October 6, 2009: Our Drive from Green Bay to Southern Illinois
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Hiking in Matthiessen State Park

When we got up in the morning, we headed right over towards Starved Rock State Park. The night before, we'd uncovered another state park close by that also had what sounded like an interesting hike with waterfalls, so we headed there first. To get to Matthiessen State Park, we just headed east on I-80 past I-39, and then turned south on Illinois 178 through Utica. The entrance to the state park was a few miles south of Utica on the west side of the highway.

Matthiessen State Park was named for Frederick William Matthiessen, a prominent industrialist and philanthropist from LaSalle. He originally purchased the land near the end of the 19th Century and developed it as a privately owned park for many years. Mr. Matthiessen employed about 50 people to construct trails, bridges, stairways and check dams. The area was originally referred to as Deer Park, in reference to the large deer population. The original 176-acre park consisted primarily of a long narrow canyon with a small stream flowing through it. At that time these formations were called "dells," a name that has stayed with the park. After Matthiessen's death, the park was donated to the State of Illinois, which opened it as a public park. In 1943, the state renamed the park in honor of Matthiessen. Since then, the park has grown to 1,938 acres and includes much of the significant natural areas along the main dell, some former prairie land, and some forest land south of the original park.

The many unusual and beautiful rock formations make a trip to Matthiessen State Park an educational as well as a fun experience. Exposed sandstone can be seen throughout. The main canyon, consisting of the Upper and Lower Dells, provides an unusual and interesting walking tour. The Upper Dell begins at Deer Park Lake and continues to Cascade Falls, where the canyon drops 45 feet and the Lower Dell begins. The canyon, formed by water erosion, is approximately one mile long, from Deer Park Lake to the Vermilion River. We could ground water seeping out along the sandstone of the canyon walls. As the ground water evaporates along the canyon walls, the minerals that are carried in solution in the water contribute to the beautiful coloring of the rocks.

For our hike on the complete circuit this morning, we did the lower dell first, then the upper one, and that's how I'll divide the pictures that I've included here from the park.

To the Lower Dell

Once we'd parked the car, we headed off from the west end of the parking area towards the dells. Just a short ways from the parking area, we passed an old blockhouse that was reminiscent of the one that we used to go to in Muskegon. Just past the blockhouse, the trail down to the dells began, and the first part of it was a long wooden stairway leading down through the forest towards the canyon where the dells are.

At the end of this long stairway and trail, we came down a final set of stairs onto a bridge across the canyon where the trail to the lower dell continued on the other side. From the bridge, we had a good view down into the lower dell. We crossed to the other side of the bridge, and then headed southwest along the trail to the lower dell.

As we were walking along this trail down to the entrance to the lower dell, I made a movie, and you can use the player at rightto watch it.

The trail paralleled the northwest side of the canyon for about a quarter of a mile, and then turned toward the canyon, descending another long set of stairs. These stairs came out at another bridge across the canyon. I wasn't quite sure why the trail just hadn't gone along the southeast side of the canyon, but perhaps it was too steep on that side to build a convenient trail. In any event, as we crossed that bridge, we got our first look down into the lower dell. We could see the path in the lower dell leading back up the canyon towards the first bridge we'd crossed, and we could see the stairs that would take us down into the dell. So, on the far side of the bridge we descended the staircase to the lower dell.

Hiking in the Lower Dell

The lower dell extended from the bridge we crossed to take the staircase down to the floor of the canyon all the way back up to the first bridge we crossed to get to the trail on the northwest side. It had rained fairly recently, so some of the going on the floor of the canyon was a bit muddy, but it wasn't too much of a problem. The scenery down here in the dell was pretty neat, and we took lots and lots of pictures, many of them repetitive. So what I'll do here is just select the best of these pictures to group together according to the interesting features that we encountered.

First off, we took some good pictures right at the point where we'd descended the stairs into the canyon dell, and I've put thumbnails for these pictures below.

Click Thumbnails to View

While we were here in the lower part of the dell near the bridge and stairway, I made a movie of our surroundings, and you can use the player at rightto watch the movie.

