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Starved Rock State Park

On Memorial Day, Mike & I hiked some trails in the Columbia River Gorge near Portland so Labor Day...Starved Rock State Park.

 We knew going into the day the waterfalls wouldn't be flowing because that is more common in the spring.  We also knew we were more likely to see some water falling at St. Louis, French, Wildcat, Tonty, Ottawa and Kaskaskia canyons.  So we started at St. Louis, for obvious reasons.  It was beautiful and a wonderful start.

St. Louis Canyon 

It was a hot, rather humid day so we both got pretty sweaty, pretty quick.

 Then we went into the main area of the park and hiked to see Starved Rock, Lover's Leap Overlook, Eagle Cliff Overlook, French Canyon, and Wildcat Canyon.

 My favorites were Eagle Cliff Overlook for a good view of the dam and French Canyon (once we were walking in it).  
Eagle Cliff Overlook


French Canyon

 We weren't sure what the famous Starved Rock was.  After we walked around the overlook we thought, "Maybe it was where the flag was...maybe it was..."  We're not quite sure.

 We took a break for lunch after French Canyon and came back to Wildcat Canyon and that's about when I lost it with the crowds.  Before we hiked back to the car, I told Mike he better lead because I was annoyed.

 Then we left the crowds and headed to the Council Overhang, Kaskaskia Canyon, and Ottawa Canyon.  It was pretty muddy (and the most humid stop), but we hopped over the puddles and tread softly through the mud and ended up liking it.

Kaskaskia Canyon

Kaskaskia and St. Louis were the only canyons with small waterfalls Monday.  And therefore they were Mike's favorites ;)

 We had a good time, but I may recommend not going on a holiday weekend in the future.

 Oh, yeah, and we wrapped up the day with a glass of wine on the patio at Illinois River Winery.

 P.S. See a map of Starved Rock State Park.

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