pioneers had not seen skyscrapers, so these sheer bluffs seemed like the “streets of a giant city” to them. Thus became the naming of a pinnacle state park in Illinois. Giant City State Park is a paradise for hikers, climbers, campers, and lovers of nature. Parts of the park reminds you of the Mi...

Hundreds of people will drive past this trail and arch on the weekends and never know they just drove past one of the best sights within the Garden of Gods Wilderness of the Shawnee National Forest. It is a few hundred feet off the road on the way to the more popular Garden of the Gods Observatio...

Inspiration Point Trail is a 0.7 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Wolf Lake, Illinois. The Inspiration Point Trail offers a panoramic view of the Mississippi River valley and the Big Muddy bottomlands and is well worth the climb. The 300-foot drop, seven feet to the left ...

Just south of the Lakeview Picnic Shelter is the 53-acre Round Bluff Nature Preserve. Round Bluff has been designated a nature preserve which means that you are only allowed to hike on maintained trails. This is an isolated area of the massive sandstones that form the canyons of Ferne Clyffe Stat...

Rocky Bluff Trail in Southern Illinois is part of the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge near Carbondale. It's a relatively easy loop hike at 1.7 miles. This trail is not stroller or disability friendly. The parking lot is small and requires a $2.00 daily use tag you can obtain at the Crab Orchard Wild...

This easy trail crosses a truss bridge over the Cache River and features a floating boardwalk in the middle of one of the most beautiful and accessible Cypress-Tupelo swamps in the Midwest. There are 10 interpretive panels located along the trail to guide your way. The floating boardwalk section ...

Shawnee National Forest played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad in the mid-19th century. As slaves escaped and headed north, the dense forest and rugged terrain offered natural hiding places. On the route through Pope County, Illinois, freedom seekers often used Sand Cave for shelter an...

The long decorated history of Fort Massac dates back to 1757 during the French and Indian War when this French fort was constructed overlooking the Ohio River in Southernmost Illinois. The French left the fort behind at the conclusion of that war, then was rebuilt and used once more during the Re...

Enjoy the seclusion of this 118-acre lake. After a few miles of unimproved rough road, you will arrive at the spill way of Millstone Lake. The remoteness alone is worth the trip. Kayak, Canoe, or SUP the lake and even extend it up a couple of miles into Bay Creek. Fishing is also enjoyed on the l...

The Nachusa Grasslands is a wildlife restoration and recreational area located near Franklin Grove, Illinois that contains several hiking trails through prarie land with over 700 native plant species and features a 1500 acre enclosure for a bison heard that inhabits the preserve.  The land is cur...

Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site is a nationally significant Native-American archaeological treasure. From about 800 AD to 1500 AD it was the ‘capital' of a chiefdom that stretched from Brookport to Hamletsburg along the Ohio River. Large flat-topped mounds were erected on which the houses and ...

This wandering intermittent creek inside of Giant City State Park only flows in periods of heavy rain or after snow melts. Prior to a confluence with Drury Creek, the path comes to a mid sized shelter bluff wall. What this shelter lacks in sheer size, it made up for in importance to Native Americ...

Like the rest of the park, the Giant City Lodge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's. The lodge's architecture will remind someone of great lodges of the West with its hardwood timber and sandstone blend that has a two story fireplace and rotunda to enjoy one of the be...

The natural area you are now entering is 110 acres of bluffs and forest designated as Fern Rocks Nature Preserve. The reasons this was designated a preserve were to protect not only the sandstone bluffs, but also two endangered plants. The white flowered mint, and the grove bluegrass. many other ...

Mermet Lake Conservation is an old Cypress and Tupelo Swamp that has been turned into a shallow lake by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It was developed in 1949 as a waterfowl hunting destination. Each October the lake is closed and only accessible by hunters, but the Spring and Sum...

Adjacent to the beautiful Bald Knob Cross monument is one of the most scenic drives in Southern Illinois. The road winds and turns through this rugged and remote wilderness.  Highlights along the way for hikers are the Bald Knob trail loop and the linear Godwin Trail which connects into Clear Spr...