Spitler Woods State Natural Area: Cardinals thru the Trees

The second park on our kick off weekend in March was Spitler Woods State Natural Area. This is a very small park at only 200 acres, located in Mt. Zion, IL, just outside of Decatur. Unlike the previous day, it was a beautiful, early spring morning that day, and we were able to enjoy a very nice walk through the woods, even though nothing was in bloom and it was a bit muddy.

The park is named after Ida B. Spitler, who donated the land in 1937 in order to preserve it for future generations. She saw the surrounding land have their trees cut down and farms replace them, and wanted to make sure the land she donated would remain relatively undisturbed. That remains true to this day, over 85 years later. There have been some wooden structures built, to make getting down into the ravine easier on the trail, and there have been some buildings erected along with some playground equipment near the entrances, but because she kept the land undeveloped for so long, the park is pretty much the same as it would have been 200 years ago.  There are a lot of trees and plants native to central Illinois that are somewhat rare now.

There are only 3 trail options here: the Red Oak trail, which is a half mile accessible trail, a half mile exercise trail, and the Squirrel Creek Trail, which is a two mile loop that goes much further into the woods and down by the creek itself. It was such a nice morning, so we opted to go on the longer trail. Unlike the previous park, which may have been impossible to navigate in full bloom, Spitler Woods definitely would have been nice to visit in the summer. The trails were all pretty well defined, and I would have liked to see the exceptionally tall trees with leaves on them.

The park is located right in the middle of a residential area, and this is a bit of an oasis of undisturbed nature within it. Because nothing was growing yet, we could still see parts of the neighborhood through the trees. The trees here are so tall and so old, that in the summer or fall this place is probably quite beautiful, especially for being randomly surrounded by houses.

The one upside to coming so early was that it was much easier to see the many birds that live here. We managed to take some photos of a cardinal in the distance, because it stuck out against all the brown.

After finishing up the trail, we headed to get an early lunch at The FourNine. This was an unassuming building with a very small open kitchen, and not very many tables. And it was fantastic. We were able to get mimosa flights, and a chicken bruschetta sandwich that was cooked perfectly and the flavors were great. It seemed as though there were plans to move to a larger building at some point, and we are very much looking forward to coming back here the next time we are in the area.

Finally, we went to Golden Fox Brewing in Decatur. This is a pretty nice venue that often has live music, and offers delicious takes on several classic beer styles. It was founded by two friends who both independently enjoyed homebrewing, and decided to work together to bring their beer to more people.

Spitler Woods is such a nice park, and it’s very surprising for how small it is. We definitely feel like it is worth a visit, even if it’s still very early in the year. And we will probably go back to see how it is in other seasons as well.