Illinois State Parks

Illinois has more than 300 state parks, natural areas, and recreation areas — the system is remarkably comprehensive for a state defined by agricultural flatness.

Starved Rock State Park (Utica)
The flagship state park — 18 sandstone canyons with waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, and dense forest along the Illinois River. The canyon hikes (St. Louis Canyon, French Canyon, Wildcat Canyon) are in each case a short walk from the main trail to a dead-end cascade in a sandstone amphitheater. Best in spring when water is flowing; frozen canyon waterfalls are spectacular in January. The Starved Rock Lodge (1939, CCC-built log structure) is excellent. The park draws 2+ million visitors per year.

Giant City State Park (Makanda)
In the Shawnee Hills of southern Illinois — enormous sandstone boulders (the "Giant City" street" — a passage between house-sized boulders) give the park its name. The Giant City Lodge (1939 CCC construction) and the stone structures are among the finest Depression-era park construction in Illinois. The Fern Rocks Nature Preserve within the park has unusual plant communities on north-facing sandstone slopes.

Illinois Beach State Park (Zion)
The only remaining beach ridges on Illinois's Lake Michigan shore — 6.5 miles of beach, Illinois's only remaining sand dunes (left by ancient Lake Michigan), and important migratory bird habitat. The north unit is a designated nature preserve with rare plant communities.

Galena Lead Mine Area (Jo Daviess County)
Not a state park but state-managed historic sites — the Galena area in the northwest corner of Illinois preserves a remarkable 19th-century lead mining and river port landscape. Ulysses S. Grant's home (1860, a Italianate-style house) is a state historic site; the downtown Galena commercial district is the finest intact 19th-century business district in the Midwest.

Pere Marquette State Park (Grafton)
On the Illinois River where it meets the Mississippi — blufftop views of the river confluence, excellent eagle watching in winter (the largest bald eagle concentration in the lower Midwest gathers here December–February), and a magnificent CCC lodge.