As I said, we walked the length of the dell back up to the waterfall at the first bridge we'd crossed. (Since you can't climb up the waterfall, that is where the lower dell ends, and you have to retrace your steps back to the stairway.) The scenery along the way was very shady, very cool and very pleasant. About halfway along the canyon floor, we came upon an extremely interesting carved boulder. It was interesting to speculate that it might have been done centuries ago by some long-forgotten and long-vanished native peoples, but, more likely, it was done more recently. You can see one more picture of Fred with this boulder here. As for the rest of our walk up to the beginning of the dell, I've put thumbnail images for some of the pictures we took along the way below; just click on them to see the full-size pictures:

Just before we got to the top end of the dell we found an area in the northwest wall of the canyon where a series of small caves and rooms had been carved, presumably by water action. Scrambling into and around inside these little caves was neat; a number of them were connected to each other via little passageways. At the right are the thumbnails for some pictures we took in these little caves; click on them to view the full-size pictures.

After walking through the length of the dell, we arrived at the rock face almost directly underneath the first bridge we crossed. Here, we found a trickling waterfall (presumably a lot more interesting after a heavy rain). We were enclosed in an almost circular area, with a pool below the waterfall. There did not seem to be much of a creek running back down the canyon; I guess that when the water is flowing this little, the ground absorbs most of it. Below are some thumbnails for the best of the pictures we took here, of the waterfall, the bridge above, the canyon and the fence that keeps people from walking over the sheer drop from the upper dell to this lower one. Have a look at these pictures by clicking on the thumbnail images:

Just before we left this area below the bridge, I made a movie panning around this area of the canyon.

Hiking in the Upper Dell

When we got back to the bridge we'd crossed originally, we found just beyond that a trail that led down into the upper dell.

When we came back up out of the lower dell, we retraced our path along the trail to the first bridge we'd crossed. The trail continued beyond that about fifty feet or so before it turned back towards the canyon and another stairway that led down into the upper dell, coming out just above the waterfall (which is pretty much right under the first bridge). Here, I stopped to take a picture of Fred down in the upper dell standing by the small pool that feeds the little waterfall down into the lower dell. You can see that picture here.

Now the trail led upriver (or upcanyon, if you prefer). From the first bridge, this was the view up the canyon; once we'd gone a short distance, we could look back down the canyon towards that first bridge.

A bit further on, we came to some stepping stones that led us across the stream to a ladder up to the trail on the other side. I went first across the artificial stone pathway so Fred could take a picture of me halfway across.

We took some good pictures here at the stepping stones and ladder. If you will click on the thumbnail images below, you can have a look at these pictures.

When I got to the top of the ladder beyond the stepping stones, I stopped and made a movie looking first down the canyon then across the stones and up the stairs to where Fred was waiting ahead of me. You can use the player at right to watch the movie.

We continued along the canyon for a ways, enjoying the fall colors. At one point, we passed a small cave that I couldn't resist going in. We took a few more pictures along here, and if you'll click on the thumbnail images at the left, you can have a look at them.

A short ways further on, we came to another staircase leading up. I thought it was going to take us out of the canyon and up to the trail through the woods, and it did.

The surprise was that when we got to the top of the stairs, we found a sign telling us that the trail continued back down into the canyon via yet another stairway. Apparently, this shortcut bypassed an area of the canyon that was not easy to navigate. I made a movie as we passed that sign and started back down into the canyon.

The trail continued up the canyon floor for a ways until we came to "the bathtub." At least that's what the sign back at the shortcut had called it. The bathtub consisted of a relatively deep pool (about four feet, I'd guess) fed by a small cascade that came over a semi-circular outcropping of rock. Beside the pool was a stairway for the trail to continue up the canyon; you couldn't easily just climb the rocks over which the water was falling. We took some pictures around the pool and then climbed the stairway to take some more pictures at the top of the little waterfall. Click on the thumbnail images below and you can see the best of these pictures:

I made a movie here at the bathtub, and you can use the player at left to watch it.

From the bathtub, the trail continued up the canyon, hugging the canyon wall sometimes. Finally, the trail came to a large open area with another pool and another cliff face and small waterfall. This was the end of the canyon, and we could see the Deer Park Bridge above us.

We climbed around on these cliff faces for a while, and then ascended the stairs beside the pool to get up to the Deer Park Bridge.

