On our second day of the April 2026 trip, we visited Dixon Springs State Park and Tunnel Hill State Trail. Dixon Springs is about 5 hours and 20 minutes south of Chicago, or 30 minutes north of Paducah, KY. The Tunnel Hill trail is 45 miles long, stretching from Harrisburg to Karnak, but the tunnel... Continue Reading →
Our second annual “Big April Hiking Trip” kicked off with two parks that were on the way to Metropolis, IL, which was our home base for this year’s trip. Saline County State Fish and Wildlife Area in Equality, IL was the first, and Sahara Woods State Recreation Area, just outside Harrisburg, was the second. Saline... 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 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 the final day of our 2023 Labor Day weekend, we visited Sam Dale Lake State Fish & Wildlife Area and Stephen A. Forbes State Park. Both parks are about 4 hours and 20 minutes south of Chicago, or about 40 minutes away from Mount Vernon (but 35 minutes away from each other). We had... Continue Reading →
Fresh Air Friendship 