Starving for Adventure?
As per our norm, this was another last minute decision for a trip. Britt decided on where to go for this one, Starved Rock State Park, somewhere close just for an overnighter. We slept in and took our time getting ready thinking that it was just a short hour to camp. After getting to the gas station to fuel up and plugging in the address in the GPS, we soon realized we should have probably moved a bit quicker getting ready that morning as our hour was actually a little over two-hour trip!
Just before we got to the park there was a cool little historic town of Utica, We definitely need to go back and check it out, especially since the 6-foot pink Sasquatch in front of one of the stores caught my eye. We rolled in to the park around 2:30p.m and it was so overcast and cold that it felt like it was so much later in the day. We decided to check out the visitor’s center before heading to camp so that we could get a map and make sure that we didn’t have to reserve a campsite there. We hadn’t done our research too much on the state park ahead of time; however, we had several folks recommend that we should go. After a short climb up the stairway, we were pleasantly surprised by the visitor’s center, which sits right off the Illinois River, as it has a charming little museum, several classrooms, a little café, and a quaint gift shop. After chatting with some of the staff, we found out that they offer quite a bit of activities such as trolley tours, an assortment of classes, and guided hikes depending on the season. One of the tours that interested us was an old school river paddle wheel boat tour of the Illinois River. The state park also has a large 72-room lodge with restaurant, and 22 cabins for rent.
After getting information from the friendly park rangers, we headed to the campground, which was only 5 minutes or so up the road. No one was at the station when we got there, so we just cruised around the campground loops to see if there were any open sites. Being Halloween weekend, it was quite full; however, I think the ominous weather that day may have kept folks from keeping reservations. We got lucky to land site #70 which offered some privacy. There are 133 campsites. All sites have electricity, picnic table, and fire ring, and there are flush/pit toilets and a very small shower house. There are 2 different camping loops and all the sites were more like an open field setting; however, the loop that we were in had some sites that were in the tree line and provided a bit of privacy. Some of the sites that we would recommend are 29, 52, and 99. If you are with another group, then sites 77 and 78 are perfect since they are side-by-side with sort of a joint community space.
After finding our spot, we whipped out the Skottle for a quick street taco lunch (another meal that is quickly becoming a staple for our camping because it is quick, easy and delicious) and took a gander at the map to decide on a short hike that we could complete before sunset. We settled on part of the southern end of the park trail system and did two quick hikes. The first of which was to Hennepin Canyon Overlook and the second was to Owl Canyon and Hidden Canyon Overlook. Although it was a rather short hike, it was very scenic and we were able to capture many of the fall colors and take in the sites of a few “canyons” along the Illinois River. As it became later and grew darker, we rolled back into camp to set up and quickly started a fire for warmth (cheating this time by using the compressed fireplace logs in our little Webber grill). We had several inquisitive campers stop to ask about the truck set up, where we have been with it, and how we like it. For some reason, the truck never fails to put a smile on people’s faces when they stop by.
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As we warmed up by the fire, Britt read through the magazines on the local area to scout out future adventures, while I took advantage of the good cell reception to respond to emails and work on our social media for LSA. Shortly after, Britt headed into the camper to start cooking “deconstructed eggrolls” for dinner and I started (by accident, because I didn’t even know it was possible) a really fun 5-way Facebook video call with our good friends from Dirt Road Trip. We rehashed old memories, caught up on current news, and planned out future trips with the gang (all while everyone took turns going through the Halloween filters) as everyone watched Britt fix up dinner. After eating and our conversation had ended due to my phone dying, we headed back out to enjoy the last of our fire and burn off the remaining wood that we brought before heading to bed. It was the coldest night yet that we had in the camper as it got down to 27, but the forced air furnace in the camper kept us super toasty all evening.
The next morning, the sun was shining and we knew it was going to be a beautiful day although it was still a tad chilly! Britt made up some oatmeal and delicious hot homemade apple cider before we packed up and went back to the trail head at the visitor center to do some more hiking before hitting the road home. We checked out all the major hot spots including Starved Rock, Lover’s Leap Overlook, Eagle Cliff Overlook, Beehive Overlook, Sandstone Point Overlook; as well as, Wildcat Canyon, Lonetree Canyon, La Salle Canyon, Tonty Canyon, and the French Canyon. All together it was about 7 miles of hiking (about half of what they offer), sometime around the last mile she slowed down and it became a bit more difficult for her as we forgot to take into account that there are no restrooms on the trail and that all of the water that she had consumed started to work its way down. But with Britt being 7 months pregnant, she handled it all extremely well!
The trail system is laid out very well and most all intersections are labeled. You would be hard-pressed to get lost in the miles of trail network. After we exited the trail and found a bathroom, we headed back to the parking lot for quick break and snacked on some tangerines, chips, and a few pieces of Halloween candy to hold us over for the ride home. This was such a neat park and we will be back some time in the future for another visit!
