Beaver Dam State Park

On the final day of our Alton trip, we visited Beaver Dam State Park in Plainview, IL. It is about 4 hours and 15 minutes southwest of Chicago, or an hour north of St. Louis.

Beaver Dam SP got its start in the 1890s, when 18 local men decided to form a lake club here. They built a dam and each end of the lake to double the depth of the water. Eventually the property was owned by a family who operated a small hotel, catering to a local railstop, but the hotel was closed after the automobile was invented and fewer people were taking the train. The site of the hotel is now the ranger residence.

We arrived on Labor Day, quite early in the morning as we would still have a long day of driving after our hike. The park is on the smaller side at only 751 acres, with 8 miles of trails throughout. The lake is 59 acres and has a maximum water depth of 10 feet. None of the individual trails are that long, and most are going to be relatively easy for anyone who doesn’t have mobility issues. You can hike through the woods or past the marsh, but the trail we were most excited for was the Beaver Dam Loop.

The Beaver Dam Loop is a lake loop that runs alongside the water for the entirety of the trail. If you choose this trail, you will have beautiful lake views for your whole hike. It was less than 2 miles to go around the whole lake, and only a little bit of up and down, so this would be a pretty good park for someone just getting started with hiking. Additionally, if you are a trail runner, this would also be a pretty good place to run once you are familiar with the trail. We started by passing the boat docks by the concession building, before quickly heading into the woods. It is a dirt trail the whole time, and is well defined and maintained. The last thing of note about the trail was the amount of footbridges throughout. If we were to come back, we would probably end up counting them, just because there were so many.

We also passed plenty of people fishing all around the lake, with a couple of boats as well. It was a sunny, beautiful morning for it, and it seemed to us like a quiet alternative to some of the other parks in the region. And after finishing up the gorgeous hike, we headed back to Chicago, satisfied with the final park of the trip.

The business we had paired with Beaver Dam SP had been Wild Pickins Winery, but unfortunately they have closed their doors since we visited last September.

We had a really nice time visiting Beaver Dam State Park. The longer we do this project, and the more long hiking trips we take, we have found a rhythm for how we finish the trip. Parks like Beaver Dam, with a relatively short trail with lake views all throughout have consistently been a great way to cap off a weekend. While the park is probably too far to justify a trip from Chicago on its own merit, I would argue it is worth it if you live in Springfield or St. Louis. While it lacks the grandeur of parks like Starved Rock or Pere Marquette, it is also much less crowded and generally easier to get around. The lake loop is beautiful, especially on a sunny morning in early September.