Walking from Deer Park Lake Back to the Car

From the last pool, we climbed the stairs to get back up out of the canyon. When we'd done that, we found ourselves on the Deer Park Bridge. While we were here on the bridge, I took a picture of Fred and he took a picture of me. Also from the bridge, we could see the very pretty Deer Park Lake. Lastly, if I leaned over the canyon side of the bridge, I could look down the waterfall here at the very beginning of the upper dell.

We were back out in the sunlight for a while as we crossed the bridge back to the east, but then we were in forest again as the trail wound through the woods, staying above the canyon on its east side. After about a half mile or so, we arrived back at the first bridge we had crossed earlier, and took the same stairs and trail back to the parking area. Then it was on to Starved Rock State Park.

Starved Rock State Park

Getting to Starved Rock State Park from Matthiessen State Park was as easy as going back out the park road to the highway, heading back north about two miles, and turning right into the park road that led to the parking area and visitor center for Starved Rock State Park.

Starved Rock State Park is the major tourist attraction in north central Illinois. It is very popular; in 2009, a quarter million people went through the visitor center and park attendance exceeded 2 million people.

The waterfalls and canyons of the park are unexpected wonders, nestled within 2,630 acres of lush forests. Many trails criss-cross the park, some up on the bluff and some along the water, but both present spectacular views along the Illinois River.

The backdrop for the park are the 18 canyons formed by glacial meltwater and stream erosion. They slice dramatically through tree-covered, sandstone bluffs for four miles at the park. The park is best known for these fascinating rock formations, primarily St. Peter sandstone, laid down in a huge shallow inland sea more than 425 million years ago and later brought to the surface. While the areas along the river and its tributaries still are predominantly forested, much of the area is a flat, gently rolling plain. The upland prairies were created during an intensive warming period several thousand years after the melting of the glaciers. The Illinois River Valley in the Starved Rock area is a major contrast to the flatland. The valley was formed by a series of floods as glacial meltwater broke through moraines, sending torrents of water surging across the land and deeply eroding the sandstone and other sedimentary rocks.

During early spring, when the end of winter thaw is occurring and rains are frequent, sparkling waterfalls are found at the heads of all 18 canyons, and vertical walls of moss-covered stone create a setting of natural geologic beauty uncommon in Illinois. Some of the longer-lasting waterfalls are found in Wildcat, LaSalle and St. Louis canyons; there was still a small amount of water in some of these now in October. It's unfortunate that we weren't here during the spring, but then the weather for hiking is not so good as in the fall.

You might be interested in an aerial view of the park area, so I've included a labeled one below:

We took a great many pictures during our afternoon of hiking here at Starved Rock State Park. To try to organize them into some semblance of order, we'll take them pretty much in sequence, but we'll break up the afternoon into sections. We'll begin with the area around the Visitor Center and Lodge, including Starved Rock itself. Then, we'll do the canyon trail that extends west from the lodge almost to the highway. Returning to the lodge we'll have lunch. After eating, we'll head southeast along the bluff trail, visiting some of the upper canyons. Then we'll descend to the river to continue southeast to visit the lower canyons. Finally, as we retrace our path northwest along the river, we will eschew returning up along the bluff trail, but continue along the river to visit the overlooks that we bypassed earlier. We did a lot of hiking, and I hope you'll enjoy following along with us.

Visitor Center Area and Starved Rock

Starved Rock is probably the single most prominent historic place connected with early Indian life in the Corridor. (The term "Corridor" is used locally to refer to the path of the 96-mile Illinois and Michigan Canal that connected Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, and which was instrumental in the growth and importance of the city of Chicago.) This striking pedestal of sandstone has a colorful history to match.

When we parked, we first walked over to the Illnois River to get a look at the lock and dam. Then we walked across the parking area and up into the Starved Rock State Park Visitor Center, which, as it turned out, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 (Starved Rock having become a state park in 1911). Inside the visitor center, we spent some time getting hiking information and looking at the interesting exhibits. Then we went out onto the nearby trail to head up to the top of Starved Rock.

We'd been cautioned in the visitor center to stay on the trails, not so much because the terrain off them was so delicate or anything, but because the area is rife with poison ivy in all its forms. This was good advice; there certainly was a lot of it around. We found the Starved Rock Trail easily enough and pretty soon we were climbing the stairs to the top of the rock.

