Garden of the Gods

Wednesday morning, we checked out and left Harrisburg.  We headed south towards the Ohio River and our first top at Cave-in-Rock State Park.

A short paved trail led down to the river between some massive rock formations.

The views of the river were very nice here.  Heading left we soon came to the cave.

It was really massive.  And we could hike a good ways into the cave.  A footpath led between large rocks into a large opening in the cliff.

It would have been really dark in here, but there was an opening above that let a little bit of light in.  We got some pictures in here and then headed on.

Our next stop was at the Garden of the Gods Recreation Area in Shawnee National Forest.  The Observation Trail made a short loop through the garden with great views of the rock formations and hoodoos.

The trail was built into the rock itself.

Steps had been built into the rock as well.

Although a short trail, it was very slow going with so many fantastic rock formations to see.

Peering down the cliffs, the swirling rocks continued down.

About half way through the loop, we climbed out on the rocks.

The views of the garden and surrounding Shawnee Hills were really beautiful.

It was just amazing how millennia of erosion from wind and water had worn down the rock into such interesting shapes.

It's no wonder that this is one of the most photographed spots in all of Illinois.

We spotted an eastern fence lizard on a tree, very well camouflaged against the bark.

 Devil's smokestack was a massive stone pillar.

Standing 30 feet high, it was formed when softer sandstone eroded away.

We went out on the rocks for wonderful views everywhere we could.

Camel Rock was another fantastic named rock formation.

There's no question how it got its name.

After we finished the Observation Trail loop, we took Middle Trail to West Bluff Trail into the wilderness.  There were several spots to go out on the cliffs here for views of the hoodoos and other rock formations.

We saw some flowering spurge blooming.

At the end, we got on Garden of the Gods Loop Trail and passed by some cool cliffs.

The trail got rather hard to follow, so we just turned around and headed back.

From here, we got on the highway and headed east into Indiana.  We got off I-64 and headed into Hoosier National Forest to Hemlock Cliffs Special Place.  We got on the Hemlock Cliffs Trail to hike the loop counterclockwise.  The trail soon descended into the canyon.

There was a seasonal waterfall where we reached the base of the canyon.

Not much water flowing today, but the canyon was really beautiful.

Unusual to find a box canyon like this in Indiana.

At the start of the canyon, it narrowed to just a small crevice in the cliffs.

Continuing on the trail, we passed by some beautiful cliffs.  It was a real jungle down in here.

There was some orange jewelweed flowering.

A short spur trail led through a massive shelter cave.

Then we finished the hike back at the car.  A very eventful one mile hike.

From here, we got back on the highway and continue to Madison, staying the night at the Super 8.  It rained quite a bit overnight.

Shawnee Hills

Tuesday morning, we headed south into Shawnee National Forest.  Our first stop was at the trailhead for Jackson Falls.  There were some orange jewelweed blooming near the parking area.

Some orange mushrooms were growing here as well.

It was only about 0.1 miles to the top of Jackson Falls.

It's a seasonal waterfall and was dry by late summer.

But it was a pretty area to relax and enjoy the view.

There were plenty of wildflowers blooming in the area.

We spotted some stone mint and non-native Asiatic dayflowers.

After a break, we hiked a short ways down the trail to see if perhaps there was an easy way down.

The cliffs were beautiful, but there seemed to be an easy way down, so not worth it since the waterfall was dry.  We spotted some ringless honey mushrooms on the hike back.

We didn't have far to go for our next stop.

It was a short drive to the Burden Falls Wilderness and trailhead for the falls.  Like Jackson Falls, there wasn't much water at all at Burden Falls.  The upper section of the waterfall was just past the parking lot.

Following the creek downstream a short ways, we came to the top of the lower section of the falls.

Getting to the base from here was difficult, but we found a scramble path to make it down.

There wasn't much water flowing at all, but the cliffs surrounding were really beautiful and made the climb down worth it.

A followed the creek down a short ways, but it didn't look like there were any more drops.

We then climbed back up and returned to the car.

From here, we headed west to Ferne Clyffe State Park.  Parking at the waterfall trailhead, we first hiked the Hawk's Cave Trail past some huge boulders.

Soon we came to Hawk's Cave, one of the largest shelter bluff caves in Illinois.

The rocks surrounding the cave were just beautiful.

It was lightly raining, so we hung out in the cave for a while to stay dry.

When the rain died down, we continued on the trail past more of the cave.

The trail soon looped back around and we finished up back at parking.  Next, we hiked down Big Rocky Hollow Trail past some immense cliffs.

The trail ended at the base of Ferne Clyffe Waterfall.

Even with recent rains, there wasn't much water flowing at all, but still a beautiful area and very easy hike.

From here, we left the main part of the park and headed to the trailhead for Bork's Waterfall.  Regent Lane forded the creek just before the parking area at the top of the waterfall.

I walked back up the road to see the waterfall from the top - there wasn't much water here either.

But we still wanted to make it to the base.  Bork's Waterfall Trail lead down into the gorge and then upstream back towards the road.

It was a really scenic trail with beautiful cliffs lining the ravine.

The trail ended at the base of the waterfall.

Even in the light rain, there wasn't much falling water.

There was a nice shelter cave here that we could hang out in to wait for the rain to pass.

When it did, we made the hike back to the car.

We were getting hungry at this point, so headed to Ned' Shed in Vienna for take-out lunch.  The rain had picked up so we had burgers and wings in the car.  Then we headed back into the forest in the evening and stopped at Trigg Lookout Tower, not far from Jackson Falls and Burden Falls.

The tower looked like it had seen better days, but we climbed up to the top.

The views were beautiful from atop the tower, but it was too cloudy for much of a sunset.

After some pictures, we headed back down and returned to Harrisburg for the evening.