After a very good start to the year with Kickapoo SRA, we weren’t able to go out hiking again until 4th of July weekend, due to the combination of unexpectedly busy schedules and the cicadas being out in full force. So to get back into it, we decided to finish up the parks around Peoria. We visited Peoria in 2022, as our first dedicated hiking weekend. It was kind of surreal coming back two years later, with the advantage of really understanding our limits and a more solid approach to hiking weekends. The parks we visited this time around were Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area, and Jubilee College State Park. The first two are located in Canton, IL, with Jubilee College SP in Brimfield, IL; all three are between 20 and 30 min west of Peoria, or about 3 hours southwest of Chicago.
We started out by heading to Rice Lake SFWA. Both Rice Lake and Banner Marsh are heavily focused on fishing and hunting, especially for migratory waterfowl. Both parks are very large, but are mostly covered by water. As such, neither park has any real hiking. Rice lake is pretty enough with decent water views, but there was not much else going on here.
After taking photos for about 20 minutes, we headed to Banner Marsh SFWA. Out of the parks we have been to so far that do not have hiking, this was definitely one of the best. Though at first glance, the scenery does not differ that much from Rice Lake, we found the experience to be much more rewarding. The thing we noticed first is that more people were at the park. People were launching boats and fishing on the dock. The second thing was the amount of wildlife there. There were lots of birds everywhere, and it is clear why this park is so popular for waterfowl hunting. We even saw a pair of swans quite close to the parking lot.
While we were taking photos of the marsh, we met up with the women behind Pedestrians in Peoria, Jennifer and Mary. During the pandemic, Jennifer and Mary decided they wanted to walk every street in Peoria, and share their experiences along the way. After completing that journey, they started expanding out into the greater Peoria area, as well as state parks. They found our blog while researching Buffalo Rock specifically. They reached out to us shortly after, and we agreed that we would meet up for the parks we still had left near them.
Although we thoroughly enjoyed Banner Marsh, we were all excited to do some hiking, so we headed to Jubilee College SP. The college was opened in 1839, named for the founder’s thankfulness and joy, but was unfortunately closed in 1862. About 70 years later, the college and the land it sat on was given to the state.
Jubilee College SP has many trail options. There are 45 miles worth of equestrian trails alone. We had chosen one that was supposedly a 3-mile loop, and it started out pretty enjoyable. Chatting with Jennifer and Mary about our projects was a good distraction for how hot it was getting during the prairie portion of the hike, until we got to a more forested area. It ended up being very steep, and what looked like a trail on the map ended up being blocked, so we had to turn around. Although the scenery was nice, we would caution beginner hikers away from this one, as the trail definitely earned the more difficult rating.
We headed back into town, and enjoyed lunch with our new friends at Industry Brewing Company. This is pretty similar to places like Destihl in Bloomington, or Brickstone Brewery near Kankakee; where there is just as much focus on food as there is on beer. The food and the beer were all very good, and we would definitely recommend this place for anyone. But the best part was just getting to meet other people and getting to share some of our interesting experiences that only came about because we decided to do something weird and different.
After parting ways with Jennifer and Mary, we went to Bust’d Brewing. A lot of the breweries we visit tend to be converted factories/warehouses, or places that have been designed to bring that aesthetic to mind. Exposed brick and dark wood are pretty common sights. Industry Brewing definitely fell into this category. However, Bust’d was much different. The building used to be a freestanding Subway (the sandwich chain), so all the windows made it much brighter for one thing. Despite not knowing what to expect, we both enjoyed this place. The beer was good, and the general atmosphere was relaxed. It seems like it would be a good place to go to start trying craft beer.
Our final stop of the day was The Bar at BLACK BAND. This is a distillery dedicated to creating high quality, small batch spirits. We had originally planned to go to BLACK BAND in 2022 on our first trip to Peoria, but the plan ended up falling through, so we knew we had to make it a point to finally get here. We both got cocktails, and I also got their whiskey flight. Everything was very good, and well worth the wait.
Comparing the two Peoria trips was inevitable, and it’s so exciting to us how much progress we have made since 2022. We are both so much better at planning our hiking trips (which is crucial as the trips get further and further away from Chicago.) We would never have thought two years ago that we would get to meet people like Jennifer and Mary, let alone get to hike with them.
These three parks had been on our list since we weren’t able to finish them during our first visit to Peoria. Banner Marsh was the highlight of the day. Between how beautiful the scenery was and the wildlife that was everywhere, we would recommend coming here even without being able to hike. If we were to come back to the area, we would probably skip hiking at Jubilee College SP, in favor of just coming to Banner Marsh. But if you are visiting Peoria and it is a nice day out, a hike at Jubilee college would still be fun, especially with all the different trail options available.
Fresh Air Friendship 
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