Archeological investigations of a large part of the top of the rock has disclosed this landmark to have witnessed approximately 5,000 years of continuous human use. All but the Paleo-Indian Period is recorded in this long sequence of repeated occupation. The Rock became famous in 1682 when La Salle constructed Fort St. Louis on top to induce the Illinois Indians to remain in their village (Old Kaskaskia) after they had been scared off by an Iroquois war party in 1680.

In 1760 the English appeared at Starved Rock and started trading with the Native Americans. By 1763 the French had left and the English dominated the countryside. Meanwhile, Pontiac, a great Ottawa chieftain, had gone down to the southern part of Illinois to negotiate trade agreements with the French. During his stay he was murdered by an Illinois of the area. Word got back to his tribe and they wanted to avenge Pontiacs' death. So the Potawatomi and Fox, sub-tribes of the Ottawa people, paddled down river and attacked the Illinois village by Starved Rock. For several days the attack raged on. The Illinois knew that in order to survive they had to leave the area, but instead they decided to seek refuge on top of the rock. They climbed up to the summit of the rock hoping that the Potawatomi and Fox would by-pass them on their way southward. Unfortunately, the plan backfired and the Potawatomi and Fox surrounded the base. They cut off food and water to the Illinois on top of the rock. As the Illinois grew desperate, some tried sneaking down, but they were murdered. The rest that were left on top starved. Since then, the rock has been known as "Starved Rock."

The views from the top of Starved Rock were really great; Illinois is so flat out here that if the weather is good, even a modest altitude offers wide vistas. If you will click on the thumbnails at right, you can see some of the pictures that we took from the top of Starved Rock.

Archeologists have recovered a great amount of early 18th century artifacts from the site. When the fort was abandoned in 1691, it remained in use by Native Americans, and artifacts of what is thought to be the Peoria tribe of the Illinois indians have been dated to 1736. The rock's present-day name was not to come into use until sometime after 1769. Several hundred feet east and downslope of the Starved Rock Park Lodge lies the Hotel Plaza Site, occupied repeatedly in ancient times. This encampment was heavily occupied in the 17th and early 18th centuries by Indians concentrated around Starved Rock as a defensive measure. Its rich history was disclosed by excavations in 1948. And across the Illinois River from Starved Rock lies the old Kaskaskia village, or the Zimmerman site. This large village has a 1000-year old history of settlement as a preferred location for farming; most of it is now under the water of the flood pool behind the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. The site is famous for Father Marquette's visit to the Kaskaskia Indians in 1673. The site had 460 cabins before the Iroquois raid of 1680. Later many thousands of Indians were said to have was occupied the site.

Archeology and history agree upon the lifeways of these villagers. They lived in their village during the spring and summer. In early winter and in mid-summer before the corn harvest they roved the upland prairies in search of bison or American buffalo. Although these large game animals were not as plentiful as they were west of the Mississippi, herds were an important source of food. Prehistoric occupants of this village lived in very different housing and pursued a more sedentary existence. Dwellings were earth-covered and set part-way into the ground to resemble the earth lodges of the Plains Indians. Hunters concentrated on game available locally and on plentiful fish.

When we were done at the top of Starved Rock, we descended and walked across a small valley and up the hill to the Lodge. The West Bluff Trail began around on the other side of the Lodge.

The West Bluff Trail

One of the things we'd found out in the Visitor Center was that the waterfalls here are much more active in the spring when the snowmelt and rains feed them. But St. Louis canyon was one of the places where there was still likely to be water going over the falls even now. The trail to St. Louis canyon actually leads by three other canyons as well- Aurora, Sac and Kickapoo.

On the west side of the Lodge, we found the trailhead for the West Bluff Trail. The trail began on the crest of the bluff above the Illinois River and headed generally east. Along the first part of the trail, we were treated to a goodly amount of fall color. After a while, the trail led downwards some and began to hug the side of the bluff. We passed across the top of three canyons- Aurora Canyon, Sac Canyon and Kickapoo Canyon.

Then the trail rose again and became a boardwalk almost all the way to the junction with the trail down into St. Louis Canyon.

Our little guide told us to watch for the rock column that would mark the beginning of the St. Louis Canyon branch of the West Bluff Trail. So we turned back south and headed down the trail into the canyon. When the trail stopped descending, we crossed the first footbridge over the little stream that comes out of the canyon. A few feet further on, we crossed a second footbridge and headed into the canyon proper.

