Illinois

St. Louis Canyon Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

Starved Rock State Park is a wonderful state park to see some fascinating geological features and some amazing waterfalls if you show up at the right time! I’ve posted about LaSalle Canyon Falls and Wildcat Canyon Falls already.

St. Louis Canyon Falls in April 2012

There are many parking areas in the park that can lead to different canyons. St. Louis Canyon is unique in that it’s somewhat on the edge of the park. There’s a designated parking area for St. Louis Canyon off of IL-178. Once you park, you hike west and you’ll come to St. Louis Canyon Falls. You can continue on the Bluff Trail to the main parking area, which then leads to an extensive trail system which parallels the Illinois River.

The important thing to make your visit worthwhile. Visit in spring or after a good rainfall. The waterfalls in these canyons disappear after it gets warmer and drier. The area is still amazing, but if you’re looking for waterfalls, timing is important.

Directions:

  1. There are different parking areas in Starved Rock State Park. To most quickly access St. Louis Canyon Falls, the parking are is found directly off of IL-178 south of North Utica. If you reach the Grand Bear Resort, you’ve gone too far. The parking area will be on the left if you’re headed south.
  2. From the parking area, follow the trail into St. Louis Canyon.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 40′
Length of Hike: 0.8 miles round-trip

Where in the World is St. Louis Canyon Falls?

Advertisement

Giant’s Bathtub Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

In Matthiessen State Park, there are a few interesting waterfalls if you show up at the right time. With many of these falls and the ones in Starved Rock State Park nearby, you have to show up after a good rainfall. The two bigger waterfalls in the park are Lake Falls and Cascade Falls. The smaller of the falls is the most interestingly named…Giant’s Bathtub Falls. I wish more waterfalls were creatively named as such.

Giant’s Bathtub Falls isn’t very tall, but the benefit is you get to stumble upon it while looking for the other falls. I visited in April 2012, and I remember it being unseasonably warm. It was still very enjoyable to visit Matthiessen and Starved Rock state parks. There should be enough interesting stops between the two parks to make it worth a visit!

Directions:

  1. Exit I-80 and head south along IL-178 toward North Utica (a small town).
  2. Keep heading south on IL-178 past the entrance to Starved Rock State Park. The entrance to Matthiessen State Park will be on your left (if you’re heading south).
  3. Head to the parking area, and then start hiking in the Dells Area. As mentioned above, the trail system is a little bit odd and complex, so just try and wander around. It’s pretty difficult to get completely lost.

Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 8′
Length of Hike: 1.2 miles round-trip

Giant’s Bathtub Falls in April 2012

Where in the World is Giant’s Bathtub Falls?

Rocky Glen Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

I was trying to decide whether include this waterfall, as I had a hunch it was man-made, and from what I understand, it was constructed in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corp. And yet, I figure it’s an interesting enough stop that doesn’t have the feel of a man-made waterfall at a putt-putt golf course!

Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve completely surrounds Argonne National Laboratory, so there are multiple trails that do not necessarily lead to waterfalls, but to other interesting features of the park. Rocky Glen Falls is in the southeastern portion of the preserve. It was an enjoyable hike to the falls, partly on gravel roads, and then on some trails as you approach the falls. I visited in January 2018 when it was a rather warm day, and it was a surprisingly hopping place. There were many people traversing the trails and visiting the falls. It’s about a 30-45 minute drive outside of downtown Chicago, but it doesn’t appear public transportation will be an easy way to get there. So I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to visit the falls, but I still found it an enjoyable diversion.

Directions:

  1. From I-55, you could take exit 274 onto IL-83 heading south.
  2. After 2.2 miles on IL-83, turn right onto Bluff Road.
  3. After 0.7 miles, turn onto Waterfall Glen Road toward the Waterfall Glen Parking Area.
  4. From there, the Main Trail starts heading east. It then veers right/north onto the Rocky Glen Trail. The Rocky Glen Trail leads you to the falls.

Accessibility: 9/10 (easy)
Height: 3′
Length of Hike: 0.8 miles round-trip

Rocky Glen Falls (30)

Rocky Glen Falls in January 2018

Where in the World is Rocky Glen Falls?

