The second day of our Labor Day weekend trip had us going to Argyle Lake State Park in Colchester, IL. This park is about 4 and a half hours west of Chicago, or an hour and 45 minutes south of the Quad Cities. The park used to be known as Argyle Hollow, and was part... Continue Reading →
Our annual Labor Day weekend trip of 2025 took us to the western border of Illinois, about an hour and a half south of the Quad Cities. We planned for 5 parks over the course of 4 days, and we decided to tackle the two smallest parks on day one. Delabar State Park is in... Continue Reading →
For Memorial Day Weekend 2025, we visited Galesburg for a quick overnight trip, visiting the two closest parks: Rock Island State Trail and Snakeden Hollow State Fish and Wildlife Area. Rock Island ST is a 26 mile long trail spanning several towns, but starts in Alta, IL (just north of Peoria) and goes north to... Continue Reading →
The final day of our longest trip to date took us to Lake Murphysboro State Park. This park is 5 hours and 30 minutes south of Chicago, or about 20 minutes west of Carbondale. After a crazy few days, it was really nice to go back to basics in a way, with a really nice... Continue Reading →
Day five of our trip down to Carbondale was our busiest day yet, at least in terms of numbers of parks visited. First up was Trail of Tears State Forest, followed by three Fish and Wildlife Areas all located off highway 3, close to the Missouri border: Union County SFWA, Devil’s Island SFWA, and Cape... Continue Reading →
Day four of our Carbondale trip was easily the day we were most nervous about. The three parks we planned for that day were Fort Defiance State Park, Horseshoe Lake State Park (Alexander County), and Kinkaid Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. Fort Defiance located in Cairo, IL. It is the southernmost point in Illinois,... Continue Reading →
For our third day, we were so excited to be hitting a major milestone: our 75th park visit. We knew that we wanted to do something special, and so we decided to finally head to Giant City State Park, one of the most famous and anticipated parks. Giant City SP is located in Makanda, IL,... Continue Reading →
Day two of our Carbondale trip was dedicated to visiting Ferne Clyffe State Park and Cache River State Natural Area. Ferne Clyffe SP is in Goreville, IL about 5 hours and 45 minutes away from Chicago or 35 minutes away from Carbondale. Cache River SNA is a little further away, at 6 hours from Chicago... Continue Reading →
In early April, we started our longest hiking trip yet, visiting Carbondale for 6 days. For the first day of this epic trip, we visited Burning Star State Fish and Wildlife Area and Little Grassy Fish Hatchery. Burning Star SFWA is in DeSoto, IL about 5 hours and 15 minutes south of Chicago, or 15... Continue Reading →
Our 2025 hiking season kicked off with a bang. On March 13th, we were presented with the Outdoor Influencers of the Year award, and two days later we drove down for our first two parks of the year: Walnut Point State Park and Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial. Walnut Point SP is in... Continue Reading →
Fresh Air Friendship 