Starved Rock

While Grammie and Opa were in town, we all went down to Starved Rock, which is a state park about an hour and a half away. As far as I know this is the most topography that the northern half of the state has to offer. (I've recently learned that there are a few arches in southern Illinois!)

The name sake of the park is a butte that sits right on the Illinois river that is about 200 feet tall and covers about a half acre on the top. It's clearly a nice viewpoint for the area, particularly up and down the river. The story behind it's name is that a group of Illinois Indians were trapped up there by some Fox and Potawatomi Indians who were angry about a chief being killed. The sides of the butte are very steep, and it would be easy to defend from anyone trying to get you, but . . . you're also trapped. So, the story goes that the indians starved up there and the rock got its name. I have no clue if that story is true or not, but there you go.

The state park has 13 miles of trails and stairs that cut across a number of steep little canyons that have some fun waterfalls. We didn't get to see a huge part of the park, but it was still a fun little day trip. Next time we'll have to go back when we can stay longer (and I don't have to work an over night shift that night).

The girls at "Wildcat Canyon". Trees make it hard to take pictures of anything large.

This is inside Wildcat Canyon, with the girls as a scale bar.

A closeup of the waterfall from the previous picture. I'm not much of a photographer.