Beginning just after we crossed the second footbridge, I filmed our entry into St. Louis Canyon, showing you the canyon and waterfall. If you use the player at right to watch this movie, you can walk into the canyon with us.

Below are four thumbnail images for the best pictures we took of the little waterfall at the head of St. Louis Canyon. Click on them to view the full-size images.

We took a few other pictures here in the canyon, including the cliff face and sand dunes and also a view looking out of the canyon. It was very pleasant here in the canyon, and we stayed a few minutes just to relax before we headed back up to the West Bluff Trail and back to the Lodge for lunch.

Starved Rock Lodge and Lunch

When we'd started out on the West Bluff Trail an hour ago, we'd come up the hill from the Visitor Center and walked to the other side of the lodge across its patio, which was on the north side of the lodge. When we came back from the trail, we walked around the south side of the lodge to the main entrance. We went in and were immediately impressed with the rustic architecture of the attractive lobby.

We got some directions to the dining room and headed off down the long hall to the public areas of the lodge. The hall came out into a great room with tall ceilings and a huge fireplace. The entrance to the Starved Rock Room (the dining room) was at the end of this great open space. For lunch, we both chose the buffet, although I just did the salad part. The food was quite good and we got plenty to eat. The lodge is very nice inside, and it would be fun to stay at one like it sometime. After lunch, we were off to hike the trails to the east and south of the lodge.

Below are some thumbnail images for pictures we took inside Starved Rock Lodge. You can click on them to view the full-size images:

The East Bluff Trail

When we left the lodge, we headed east along the eastern portion of the Bluff Trail. (This is the same Bluff Trail that we took to St. Louis Canyon, but the trail is broken in the middle by the Lodge.)

As you can see from the trail map at the left, we followed the East Bluff Trail through or past five canyons- French Canyon, Pontiac Canyon, Wildcat Canyon, Basswood Canyon and Lonetree Canyon. Just after the last, the trail descended a pretty amazing set of staircases to intersect with the River Trail.

Starting out, we skirted the parking area for the Lodge and campground, and then headed off into the forest down the first of many staircases and boardwalks that we would encounter on the trail. The first canyon we came to was actually off to the side of the Bluff Trail, so we didn't go into it; this was French Canyon. (The ranger had mentioned that at this time of year there was no water at all in that canyon, so we bypassed it.) We followed the trail around by Pontiac Canyon; there was no water here, either.

Then we came to Wildcat Canyon. Here at the top of the canyon, there was a series of boardwalks that led in different directions. It wasn't until we'd explored a bit that we discovered where they led.

When we came down onto the series of boardwalks at Wildcat Canyon, I made a movie of the little waterfall that is at the head of the canyon, and tried to indicate where the various boardwalks went. I was a bit in error, but you can watch this movie anyway using the player at right.

As it turned out, the left hand boardwalk dead-ended at an overlook for Wildcat Canyon.

Here at this overlook, Fred made a movie of the waterfall and the view down into the canyon. He was a bit nervous when he was leaning out to get a view down into the canyon; you can see why if you look at the overlook we were standing on as seen from the second overlook on the other side of the canyon. You can use the player at left to watch Fred's movie.

The Bluff Trail continued via another boardwalk over to the other side of Wildcat Canyon. You can see a picture of Fred at this second overlook (and a view back to the first one) here. From this overlook, we could not only look downriver at the lock and dam but also across the river at the Kaskaskia site. Fred also took a couple of river pictures here, one of barge traffic and one of the old tourist hotel that is now part of the lock and dam property.

The last part of the Bluff Trail took us by Basswood Canyon and Lonetree Canyon, and then down the long stairway to the River Trail.

The River Trail

When the stairs from Lonetree Canyon had deposited us on the River Trail, we first headed southeast to LaSalle Canyon since there was supposed to be water still flowing there. Then we began the trek back, saving the further points of interest for another time. On the way back we stopped at all the overlooks and got some great views.

When we got to the bottom of the stairs that led down from Lonetree Canyon and the Bluff Trail, we found ourselves on a trail that led along the river just a few feet above it. I made a movie of what the trail looked like down here.

We walked along the trail, heading to Tonti Canyon. Just a little ways down the trail, we found a small canyon that wasn't marked on the trail guide, and we went in to take a look.

