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 →
For our third day in Mount Vernon, we visited Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park and Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area. Both parks are off of Rend Lake, an absolutely massive man made reservoir, about 4 hours and 45 minutes south of Chicago, or 30 minutes south of Mount Vernon. We started bright and early... Continue Reading →
The second day of our Labor Day 2023 trip brought us to Beall Woods State Park, in Mount Carmel, IL. This park is located right on the Illinois/Indiana border, about an hour away from where we were staying in Mount Vernon, or about 5 hours away from Chicago. At only 635 acres, this is one... Continue Reading →
After 3 years of visiting state parks, we knew it was time to finally start making our way down south. Labor Day weekend of 2023, we did our longest trip yet. Four full days, dedicated to 7 parks close to Mt. Vernon, IL. The first day we started by going to Ten Mile Creek State... Continue Reading →
Closing out our Springfield weekend from August of 2023, we went to Clinton Lake State Recreation Area. This park is in DeWitt, IL, about two hours and 45 minutes away from Chicago, right around halfway between Bloomington/Normal and Decatur. The day we went was very overcast, and a little humid, but nonetheless a good day... Continue Reading →
Now deep in summer, our next trip scheduled was a weekend in Springfield in order to visit the State Fair. After a very fun day exploring and meeting folks from the IDNR, we devoted the rest of the weekend to hiking, with the closest park being Sangchris Lake State Park. Sangchris Lake SP is in... Continue Reading →
The next park we visited over the summer of 2023 was Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area. This park is located in Will County, just off of interstate 55 in Wilmington. We visited on an overcast day, with the plan of exploring the nature preserve that is onsite. The land was owned by the... Continue Reading →
For our next park, we finally got out to Castle Rock State Park in Oregon, IL. This is part of a 4-park cluster in Ogle County near the Rock River. Castle Rock has been one of the most requested parks for this project, and is probably the most well known park for this area, and... Continue Reading →
The 38th park we visited was Iroquois County State Wildlife Area, located a few miles away from Beaverville, IL, about 80 miles south of Chicago, and less than a mile away from the Indiana border. It is very much off the beaten path, in the far northeast corner of Iroquois County. The original land was... Continue Reading →
After a string of cold and rainy weekends in March and April, we finally decided to risk bad weather and head back out to the Starved Rock area to get the two parks in the area that did not have hiking: Marseilles State Fish and Wildlife Area and LaSalle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.... Continue Reading →
Fresh Air Friendship 