Blackhawk Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been finding some of the lesser known waterfalls, often near big cities. The Chicago metro area has at least two smaller waterfalls in its vicinity. One of them is Blackhawk Falls, the other Waterfall Glen Falls.

I have to admit…I’m not 100% sure either of these are truly natural waterfalls. The more advertised one (with Waterfall Glen it is name) seems a bit more a product of human intervention than this one, though even Blackhawk Falls feels like humans may have had a hand in its creation.

Even so, it’s got a few things going for it. First, it’s very easy to get to. Second, it’s a short walk to the falls along a paved path. The path, the River Bend Bike Trail, extends a ways and is an enjoyable trail. The falls are tall enough to make it a worthwhile stop if you’re in the Chicago area and you want to do a bit of outdoor exploration.

Directions:

  1. There are numerous different ways to approach the falls, so I would suggest setting going to Google Maps and searching for Blackhawk County Forest Preserve, which is also known as Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve.
  2. You’ll want to set the intersection of IL-31 and S McLean Boulevard. Just to the east of this intersection along IL-31 is a parking area for the trail. (If you are driving east, the parking area will be on your right.)
  3. At this parking area, head to your right (southwest) along the paved trail. After just 200 feet or so, you’ll come to a bridge. The falls will be directly upstream from this bridge. You can veer off the trail to get a closer view of the falls.

Accessibility: 10/10 (easy)
Height: 5′
Length of Hike: 400′ round-trip

Blackhawk Falls (19)

Where in the World is Blackhawk Falls?

Cascade Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post about Lake Falls, Matthiessen State Park is a very interesting park in north-central Illinois. While I found Starved Rock State Park to be very beautiful, I had better luck finding flowing waterfalls in Matthiessen. Luckily, both parks are very close by, so you can feasibly stop by both on the same day.

I’ve also mentioned before that the trail system is somewhat complex, so you should take some time to explore the park. A map of the park can be found online. Once I found Cascade Falls, I had a significant amount of fun photographing the falls because of the reflection in the pool at the base of the falls. The falls are approximately 15′ tall, and are surrounded by canyon walls on both sides, and I played around with a number of different perspectives for pictures. (You will want to bring bug spray, though, as the pool is a great place for mosquitoes to grow up!)

Directions:

  1. Exit I-80 and head south along IL-178 toward North Utica (a small town).
  2. Keep heading south on IL-178 past the entrance to Starved Rock State Park. The entrance to Matthiessen State Park will be on your left (if you’re heading south).
  3. Head to the parking area, and then start hiking in the Dells Area. As mentioned above, the trail system is a little bit odd and complex, so just try and wander around. It’s pretty difficult to get completely lost.

Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 15′
Length of Hike: 0.5 miles round-trip

Cascade Falls in April 2012

Where in the World is Cascade Falls?

Lake Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

Lake Falls in mid-April 2012

This appears to be my first post about a waterfall in Matthiessen State Park in Illinois. This state park is nearby the more widely known Starved Rock State Park, which is known for its numerous canyons and seasonal waterfalls. Honestly, I had better luck with the waterfalls in Matthiessen State Park. Since both parks are within miles of each other, take the time to visit both.

Lake Falls is the uppermost of the falls in the Dells region of the park. Though not seen in this picture, there is some man-made object above the falls. This has led to the suggestion that the falls might be a man-made product, though there is no indication of this (at least none that I can remember). The falls are directly under Lake Matthiessen. There is an oddly complex trail system around the Dells, so just try to explore a little bit. A map can be found online.

The falls aren’t extremely tall, somewhere in the 20-30′ range. In mid-April, there was some water flowing, which was more than could be said for some of the falls in the canyons at Starved Rock. As with most of the falls in the area, I’d expect the falls to disappear as the summer progresses.

Directions:

  1. Exit I-80 and head south along IL-178 toward North Utica (a small town).
  2. Keep heading south on IL-178 past the entrance to Starved Rock State Park. The entrance to Matthiessen State Park will be on your left (if you’re heading south).
  3. Head to the parking area, and then start hiking in the Dells Area. As mentioned above, the trail system is a little bit odd and complex, so just try and wander around. It’s pretty difficult to get completely lost.

Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 25′
Length of Hike: 1.5 miles round-trip

Where in the World is Lake Falls?

LaSalle Canyon Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

LaSalle Canyon Falls in mid-April 2012

I’ve always been a pretty spontaneous person when it comes to travel. I may decide to go somewhere to see waterfalls without any significant amount of planning. For certain waterfall destinations, though, that can be problematic. Hocking Hill State Park in Ohio is one example, and Starved Rock State Park in Illinois is another. The issue is that there is often only a limited “viewing” period for the falls in those parks before they dry up for the summer. I haven’t visited Hocking Hills yet, but earlier this year, I decided to plan a visit to Starved Rock State Park in April, when I hoped there would be some remnants of waterfalls.

And I was partially lucky. While there were a few falls that had almost ceased to exist until the next intense rainfall or snow melt, a few others still hung around to make the trip worthwhile. LaSalle Canyon Falls might be one of the main highlights from my visit to Starved Rock State Park. Even at the falls, there wasn’t a massive amount of water flowing, but still some. And sometimes you just have to accept “some”! This particular falls is really a pleasure to photograph. You can walk very close to the falls to get one perspective, and then hide behind the surrounding cliffs to get another viewpoint. I believe the shot shown here was at the closer viewpoint.

Directions:

  1. Starved Rock State Park is not particularly difficult to visit. The park is only a few miles south of I-80 between Ottawa and LaSalle.
  2. You can exit onto IL-178 (from I-80), and head south for something like 3 miles.
  3. The entrance to the park will be on your left shortly after crossing the Illinois River.
  4. From the main parking area, you can start along the hike to the various falls. In this case, you will be hiking to your east. (There are other starting points along IL-71, but I did not explore those other options.)
  5. Initially, the options can seem overwhelming.  If you just want to head toward this set of falls, veer left early, trekking with the river usually in view. It is at least a mile in, if not further.
  6. In this case, a map does help with navigating the trails. If I remember correctly, there will be a sign directing you to LaSalle Canyon. (If you were originally heading east, this will be to your right.) A boardwalk will lead you to the falls.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 12′
Length of Hike: 4.0 miles round-trip (from visitor’s center)

Where in the World is LaSalle Canyon Falls?

Wildcat Canyon Falls, Illinois

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

Wildcat Canyon Falls in April 2012

I’ve wanted to visit Starved Rock State Park for some time. It is one of the few places in Illinois where there are waterfalls, and there are a “significant” number of them in a small space. One issue with the waterfalls, though, is that they seem to have a very short lifespan. Choose the time of your visit carefully…

Visiting in March or April seems to be the best bet for seeing at least a few of the falls. They are definitely fed by snow melt, which there is clearly less of compared to places further north. When I visited in mid-April, it was obvious that some falls were already dry. Wildcat Canyon Falls was one that had a small amount of flow. The other two in the park had more water, but this was the first that I saw along the hike.

As for the hike, it’s pretty enjoyable, and if the correct path is chosen, it’s relatively simple. The signage can get a little bit confusing though. Essentially, you want to follow the River Trail (or head in that general direction whenever you get the chance). The River Trail allows for the easiest access to each of the falls up close. Walking a few hundred feet into the canyon leads you to a relatively up-close view. This falls can also be viewed from above on the Gorge Rim trail.

Directions:

  1. There are different parking areas in Starved Rock State Park. To most quickly access Wildcat Canyon Falls, go into the entrance leading to the visitor’s center. This is found off of IL-178 south of North Utica.
  2. From the parking area, head toward the visitor’s center, and then follow the trail. Try to head downhill if you have the chance to best maximize the likelihood of finding the River Trail.
  3. Head “upstream” to get to Wildcat Canyon Falls at the appropriate sign.

Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: ~50′
Length of Hike: 2 miles round-trip (from visitor’s center)

Where in the World is Wildcat Canyon Falls?