Hawk's Cave Trail

Hawk's Cave Trail is in Fern Clyffe State Park, in Goreville.  A place I've been many times, but had never taken this other trail.  In fact, there are several trails here I still need to explore.

Hawk's Cave is a short trail, probably a little less than a mile loop, about the same as the waterfall trail.  When you park in the lot, instead of hiking straight onto the waterfall trail, veer left and go across the stepping stones.  That trail will split into three, Hawk's Cave trail is on the far left.

The trail itself will Y a little ways into it, but it's a loop, you can't get lost.  Your only decision is really if you want to go uphill before or after exploring the cave (haha.  We chose before in which case you go right.)

You won't see the cave coming until your nearly in it.  That's the beauty of it.  This massive cave site so perfectly in the rock face that your just walking along minding your own business wondering when this cave will appear and Bam! Your in it.  It's massive.  It doesn't go back too terribly far, but it is move cave than overhang.  There's a lot of big stones that have fallen laying around that you can climb on and have fun with, just be careful, play at your own risk.  I don't have the slightest clue where the nearest hospital is or how long it would take them to get to you.

There's a smaller cave as you leave Hawk's Cave, I could see it from the trail (which is really pretty at that point) but we didn't go back to it, simply because I was doing a photo shoot at the time and light is never on our side.

Walking back down you'll cross a cute little footbridge crossing a stream.  The kids loved it, and had it been a little warmer, I'm sure would have been in it.

You go back down the hill you walked up, then meet back up at the main trail.  You should still have plenty of energy to go and see the waterfall. :)

Take rt 37 to Goreville, and follow it through town.  Just outside of town you'll see the sign for Fern Clyffe.  If you want more to see, Tunnel Hill State Trail isn't far!

Regent Road Waterfall

OK, so technically this isn't a year round waterfall.  But, there is a small back road in Goreville, and when the weather has been wet, there is also a waterfall.  You actually drive across a (usually) dry creek, which drops off sharp on the left side of the road into a bowl.  When there's been enough water to fill the creek, the waterfall goes right off the side of the road :)

If you park on the side of the road there's a horse trail going down into the bowl.  You can poke around on the rocks and in the hollow, and when the bowl isn't overfull you can even go back behind the fall into the small cave.

There are some neat rock formations down here, and even when there isn't any water it's a nice place to poke around a bit.  This is a really good place to go if you have smaller kids and just want to show them something different, or you'd like to see some of the things I blog about here but don't want to hike two miles to get there.  You should be aware though, I have to assume this is private property, so please respect what you find.  Leave no trace!

How to get there:

from I-57-

take exit 40 and turn left onto Goreville rd.

 Regent lane is the first road on the right.  You'll go down it a little ways, and right on a big curve you'll see the flat spot for the creek.  It's really obvious.

Ghost Dance Canyon

Ghost Dance Canyon at Dixon Springs is undoubtedly one of the best 'trails' in Southern Illinois.  I use the word trail lightly, as there is only about half a mile of distinguishable trail.  It starts just beyond the swimming pool, running underneath the highway in a fairly impressive arched bridge.

Follow the foot path along a bubbling stream, with many places for you to stop and play in or near the water and it's various little waterfalls.

The trail basically ends at a large confluence of rocks in the stream, nestled in an opening of a canyon.  It's pretty impressive already.

Cross the stream (carefully!) and there's a footpath following the water and bluff line for about a quarter of a mile.  Being as it's fall and there's a ton of leaves on the ground, we couldn't tell if the trail went any further, but some people up ahead of us turned up on top of the bluff line, while we went down to the water.

We then made our way back up to the main crossing via the stream.  It was incredible.  Rocks as big as houses stand in the stream.

There are little waterfalls everywhere, making this a cascade fall.  If you are not an experienced hiker, I do not recommend climbing among the rocks.  Although, if you are experienced enough to do it, it's an experience you won't soon forget.  There were numerous times that we just sat on a large rock and surveyed the scene before us.  This is God in all His glory.

Directions:

Follow directions in my last post to Dixon Springs State Park.  Park at the swimming pool, walk to the front of it where the building is, and turn to the right.  Follow the trail!

Rocky Bluff Trail

Out of all the places we have been in the last few years, I can honestly say this one is now my favorite.  A quick, 2.2 mile hike not far from Marion, nestled in Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge.  We usually go to Shawnee Wilderness simply because of its size and sheer volume of trails, but sometimes smaller is better, and this one is truly a gem.

