The final day of our big hiking trip in April 2026 had us going to two parks: Sielbeck Forest State Natural Area and Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. Sielbeck Forest is in Belknap, IL, about 6 hours south of Chicago, or about half an hour north of Paducah, KY. Mermet Lake is also in Belknap, and is about 20 minutes west of Sielbeck Forest.
Sielbeck Forest was originally owned by the Sielbeck family, and when the last two members of the family passed away the land went up for sale. The winning bid on the land was from The Nature Conservancy, who in turn sold it to the IDNR a year later.
This is a hardwood forest that was once part of a floodplain. Today, the floodplain is mostly drained, but despite most of the surrounding land being cleared for farming, the forest itself is mostly undisturbed. The parts of the land tract that were tilled when the IDNR bought the land are in the process of being reforested.
While this park is a great example for efforts in conservation, there are no hiking trails here. You can hike the area and see some impressive trees, but there are no plans to develop trails at this time in an effort to keep the area as natural as possible. Unfortunately we are not skilled enough hikers to go without a trail to keep our way, and had to keep to the entrance, which is small with very little signage. It would have been neat to experience more of the forest, but we understand the need to keep some parks untouched.
After finishing our brief visit to Sielbeck Forest, we headed straight to Mermet Lake SFWA. The day we visited, we saw many other people there enjoying fishing on the lake. The manmade lake is relatively shallow, and in the fall they drop the water down 2 feet to accommodate duck hunters. There are two hiking trails here, but neither is very long and both focus on the wooded area, so we decided to do a walk along the lake instead.
The lake is very pretty and it is always nice to end a long hiking trip walking next to a body of water. However, if it is summer when you go, walking along the lake provides no shade, so it may get too hot. The amount of people fishing may also be something to consider, if you are seeking a quiet hike. After walking about a mile, we headed back to the car for our long drive back home.
For these parks, we are featuring two businesses in Paducah, KY: Dry Ground Brewing and Silent Brigade Distillery. Dry Ground offers a good selection of beers, both ones brewed in house and from other craft breweries. They are in a historic building which used to be a bottling plant for coca-cola. We shared a flight here while sitting outside in their patio area.
Silent Brigade Distillery looks and feels like a normal bar, but they have a selection of spirits to make unique cocktails. They offer one barrel proof bourbon, and the rest are various flavors of moonshine. My favorite was the Apple Pie, while Steph favored the piña colada.
We cannot recommend visiting Sielbeck Forest, unless you are very confident in hiking without trails. You will get an easier experience at any other park in this area. For Mermet Lake, we would definitely recommend it if you want to fish, but also if you want to walk around the lake. Out of the three parks we visited while staying in Metropolis that specifically have lakes, Mermet was the most enjoyable one. It provides excellent opportunities for most people wanting to spend the day outside.
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