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 →
After a very good start to the year with Kickapoo SRA, we weren’t able to go out hiking again until 4th of July weekend, due to the combination of unexpectedly busy schedules and the cicadas being out in full force. So to get back into it, we decided to finish up the parks around Peoria.... Continue Reading →
Our 2024 hiking season started with Kickapoo State Recreation Area, located in Oakwood, IL. This is about 2 hours and 45 min south of Chicago, or half an hour east of Champaign. We knew that this hiking season was going to be a little shorter, due to the cicadas around the state, as well as... Continue Reading →
Our 51st park visited was Franklin Creek State Natural Area. This park is in Franklin Grove, IL, about an hour and 45 minutes away from Chicago. This was the last one we visited in 2023, catching some fantastic fall colors in late October, and we were so glad to finish up the season with such... 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 →
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 →
Fresh Air Friendship 