I don't know the history of this trail, when or why it was constructed, so the pictures are just going to have to speak for themselves.  You will have to have a day pass for this one, so my directions are from the Crab Orchard Visitor Center.  Passes are $2.00 for a day, or $15.00 from July to July.  You can also buy a duck stamp that can be used as a seasonal pass.
 Right off the parking area (which is small, park nicely!) is the first waterfall opening into a huge bowl valley.  We went here specifically because it had rained a good deal the day before, but there was still no water on the fall.  The trail starts out going over a foot bridge across the first fall.

This trail is listed as 'moderate' as far as difficulty, but to be honest it is still an easy trail.  It is 2.2 miles if you take the loop.  Just make sure to follow the signs, the trail is very well marked, but there are a few times where you can pick up other trails, like Wild Turkey trail, which does not loop back to the parking lot.  This is a very pretty trail, while we went in fall which is probably one of the best times, I think it is diverse enough to be wonderful any time.  They also use this trail during the spring for flower walks every Saturday in April, citing over 60 native species of blooming flowers.

Not far after the first waterfall you come across another, with a nice deep gorge below.  On both falls, so long as there is no water, you can walk off the trail and right up to the edge. Be careful! There are no rails here.

I thought that the waterfalls would be the highlight of the trails, but it didn't even scratch the surface.  The trail winds on a slight downhill grade, and the surrounding area gets hilly, which is really pretty.  There's a lot of downed trees from past storms, but instead of looking bad it just gives you interesting shapes and things to look at, with lots of moss, fungus, and beaver chewings. 

Then the trail get really interesting.  You start going down a hill you didn't even really know you were on.  You can see below a few footbridges, and at first I was like, 'how to we get down to those? I wanna see them!" But the trail gets twisty and winds all the way down the hill and back around.  At one point it's almost comical, you think, why does it turn 180?  But it really is a neat little walk.

There are three foot bridges in rapid succession at the bottom of the hill.  

A little farther down you will find a trail marker, and there's a small offshoot that runs to a huge rock you can stand on right over Grassy Creek.  The trail follows along the creek for almost the remainder of the hike, and all of a sudden you come across a long line of bluffs.

There are several small water runoffs that the trail crosses, and many little footbridges.  Eventually you come across a neat hollow, with fallen trees and a turn in the bluffs and stone steps.  It was here that I really fell in love with the place, and it gets even better.

It runs back along the creek, with it on one side and bluffs on the other.  Amazing.

There's a ton of neat striations in the rock, you can see many layers, mini caves, different kinds of rock, and even layers of sediment from when the whole area was under water.

It just gets more interesting as you go on.  You keep thinking you'r going to have to start walking uphill, but you never really do until the end.  The trail opens up into the void created by the waterfall.  It's impressive dry, but I'll bet it's spectacular with water flowing.  The workers at the visitor center said to come during a wet winter, and if your lucky, the water will freeze going over the falls.

Stone steps lead up upwards (finally) to the top of the bowl and back to the beginning of the trail.

Go out and enjoy this trail!  Trust me, you won't be disappointed.  I've been on everything from a quarter to six mile trails, and this little two mile trek is one of the best I've seen in Southern Illinois.

Directions:

To the Crab Orchard Visitor Center (from I-57 S)

Take exit 54 B and turn Right onto Old 13.  

Turn Left onto 148 at the big intersection at Energy.  

 A few miles down the center is on the left.  You have to come here first to get you day pass unless you have a duck stamp or year pass.

Directions to Rocky Bluff Trail (from Visitor Center)

Turn Left out of the parking lot onto 148.  Follow it five miles.

A Little Grassy general store will be on the right, turn Right there onto Little Grassy road.

A few miles down the road will curve/split, you have to take the Left to stay on Grassy.

At the first Crab Orchard sign (for Devil's Kitchen Lake) turn Left onto Tacoma lane. 

Across the bridge is a small parking lot and a sign for Bluff Trail.

Enjoy!

Update:

We returned to Rocky Bluff on Mother's day 2014.  It had been raining for weeks, and in fact rained almost all that day.  We walked down tot he waterfall while thunder rumbled overhead.  It finally flowed!  We did not walk the trail, but I was ecstatic to see water on the cascade.  Our walking sticks were even still there from last time!  I image people using them and leaving them for others :)