Horseshoe Lake SP (Madison County) and Frank Holten SP

The next day of our Labor Day weekend trip was dedicated to Horseshoe Lake State Park in Madison County and Frank Holten State Park. Both Horseshoe Lake and Frank Holten are about a 4 hour drive from Chicago or a 15 minute drive from St. Louis, and they are about 20 minutes away from each other.

We started the bright Sunday morning with Horseshoe Lake SP. There are actually two Horseshoe Lake state parks in Illinois, and they are differentiated by the county that they are in, the one we visited on this trip is located in Madison County. The other is in Alexander County, which is further downstate.

This park is located in a floodplain close to the Mississippi River. The lake itself is very shallow, with its average depth only being 3 feet deep. There is also a lot of evidence that Native Americans lived in this area dating back thousands of years, especially with the Cahokia Mounds nearby.

We decided to do the hiking trail first once we arrived. While this park does have 4 miles of trail, hiking is not the main draw for the park. The paths are mostly grass, and very flat, exploring the prairie next to the lake. The most disappointing part of the Horseshoe Lake trail is that it goes along right next to the lake, but the vegetation and trees between the path and lake are so dense that you can’t see the lake. So on one side you have prairie grass, and the other you have trees blocking your view. This may be less of an issue very early or very late in the season when there are less plants blooming, but for someone wanting to take in views of the lake while hiking on a summer day, you will be disappointed.

However, the trail does have things to offer. The day we went, there were tons of butterflies and plenty of wildflowers. This would be a good trail for someone wanting an easy walk outside.

After finishing up, we drove around the lake. Here there was plenty of waterfowl, with an especially photogenic heron right on the side of the road. It was a beautiful cloudless day, and both the sky and the lake were brilliant blue. Many people were out fishing and enjoying the weather here. Finally, if you drive all the way to the end of the road, you can see the Gateway Arch in the distance.

We would definitely recommend Horseshoe Lake, specifically for fishing or picnicking by the lake. The hiking was fine, but is definitely not the main draw.

Our second park of the day was Frank Holten State Park. There is no hiking here, and the main draw is the golf course on the property. Other than that, there is some water you can fish in, and an even better view of the Gateway Arch, but we had much more fun exploring Horseshoe Lake than Frank Holten SP.

After a brief visit to the Cahokia Mounds, we first went to Old Herald Brewery and Distillery. While they do have beer, we were very excited about the cocktail menu. Stephanie got a color-changing drink, while I got a flight of Old Fashions. It was a very fun experience for us both. Old Herald is in Collinsville, which also happens to be the home of the world’s largest catsup bottle, which you’ll probably see if you’re going to St. Louis next, like we were.

Next, we crossed into Missouri to go to Schlafly Bottleworks. This is one of Stephanie’s favorite breweries, so we had to make a stop since we were staying so close. We both had beer flights here, and enjoyed the whole experience.

Our final stop of the day was the Audubon Center at Riverlands, to try and get some more photos of birds. This is also in Missouri, just across the river from Alton. It is a nice little center, even though there weren’t very many herons or egrets visible the day we went. However, they have hummingbird feeders, which were very fun to stop and watch for a few minutes.

The most enjoyable part of that day was visiting Horseshoe Lake, after we finished hiking and started focusing on the lake itself. It’s really beautiful and worth going to, especially if you are in the St. Louis area anyway, and want to get out of the main city for a while.