Illinois State Parks

Yesterday we moved farther north and are staying with the friendly Elks at the Oglesgy lodge for a couple of nights. I called ahead and talked to Doc who was so nice. The lodge was closed at the time, but he said to call him when we got into town and he would meet us and show us around. They have a huge lodge building with three acres of land. It's even right next to the city swimming pool, but unfortunately it isn't open yet. We settled right in.

Today, after Ron's traditional Sunday morning breakfast outing, we checked out the two state parks in the area. We are very impressed with the Illinois state parks. They are beautifully maintained and, I think because they're free, well used. It always makes me happy to see the local people out and enjoying nature.

First we went to Starved Rock State Park. As you can imagine, the name is derived from a sad story. According to the legend, a band of Illiniwek were under attack and took refuge atop the 125-foot sandstone butte. The Potawatomi surrounded the bluff and held their ground until the Illiniwek died of starvation. This is Starved Rock and the Illinois River.



This is Starved Rock Dam and, although you can't see them, there are locks on the far side of the river with a nice viewing platform.

Funny story - The trails in this park were marked better then any I've ever seen and even had a map sign at every intersection. Despite all that, we managed to take a wrong path! It was fine though, we just had a more interesting hike.


Next we checked out Matthiessen State Park. Both these parks have beautiful canyons, bluffs, and rock formations that were carved by melting glaciers. We walked the bluff trail. . .



And along the canyon bottom. Here's Ron skirting the edge of the creek. These pictures are terrible because my camera can't handle part sun/part shade pictures. But unfortunately, it was a gorgeous day - oh, well.



By the end, our shoes were caked with mud. These people had a better idea.