The Lobby of the Statehouse

I made a movie in this unnamed canyon that we visited on our way to Tonti Canyon, and you can watch that movie with the player at right.

We walked a bit further on along the trail, and then we came to a footbridge over what turned out to be the small stream coming out of LaSalle Canyon. Here, we found that the trail forked; as the sign said, you could go either to LaSalle Canyon first or to Tonti Canyon. The trail was a loop off the main trail along the river. It didn't matter much, but we decided to go visit Tonti Canyon first.

Tonti Canyon wasn't far along the loop trail that we took. There was no water here, but the canyon was interesting for the rock formations and for the fact that you could see evidence that water does flow here at least at some times of the year. I have put some thumbnail images of Tonti Canyon below; click on them to view the full-size images.

I made a movie here at Tonti Canyon.

We continued on along the trail past Tonti Canyon heading to LaSalle Canyon. This trail was ascending somewhat along the course of the little stream that was coming from LaSalle Canyon. There were a couple of bridges and some stairways before you came down the last stairway into LaSalle Canyon. Below are some thumbnail images for some of the pictures we took along the trail between Tonti and LaSalle Canyons. Click on them to view the full-size images:

When we came down the final set of stairs we had entered LaSalle Canyon. The canyon was the largest we'd been in today. The beautiful rock formations swept around us in almost three-quarters of a circle. In the middle of the canyon wall there was a small waterfall; well, small at this time of year, anyway. It spashed into a small pool, giving rise to the small stream that we'd followed up here from the river. We had the canyon almost to ourselves; it was certainly a beautiful place. I have put six thumbnail images below for the best of the pictures we took here. I hope you'll click on at least some of them to see the beauty of LaSalle Canyon.

I made what I thought was a good movie here in LaSalle Canyon. In it, you can see and hear the waterfall, something that the pictures don't allow you to do. You can watch this movie with the player at left.

LaSalle Canyon was a great place to spend some time, what with the restful sounds of the small waterfall in the background and, of course, the great scenery. But we had to press on, and so we took the trail from the canyon and headed off. Presently, we came back to the trail junction where we'd left the River Trail to head up to Tonti Canyon. However, since we'd gone all the way to LaSalle Canyon and gone under the waterfall that gave rise to the stream we'd been following, when we returned to the junction we were on the other side of the footbridge we had seen earlier.

We gave some thought to continuing on along the River Trail, but since the ranger had given us to understand that the most interesting canyons were from LaSalle westward, we decided to head on back towards the visitor center. This time, however, we stayed on the River Trail instead of going back up onto the bluff. This meant we had nice views of the Illinois River all the way along, and we could see the wildlife in the river as well. We did pass some other small canyons, and I went in one of them to climb around for a few minutes. We also stopped at the small Beehive Overlook, where what you saw mostly were downriver views.

Our next stop was the Eagle Cliff Overlook. It is named for the bald eagles that roost in the large trees at Starved Rock during the winter, on the islands downstream from the dam. Fish, their primary food, are available where the burbulence below the dam keeps the water from freezing. The overlook consisted of a series of balconies and walkways built right on top of a bluff at the very edge of the river, and so the views were tremendous. If you'll click on the thumbnail images below, you can see some of the pictures we took on and from the Eagle Cliff Overlook.

The Kaskaskia, a tribe of Illinois Indians, lived directly across the river from Eagle Cliff Overlook. At the time of European contact in 1673, their "Grand Village" had 74 lodges and about 735 inhabitants. Other local tribes banded together with the Kaskaskia to take advantage of trading opportunities with Europeans living in Fort St. Louis, located on top of Starved Rock. this combined population of Illinois, Miami and Shawnee Indians reached nearly 9,000 and provided safety in numbers from the raiding Iroquois. when their trading and land rights were threatened, the Kaskaskia were forced to move. By 1764, their population had dwindled to 600 and was declining rapidly. Survivors of the once-numerous Illinois Nation were moved to Kansas in 1832.

The Lobby of the Statehouse

I made a movie from Eagle Cliff Overlook, showing the overlook itself and the sweep of the Illinois River below it. You can use the player at right to watch the movie.

