Photo by Taylor Reed
Download Shawnee National Forest’s official app to learn more about the natural and cultural worlds you’re entering. The content stays on your phone even when you’re deep enough into the woods to lose cell coverage.
Thousands of pine trees tower, straight as telephone poles, in this stretch of protected wilderness between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Garden of the Gods is more than 320 million years old, its rock formations odd and majestic, its sunsets worthy of National Geographic. There’s a short stone path with a view of 3,300 acres of old-growth forest, and a section of the River to River Trail enters from High Knob (a great lookout) and winds south and west through the park. Nearby is Rim Rock/Pounds Hollow, with a prehistoric stone wall, an observation platform, and steps descending into a sandstone canyon to the massive overhang of Ox-Lot Cave.
At Cave-in-Rock State Park, take the stone stairs down to the cave, or park near the entrance and take the easy Riverwalk. Birdwatchers love the panoramic views from the 70-foot cliffs at Panther Den Wilderness. On the forest’s west side, check out Burden Falls, the state’s largest waterfall, and Millstone Bluff archaeological area, a seek-and-find of prehistoric graves and petroglyphs.
If you feel like swimming, try 90-acre Lake Glendale, and then doze on its sandy beach. Picnicking? Head to Goose Bay, or leave the Lake Glendale area and head east to Hidden Springs. For climbers, Jackson Falls offers about 60 ascents, most of them a vertical 60 feet. For scuba divers, there’s a training center at Mermet Springs quarry, west of the forest, where you can “discover” a sunken Boeing 727 that starred in a Hollywood movie.
Photography courtesy of Illinois Office of Tourism
Cyclists practice for the fall’s Tour de Shawnee on the Tunnel Hill State Trail. It goes through thick woods, farmland, and its namesake tunnel, ending at the Cache River Wetlands Center. If you’re portaging instead, canoe the wetlands—you’ll see otters, herons, egrets, sandhill cranes, and maybe even an anhinga (the snake bird). (Or you can just ride the short stretch, from Tunnel Hill to Vienna, then pop over to Golconda for a treat at the Chocolate Factory.)
Now, let’s ratchet up the adventure. You’ll find a tupelo-cypress swamp at Heron Pond–Little Black Slough, the bald cypress “knees” poking up from puddled basins carved long ago by glacial floodwaters. Heron Pond, shallow and tangled with trees, is best reached by foot, but the Lower Cache River Swamp has expanses of deep water for canoeing.
Photo by Taylor Reed
The LaRue–Pine Hills Ecological Area is famous for the annual migration that closes “Snake Road,” but it packs steep bluffs, forests, prairies, swamps, ponds, climbing boulders, and river beach into a few square miles.
At Bell Smith Springs, four creeks meet at the base of the canyon, where icy spring pools never go dry. Eight miles of interconnected (and not easy) trails pass Devil’s Backbone and other sandstone formations, and there’s a 125-foot natural bridge. Fancy yourself a naturalist? Start identifying the 700-plus plant species that grow lush along the trails.
Little Grand Canyon has 110-foot walls and a tricky hiking trail, slippery with bright green moss, that requires you to go around or through a waterfall. Just east of Eddyville, Illinois, is Lusk Creek Canyon. Thirteen species of orchid thrive within the canyon’s cool depths.
Where to Eat
In Elizabethtown, walk a gangplank to order from the floating E-Town River Restaurant, a catfish joint open spring through fall. Looking for a brew? Consider Scratch Brewing Company in Ava, which Outside magazine named one of the top breweries for foraged beer. Owners Marika Josephson and Aaron Kleidon were also nominated for a 2020 James Beard Award.
Where to Stay
Camp Cadiz allows equestrian camping, and there’s access to the River to River Trail. Timber Ridge Outpost & Cabins comprises surprisingly civilized treehouses and log cabins scattered in the middle of the forest. At Cave-in-Rock Lodge, which has its own restaurant, opt for a duplex cabin overlooking the Ohio River. And the Davie School Inn, in Anna, is a restored schoolhouse, its 11 suites former classrooms.
