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 