Our July's have been very busy for as long as we have known each other, so after a few weeks of solo vacations and family get-togethers, we were able to resume hiking at the end of July with a visit to Shabbona Lake State Park. The day we went was sunny and beautiful, and we... Continue Reading →
In Utica, all of the road signs directing you to the nearby state parks will have three different destinations on them. First: Starved Rock, Second: Matthiessen, and Third: Buffalo Rock State Park. We have been to the first two parks several times over the years, but we finally managed to make it to the third... Continue Reading →
The final park we visited on our long weekend in Peoria was Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area. After all of the parks from the previous two days ended with almost no hiking, the three of us were so excited to have saved the best for last. This park is about 1,448 acres, however... Continue Reading →
On day two of our long weekend, we had an extremely full day, visiting 3 parks, the zoo, a brewery, a gastropub, and finally stopping for ice cream. The plan was to start with the largest park, and then get to as many parks as we could that did not have any hiking. The first... Continue Reading →
Kicking off our summer of hiking, we spent Memorial Day weekend in Peoria to visit as many parks as possible. On day one, we briefly stopped to pick up a friend, before travelling to Woodford State Fish and Wildlife Area. This park is deceptively large, but if you are not boating and have never been... Continue Reading →
Park 17 on our journey was Kankakee River State Park, about an hour and a half south of us. While this one is actually fairly close compared to some other places, we kept overlooking it in favor of the parks that are clustered together. For example, there are several along the Illinois River which meant... Continue Reading →
During initial planning for this project, we knew we would need to spend a lot of time just west of Rockford. Neither of us had been to that area before, and we knew very little about the terrain. We knew the rolling hills around Galena, and the many canyons of Starved Rock; but how do... Continue Reading →
With spring truly here, we decided to head up north one more time to check out Moraine Hills State Park and McHenry Dam. This park is located in McHenry county, about an hour away from us. The landscape is very similar to nearby Volo Bog and Chain O' Lakes, with the same glacier movement forming... Continue Reading →
With the weather finally getting nice, we decided to head out to the park that started it all, Matthiessen State Park. While Steph had visited in 2020 with another friend, the only time I had visited was that very first girl’s trip in 2019, so we were both looking forward to visiting again. Being only... Continue Reading →
Now that we're well into planning our hikes for 2022, we wanted to look back on the parks we've visited already, and share our thoughts on where our favorite experiences were. Best Hike Steph: Even though it was our most difficult, I liked the hiking at Apple River Canyon. It felt like a true nature... Continue Reading →
Fresh Air Friendship In the News 