SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST | Southern Illinois Trekking and Day Trip | Weekend Hiking

It was a beautiful weekend and made it to Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. There are tons of things to do in the Little Egypt portion of Illinois for an awesome hiking or weekend trip. I visited Cave-in-Rock State Park, Rim Rock Recreation Trail, Iron Furnace, and Garden of the Gods.

Cave-In-Rock State Park: https://goo.gl/maps/eLUBLSy3fiUMEsx38
Rim Rock Recreation Trail: https://goo.gl/maps/HfLWJWR1HcXLkoCCA
Illinois Iron Furnace National Historic Site: https://goo.gl/maps/owZJRxs9EvZVLKPH9
Garden of the Gods: https://goo.gl/maps/Tys8y1yTwzKhrwBU7

The hiking around the forest is great. It's an unknown gem and there's usually plenty of space and places to go see while you're moving around the area. Garden of the Gods is usually the main point that everyone tries to go see and enjoy. There's some hiking around there and it is the gateway to the wilderness area of the same name, but the main portion of the area is dedicated to showing off the cliffs.
Cave-in-Rock State Park is a smaller state park but it offers a lot of beautiful views. It's home to the cave of the same name and has an incredible history of pirates and bandits using it as a hideout. There are also cabins, hiking, fishing, boating, and camping around the park. I'll be back.
Rim Rock Trail is a very nice forest hike and easy hike that has a ton of interesting terrain, creeks, cliffs, and tons of trees. It's an easy hike to make and there's plenty to see.
Finally, Iron Furnace is a fun spot to see and interesting to think of how busy that part of Illinois used to be busy with mining and forestry. There's a creek that's near that is open for fishing and a picnic area if you want to make an afternoon around the area.

Southern Illinois may have a bad rap about how sparse it is or how there's nothing in this part of the country but there is so much there! If you're in the Tri-state area then you should make your trek to Shawnee National Forest to see some of the stuff that you're missing out.

I plan on doing more midwestern hiking so if you have any ideas on where I should go next, comment below!

#shawneenationalforest #visitillinois #ohioriver

0:00 Intro
0:23 Cave in Rock State Park
3:48 Rim Rock Recreation Trail, IL
5:20 Old Iron Furnace National Historic Site, IL