A guide to navigating Ferne Clyffe State Park

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Ferne Clyffe State Park doesn’t attract as much notice as other natural havens in Illinois, says Site Superintendent Jay Massey. “Starved Rock [State Park] gets closed because of the crowds,” he observes. “Here, you can walk trails and get secluded in nature. We have everything here that the biggest parks have, but what we don’t have are the crowds.”

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That ability to tree-bathe in solitude is only one of the draws of Ferne Clyffe. Some others: intermittent waterfalls, ancient rock shelters, a 16-acre lake, bluffs that you can climb (given the training and equipment), and more than two dozen miles of paths and trails. True, getting there from St. Louis takes at least a couple of hours, one-way. But you can always break that up by camping overnight.

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History
Plan a visit
Hiking
Rock Climbing
Fast Facts

History

The name “Ferne Clyffe” was the coinage of two brothers from Cairo, Illinois who once owned the land and appreciated its eponymous plants (and also, apparently, Middle English orthography). The land came into state ownership at midcentury and today is surrounded by Shawnee National Forest, which is cradled by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

A placid lake in Southern Illinois with fall foliage in the background — The lake at Ferne Clyffe State Park in Southern Illinois.

Plan a Visit

Leaving from the Arch, your drive to Ferne Clyffe will be a straightforward two hours. If you want to stay overnight, you can camp up in the Deer Ridge campground, which accommodates RVs and boasts both a shower house and flush toilets. For a quieter vibe, head to Turkey Ridge campground, which is more primitive but does have potable water and pit toilets. Reservations aren’t required but if you want to make them for a trip between April 1 and October 31, you can do so here.

Spring and fall are the prettiest times to go (for the blossoms and foliage, respectively), but Massey says that even in the summertime, you can enter the canyons and just feel the temperature drop. Another great time to visit, he adds, is right after rainfall, because that’s what activates the park waterfalls, which are rain-dependent.

A collage of two photos, one showing a waterfall and the other showing a boulder-ish rock formation — Two geological features at Ferne Clyffe State Park: the Ferne Clyffe waterfall (left) and the so-called “Balance Rock” (right)

Hiking

The heart of the park is Big Rocky Hollow, which is a canyon-like space edged by bluffs and giant boulders. A great way to take it all in is to stroll along the Big Rocky Hollow Trail, a gentle 0.75-mile out-and-back that leads you right to the foot of an intermittent 100-foot waterfall.

To embark on a slightly more moderate hike without having to change parking spaces, try the Hawk’s Cave Trail. That path, which is a half-mile total, leads you up to the 150-foot-long shelter bluff, one of the largest in Illinois. (Quick aside: Photos don’t do it justice. It feels much bigger when beheld in-person.) Then you wind back down past some strange, honeycomb-like rock formations.

For those wanting to raise their heart rates a bit and also see an unusual geological feature, the Happy Hollow Trail beckons. Park at the Buck Creek parking area to find the trailhead. This moderate trail is about five miles long, gains about 350 feet in elevation, and passes a natural land bridge.

Finally, on the way out, you might want to try another easy trail: the one-miler that traces the shore of Ferne Clyffe Lake. This walk affords a great view of autumn leaves if you go during that season.

Click here for a list of all hiking trails and here for a brochure that has a trail map.

Two rock climbers at Ferne Clyffe State Park, one standing on ground, the other on a climbing rope — Ferne Clyffe State Park has become, among rock climbers, one of the most popular spots in the region.

Rock climbing

Several years ago, the park’s sandstone bluff line was closed to climbers, but that all changed when—thanks to Massey and the Illinois Climbers Association—Ferne Clyffe officially re-opened its crags. Now it’s one of the most popular climbing destinations in the region. According to the Mountain Project, there are nearly 100 sport climbs and eight boulders to choose from. Massey said in late August that an expansion of climbing routes was in the works. For more details on what’s available, click here.