Our final stop this afternoon on the River Trail was the Lover's Leap Overlook, which was just opposite to a little downstream of the lock and dam. The Starved Rock Lock and Dam is part of a "water stairway" that connects Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. In 1933, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a system of seven locks, called the Illinois Waterway, to make the shallow Illinois River usable for commerce. Before the Illinois Waterway, boats moved through the narrow I&M Canal located to the north of the river. Its locks could only hold a single barge or boat at one time. Today's locks are capable of handling eight barges and a towboat. More than 45 million tons of coal, gravel, silica, soybeans, grain, fertilizers, petroleum, iron products and chemicals are locked through here each year. The Illinois Waterway Visitor Center across the river has displays about lock and dam operations and the area's history. From the observation deck, you can view the working lock.

Speaking of the area's history, I have been amazed during the day here, reading all the signage, how many famous names I encountered. Some I already knew from history, and many others I knew from place names in Chicago and elsewhere in Illinois. This is because the Illinois River was the main route of the first Europeans exploring this area in the 1600s.

Paddling upriver in birchbark canoes, French voyageurs led by Father Jacques Marquette (a famous name in Michigan and Illinois, as in Pere Marquette, Michigan, for example) and Louis Jolliet (the town of Joliet, Illinois) arrived here in 1673. they were looking for Native Americans to trade with and convert to Christianity and for sites to build French forts.

Robert LaSalle (LaSalle Canyon here, LaSalle Street in Chicago, etc.) and Lieutenant Henri de Tonti (Tonti Canyon here) came to this area in 1679. Near Starved Rock, they built Fort St. Louis, which served as headquarters for a fur-trading post. This fort pre-dated the city of St. Louis; the city of St. Louis was not actually founded until 1764, when Auguste Chouteau arrived at the site he'd picked out a year earlier and began construction. No evidence of the fort remains, but over in Matthiessen State Park we saw a replica of what the fort might have looked like.

Well, we've done about all we can here at Starved Rock State Park today. Fred was the one who found out about it and plumped for stopping here, and he turned out to be right on the money. It has been a very enjoyable day. When we left Lover's Leap Overlook, the boardwalk continued to a junction. If you will watch the movie below, I'll explain it.

Leaving Lover's Leap Overlook, we came to this boardwalk junction. My movie will show you the directions you can go, and the direction we took.

The trail system here, particularly the raised boardwalks and stairways and bridges, was pretty amazing. You've seen lots of pictures of the system, but maybe you can get a better appreciation for it by watching the movie I made as we were descending from the River Trail to head back to the Visitor Center.

It was about a five-minute walk through the beautiful forest and along the boardwalk (you can see Fred on the boardwalk here) to the Visitor Center. Once there (and it was closed by the time we returned), we just went back to the car and had a soda, hooked up the GPS, entered Fred's address and headed off for home.

The Drive Home

When we left the park, we turned north so as to pick up the Interstate. We crossed the bridge over the Illinois River and then went through the town of North Utica. Fred snapped a couple of pictures of the town as we passed through, and if you want to see them you can click here and here.

North of town, we took a shortcut on Highway 6 over to Interstate 39 south.

We stayed on I-39 until Bloomington, and then headed southwest on I-55 to St. Louis, retracing the highway we'd been on earlier in the week. From here, our route home was just the reverse of our route up, so I won't bother with the maps. Not two hours after we left the park, our decision to leave Green Bay a day early was vindicated as the clouds rolled in and we drove through some light showers. This continued off and on right into St. Louis.

As we came through St. Louis on I-55 and crossed the bridge over the Mississippi, it was quite dark, but I prevailed on Fred to try his hand at taking a movie with my camera as we passed the Arch and came by downtown. It's not the best movie in the world, what with the showers and the motion of the car, but it's worth watching.

We'd had a big lunch at the buffet in Starved Rock State Park, so we weren't in any hurry to stop for dinner. Just past St. Louis it started to rain heavily; driving became a chore rather than a pleasure. We pulled into a Super 8 in Lebanon, Missouri for the night, having a late supper at a little restaurant across the street.

On Thursday morning, the weather was about the same as we continued our drive back to Van Alstyne through Missouri, Oklahoma and North Texas. We arrived back at Fred's house in mid-afternoon. It was a great trip, but we were both anxious to get home.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	October 5, 2009: Our Drive from Green Bay to Southern Illinois
	Return to the Index for Our Midwest Trip