Matthiessen State Park

Matthiessen State Park is a 1,938-acre park south of the Illinois River in LaSalle County. Before becoming a state park, it was privately-owned by Frederick William Matthiesson, a prominent industrialist and philanthropist. Originally called Deer Park due to the large deer population, it consisted of 176 acres around a narrow canyon. Mr. Matthiessen had trails, stairs, bridges and dams built for his park. After his death, his heirs donated the park to the state and it was renamed in his honor in 1943. Since then, the park has grown to nearly 2,000 acres of woodland, canyons and prairies. The narrow canyon is called the dells and consists of two sections - the Upper Dells begin at Matthiessen Lake and continue to Cascade Falls; the Lower Dells continue down to Vermilion River.

Contact Information:

Box 509
Utica IL 61373

Phone: (815) 667-4868
Email: DNR.StarvedRock@illinois.gov

Directions:

Matthiessen State Park is about 3 miles south of Utica. Go south on IL-178 for about 3 miles, crossing the Illinois River and passing Starved Rock State Park. Turn right at the sign for Matthiessen State Park onto N 25th Road and go just under a mile to the main parking area at the Dells.

Map:

Trails: 

Bluff Trail:

Bluff Trail is a 1.5 mile trail around the rim of the Upper and Lower Dells. The trail is marked with brown posts, with white dots heading towards parking and yellow dots going away. The trailhead is at the Dells parking and a spur leads down to the trail. It makes a loop and the bridge above Cascade Falls bisects the loop. Interior trails lead into the Upper and Lower Dells.

Upper Dells Interior Trail:

The Upper Dells Interior Trail leads through the Upper Dells. The trail is marked with green posts. The trail can be accessed from Bluff Trail near the bridge, near the lake and about half-way between. From the upper end, the trail starts just downstream of Lake Falls and heads through the canyon. After passing Giant's Bathtub, it leads to Cedar Point where a tributary flows in. A path leads back up to Bluff Trail from here.

Points of Interest:

Giant's Bathtub:

The Giant's Bathtub is a small waterfall in the Upper Dells a short ways downstream from Lake Falls. The Upper Dells Interior Trail passes right by it.

Lake Falls:

Lake Falls is a 50-foot waterfall at the start of the Upper Dells. It is formed by the out-flow from Matthiessen Lake. The Bluff Trail leads right over the top of it and the Upper Dells Interior Trail leads down into the canyon near the base.

Wildlife:

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Blog Entries:

25-May-2019: Midewin Prairie

External Links:

Illinois State Parks website: https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/parks/pages/matthiessen.aspx