Franklin Creek State Natural Area

Our 51st park visited was Franklin Creek State Natural Area. This park is in Franklin Grove, IL, about an hour and 45 minutes away from Chicago. This was the last one we visited in 2023, catching some fantastic fall colors in late October, and we were so glad to finish up the season with such a surprisingly good park.

Pioneers started settling the area in the 1830s because of the abundance of natural resources, which eventually led to the construction of the grist mill in 1847. Franklin Creek itself was always a popular recreation area, and became an official park in 1982, after a year of local activism to preserve the area. Its conservation association is still very active, with their own website providing significantly more information than the IDNR website.

The park is only 882 acres big, which includes the grist mill building, as well as a 198 acre nature preserve. There are a decent amount of hiking and equestrian trails, with parts of the latter being available for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing, after hunting season is over. 

We arrived at this park knowing very little. We just wanted to get outside to enjoy a clear fall day, and decided to make the drive out here. We drove out to the mill building first, as it was further into the park than the trail that we’d intended to hike. The mill was reconstructed in 1999 and is operational to this day, with it being open to the public on weekends, but it was not open the day that we went. Instead, we walked around the building, taking photos of the surrounding prairie. We had intended on hiking a small portion of the trail listed on the AllTrails app, however, we ended up finding a trail behind the mill building, and going around this instead.

This was the Seasons of Change Trail, an extremely well kept loop trail that winds through the prairie and wetlands. It is dotted with several educational signs dedicated to how Franklin Creek SNA changes throughout the year, and the things you may see during your visit. We felt that this would be a very good place to take kids, due to the relatively short time it takes to complete, as well as how informative it was.

Aside from the educational aspects, this was one of the most beautiful prairie hikes we’ve been on. As with all prairies, we do recommend coming in the spring or fall so the sun is less intense. We visited in late October, and the fall landscape was one of the most picturesque we have seen so far. It is definitely worth a visit.

The creek that the park is named after winds through the park, and is what powers the mill. Towards the end of the loop, we came upon part of the creek with rock outcroppings. We had really not been expecting that amid all the grasslands, and made the already excellent hike even better.

After finishing up our walk here, we started heading back toward Chicago, stopping at Whiskey Acres Distilling on the way. This distillery is in DeKalb, IL, about 45 minutes east of the park. They specialize in bourbon whiskey, and have a rotating assortment of seasonal options as well. We decided to take the distillery tour, which was excellent. Our guide was Patrick, and he was both informative and funny, and we finished our tour with a tasting. If you get the chance to visit this distillery, please do it, you will not be disappointed.

This park truly exceeded all expectations. We cannot recommend coming here enough, especially in the fall. It is yet another example of an unassuming park that turns out to be amazing due to a very active conservation group that really cares about the area. Castle Rock, Lowden, and White Pines are all pretty close to Franklin Creek, and seem to get most of the spotlight, which is a shame as our experience here was just as rewarding.