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 →
The final parks of the 2024 hiking season were Harry “Babe” Woodyard State Natural Area and Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area. These were parks 67 and 68, which marked the halfway point of the whole project, and we thought that would be the best way to finish the season. Middle Fork SFWA is... Continue Reading →
We continued our park journey on a late September morning, visiting Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area and Johnson-Sauk Trail State Recreation Area. Mautino is located in Buda, IL, about 2 hours and 15 minutes west of Chicago, while Johnson-Sauk is 10 minutes further west in Kewanee, IL. Both parks are also quite close to... Continue Reading →
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.... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Our second day visiting Alton, IL was one of our most exciting hiking days yet. We were visiting our 60th park, and for that milestone we visited Pere Marquette State Park. This park has been one of our most anticipated, and was the reason we decided to come to this region for our big trip... Continue Reading →
Our big hiking trip this year was over Labor Day weekend, visiting parks around Alton, IL. The first day was dedicated to Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area and Coffeen Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, two parks that were on the way to our destination. Ramsey Lake SRA is in Ramsey, IL, about 3 hours... Continue Reading →
For our next hiking day, we decided to head back out on I-80 for two parks past the Starved Rock Area: Donnelley/Depue SFWAs and Hennepin Canal State Trail. As the parks get further and further away, the planning required is getting more and more intense, even for day trips like this. Visiting multiple parks in... Continue Reading →
Fresh Air Friendship 