Winter Hiking at Starved Rock State Park (Illinois)
A few years ago, I started to realize that I love winter in a way that most people do not. While bitter cold and dark days aren't exactly the height of joy, there is a peaceful magic in it that I deeply appreciate. I notice it especially when I return home on a cold, crisp night. Standing at my back door in the dark, fumbling for keys, I will suddenly remember to look up and enjoy the night sky and the stars spread out above. I'm not a pro at constellations, but I know a few and look for them.
Since realizing that I really love winter, I've had a bucket list running of winter things I want to do and see. Things like snowshoeing (checked that off this year!) and the aurora borealis. Also on this list - frozen waterfalls! Recently I've seen a number of friends posting about taking trips to Starved Rock to see the frozen canyons. One friend in particular posted about her trip and stopping at Barrel Society after to enjoy a brew. Consider me sold...I showed Matt and said we should try to do that. But I've been busy with work and other things and the thought slipped away.
So I was pleasantly surprised when we were hanging out Saturday night and he suggested we go THE NEXT DAY to Starved Rock. My husband is usually the planner, while I am usually the spontaneous one. Despite feeling a bit unprepared with maps and plans, I jumped at the chance. He said the weather looked nice, and it would be a great chance to enjoy the frozen wonderland while not being totally frozen ourselves.
I tried to visit Starved Rock in June 2020 - just as people were flocking to the outdoors - and I got turned away because the parking lots were so full. Fortunately, we didn't have that kind of traffic to deal with, but it was still quite busy. Starved Rock is just that perfect combo of being accessible from many larger Illinois cities + really cool and well publicized. It's almost always busy. But the further you move away from the Visitor Center and main lodge, the less people you will see.
We parked and got ourselves ready. Matt initially questioned my instructions to wear microspikes and poles...but it ended up proving to be a great choice. It allowed us to go some places that others couldn't. Like up behind the waterfall in the St. Louis Canyon and all the way into the French Canyon. The passage into the French Canyon was definitely the most precarious of the day, but not overly dangerous with the right equipment, and we felt quite victorious being the only ones galavanting about the canyon because no one else seemed to be able to make it over there.
The day was not without some drama. In the form of a ~3lb rock falling from roughly 60' above to hit Matt in the calf. We were in the French Canyon. We’d already done the longer trail out to St. Louis canyon and back and decided to tack this and Starved Rock on since it’s closer to the visitors center, and our car. As mentioned before, we were alone in the canyon. But we could see people up top. On the south side a couple of adults. And on the north side, a couple of kids that hollered hello to us and waved, then quickly disappeared. We had just come from up there by the lodge and passed by a bridal party taking photos. I imagined the kids might be entertaining themselves while the adults took photos.
So we start to make our way back out of the canyon and were somewhat horrified to see a person come towards us with their dog. They bit off way more than they could chew in their tennis shoes, with no poles, and we were watching in horror as the dog slipped multiple times just inches from the ledge. We stayed back where we were to give space until the passage was clear.
While wrapped up in that I heard a massive cracking sound behind me and turned to see Matt’s legs sort of give out and something go flying off to the side about 8 feet. I thought he snapped his pole somehow!
But he started to yell and curse and grab his calf. Looking up at the top, he said someone threw a rock at him. He walked over and picked it up - it was large! Rock doesn't even seem like the right word. He continued to look around for the culprit, but we saw no one. I honestly think I went into some kind of shock or denial because I thought it had to have just broken loose and just wanted to go. I told him he was ok and to stop cursing. It took 20minutes or more for the gravity of the situation to hit me. Had he walked a second slower, it could have been his head that was hit instead of his calf.
For the rest of our hike, and our subsequent stops at Barrel Society and Great Revivalist, we couldn't quite shake the feeling that he'd had a near death experience. We got home and took hot showers and looked through our photos. Despite the scare, we had an amazing time and definitely recommend it.
If you would like to follow my exact path, and you have the AllTrails app downloaded, click on Nikki Jones's Activity in the image at the top and the map will open in AllTrails. From there you can click on the ribbon in the top right corner of the app and save it to a list. Pull it up later to use it for navigation while on trail.