Castle Rock State Park

For our next park, we finally got out to Castle Rock State Park in Oregon, IL. This is part of a 4-park cluster in Ogle County near the Rock River. Castle Rock has been one of the most requested parks for this project, and is probably the most well known park for this area, and it took us longer to get to than we would have liked due a planning anomaly that we will discuss later. However, when we finally got there we decided it was well worth all the hype.

The earliest history of this area is the familiar story of tribes being forced west by colonists, in this case for a second time. The Sauk and the fox tribes took over this region in 1730, and called the river “Sinnissippi” which meant rocky waters. They were once again forced further west, this time into Iowa. In the early 19th century, Chief Blackhawk led a series of raids on Illinois, attempting to regain the land that they had been forced out of, but was eventually captured in 1831. The story goes that he wanted the beauty of the land to be protected, despite his people’s forced removal. The statue at Lowden State Park is associated with Chief Blackhawk.

The beauty of the land was indeed recognized by the people who ended up living there. In 1921, a volunteer group acquired some of the land and proposed that it become a state park, a mere 10 years after Starved Rock (which itself was only the second state park in Illinois). However, it was not until more than 40 years later after a public funding campaign by a nonprofit that Illinois finally acquired the land.

The drive through the park to the trail we chose was beautiful, with rock formations coming up on both sides, so we knew it was going to be a good day. We opted for the Oak Ridge Trail, which is not as busy as some of the others. It winds in part through the prairie and part up a hill in the forest and was about a mile and a half.

Something to note is that Castle Rock SP is directly across the river from Lowden-Miller State Forest. When we visited Lowden-Miller, we noted that the bugs were worse there than any other park to date. And while we still think Lowden-Miller still had a worse bug situation than Castle Rock, it was still more than average. Bug spray is an absolute must at any of the parks in this region.

However, there came a moment where we stopped walking for a moment and really took in how beautiful the forest actually is. It did not feel like every other forest we’ve become familiar with. It was so green and lush, so serene, and we were the only people there to appreciate it. Even the bugs weren’t as bad in this spot. People have been coming to this place for generations, all talking about “beauty” and we have to agree.

After emerging from the forest at the bottom of the hill, the trail loops back around through the prairie once again, where we passed a photogenic monarch butterfly, and we headed to the overlook.

The “Castle Rock” the park is named after is a sandstone butte overlooking the Rock River and Lowden-Miller SF on the other side. The stairs and platforms have been built up the side and on top of it, very similar to the Starved Rock path overlooking the Illinois River. In fact, we could actually see more as the platform was built above most of the trees. It is a lot of stairs up, but it is 100% worth the trek.

After leaving, we headed to Kennay Farms Distilling in Rochelle. The planning anomaly I referenced was that this distillery is only open two days a week, on Friday and Saturday, and only for 9 hours between the two days. We knew this was where we wanted to visit, as distilleries are much more rare than wineries or breweries, but there had been a 5 month string of Saturdays where we were either busy or it was raining. But much like Castle Rock itself, it was absolutely worth the wait. They make vodka, gin, agave, and whiskey, and every single one was fantastic. The gin in particular was the best I’ve ever had. As soon as I get the chance, I will be going again, and would highly recommend this place to anyone even remotely interested in trying it. They will not disappoint.

This whole experience was one of the best days we’ve had since starting this journey. Since it took so long for us to get here, we were worried it might not live up to our expectations, but we are happy to say that it blew past them. Out of the four parks in the area, this is the one we recommend above all the rest, and it may well be a contender for our favorite park overall.