Since June 23rd we’ve been traveling full-time and due to personal schedules our stops haven’t been as long as one would like. We have tried to fit in as much as we can in the limited time we have. On our way to visit a friend in Chicago in July we stopped to camp at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. According to their website it was voted the number one attraction in the state!
The campground wasn’t much to write home about or photograph so I didn’t bother. The hiking trails is really why it was recommended to us. Luckily for me I had a slow work day so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and hiked it up. Unfortunately the campground and the hiking trails aren’t close to each other so we had to pack up the van and drive over.
This was a lot of trails to choose from so we just decided to head to the Lone Point Shelter where there was a decent cell signal for Peter to work while I hiked. After a small trek down the road from there I scooted on over to the Illinois Trail and made it to Lasalle Canyon. There was quite the warning at the head of the trail…
Walking along the canyon trails the colorful cliffs start towering over you. Makes you feel awful small but they were beautiful. There are pretty good waterfall action to be seen here after the rains but seeing that it was July the ones I found were more of a trickle.
Parts of the trail take a bit of skill. I slipped and got myself another nice bruise crossing one of the streams. If you go slow and take a look around there are little critters, mushrooms, bugs, snakes, aka nature!
Trail that goes along the river has a spectacular view as well. It’s a bit more of an elevated hike and you can see right down into the riverfront. I took my time (well, the pup takes his time) and I hiked for about three hours. It was a bit too much for my bad bones but it was def worth it. Would like to hit the other trails if we get back into the area. Might find another camping spot though…
