Sangchris Lake State Park

Now deep in summer, our next trip scheduled was a weekend in Springfield in order to visit the State Fair. After a very fun day exploring and meeting folks from the IDNR, we devoted the rest of the weekend to hiking, with the closest park being Sangchris Lake State Park.

Sangchris Lake SP is in Rochester, IL, about half an hour southeast of Springfield, or a 3.5 hour drive from Chicago. It is more than 3,000 acres, and was named for the fact that it is in both Sangamon and Christian counties. In 1964, ComEd built a dam to form a cooling lake for a nearby power plant. Five years later, ComEd deeded some of the land and rights for boating and fishing to the state, and in 1997 the IDNR bought even more land from them.

Sangchris Lake is beautiful. The main road takes you right along the shoreline and over the dam, and further into the park there is plenty of space for camping. In fact, most of the people we saw that day were there camping.

This is another park where there are lots of different activities, and hiking is not really a main focus. The trails are still pretty well maintained, but the lake is the star of the show. When we drove up, we were in awe at how picturesque it all was. We had been planning on hiking anyway, but it was unfortunately a long walk was not in the cards for this trip.

A few weeks prior to our visit, there had been a massive thunderstorm that affected several parks in this region, including Sangchris. We were able to hike for about 10 minutes before we had to turn around because of the trees blocking the trail. The efforts to clear the downed trees had been ongoing, and there were piles of wood chips from ones that had already been cleared. We would have very much liked to explore further, and we expect we will return to give the hiking another go at some point. However, what we did see was very pretty. The main trail option is 3.4 miles, but there are also 20 miles of equestrian trails as well.

As there wasn’t anything we could do to continue forward, we went back to explore the shore more extensively. I cannot overstate how nice this lake was, it would be an excellent choice for fishing or boating.

After we left, we went to Engrained Brewing to get out of the heat. In addition to being a brewery, they are also a farm-to-table restaurant. Because of our partnership with the ICBG last year, we had been put in contact with the owner, Brent Schwoerer, and we were able to get a closer look at their operation. They are hyper-focused on sustainability and using local ingredients, and it really comes through in both the beer and the food. I was very impressed with every beer I had, which was refreshing after how hot of a day it had become. Especially impressive was their hefeweizen, which is the only hefeweizen I have ever liked. If you are in Springfield for any reason, we would recommend a visit here for sure.

We also want to shout out Buzz Bomb Brewing, which is where we went after the state fair. It is right in the middle of downtown Springfield, and is a very good place to come and relax after a capital visit. The beer was all really good, and a lot of the furniture and accents have been designed and built by their crew.

Sangchris Lake SP is a park that is well worth your time, the lake is fantastic and the woods are great, and it was clear to us that even though they were still dealing with the aftermath of bad weather, that there is enough care at this park that they were working to make the trails walkable. Definitely check it out if you are in the area.