Greenery along path

I mentioned the lush vegetation in a previous post, and here is a sample of what I meant. Trees, ferns, bushes, weeds, grass, wildflower...and of course, water, mud, and sandstone.

Trees

The trees in Starved Rock State Park are spectacular, at least for Illinois. Here is just a sample grove along one of the many paths through the park. There were many areas that were almost completely shaded due to the intertwined rooftop of tree limbs from the numerous trees. Throughout the park there are posted signs that explain the various types of trees in the park.

Waterfall in perspective

To give you some perspective on the size of the canyons in Starved Rock, and the waterfalls, here is a picture of one of my boys standing at the bottom of a small waterfall. Obviously the waterfall was much larger to carve away such a large amount of sandstone!

Waterfall

Here's a view looking straight up one of the few waterfalls that still was flowing in July.

Canyon floor

Here's a typical pic of the path through the bottom of a canyon at Starved Rock. The areas were beautiful with the filtered sunlight through the trees, the creeks, the crumbled sandstone, and the lush vegetation.

Family in canyon

Here are the 3 boys and the wife next to a sandstone wall at the bottom of one of the canyons at Starved Rock.

Chevy Avalanche Tent

Here's my Chevy Avalanche, complete with truck bed tent. This was the luxury tent my 3 boys got to sleep in...while I slept in a cramped single tent! What a father won't due to ensure his boys have a good first experience camping! The truck bed had a 5 inch air mattress as well, so the kids slept great.

Campsite

Here's a pic of the campsite we had near Starved Rock. That's my single tent in the background. That's a Coleman propane grill on the left, which worked great both for grilling steaks/brats, and for heating a skillet in the morning to make scrambled eggs. Of course, the observant of you will also notice the wine bottle on the picnic table. It's always noon somewhere, right!?

Illinois river

As you can see, the Illinois river is quite wide near Starved Rock. Of course, that's caused by the damn.

Bluff and Illinois river

Here is a view of a bluff along the Illinois river, with a damn in the background.

View from bottom of canyon looking up

Here's a view from the bottom of a canyon at Starved Rock, looking up to an observation deck high above. Unfortunately there weren't any people on the deck, which upset my kids because they wanted to yell 'Go ahead, jump!'. Typical boys.

View into canyon

Here is a beautiful example of the type of erosion which creates the canyon's at Starved Rock. The spring waterfall which furnishes this canyon, and keeps eroding the bottom, is unfortunately dry for this picture. However, there still is a pool of water at the bottom.

Creek and Path

Here's the typical creek at the bottom of a canyon in Starved Rock. There hadn't been much rain lately, so the creeks were very low, which did allow us to easily hike the canyon's without getting stuck in the mud.