Pogwatigue Perambulations: June Road Trip

In mid-June, I set off on a four-day road trip, mostly through Western Illinois. My first stop was Starved Rock State Park, an hour or two southwest of Chicago. I almost stopped there on my drive back from Colorado, but opted for the I&M Canal bike ride instead. My favorite spot in the park was Eagle Cliff overlook, an aptly named promontory that feels like a human scale aerie a couple hundred feet above the river.

On the second day, I focused on an the area in the vicinity of Dixon, Illinois, the town were Ronald Reagan grew up. In addition to visiting his boyhood home and, in nearby Tampico, his actual birthplace, I did some hiking at Mississippi Palisades State Park and McCure Sand Prairie Preserve. I also stopped at the John Deere Historic Park in Grand De Tour. The park is built on the homestead where John Deere perfected his famous plow and manufactured them for many years.

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Most of my stops on my third day related to Abraham Lincoln: New Salem Historic Park, where he operated a couple stores before devoting himself to law; his tomb in Springfield; and a state park commemorating one of the first Lincoln family farms in Illinois. At my most notable, non-Lincoln-related stop, Nauvoo Historic Park, I rode in an ox cart. This city was the Mormon's last settlement before Salt Lake City. The LDS church runs the park, with church members acting as historical interpreters from the era.

On my last day, I crossed the Indiana stateline and spent most of the day in Turkey Run State Park. It was my third visit to this park. It seems I go there about once every dozen or so years: once as a kid with my family, one summer during my college years, and this most recent stop. The park holds a lot of memories for me. I checked out the campground where we camped, but hardly recognized it; watched a float party from the bouncy suspension bridge; climbed up and down the ladders in Bear Hollow and crossed the Sugar Creek via the 1840s covered bridge. Before driving north to Niles, I took a short hike in nearby, much-less-crowded Shades State Park.

To save money, I camped out all three nights, the first two nights at campgrounds right on the Mississippi and the third at a jewel of a state park tucked among the vast agricultural lands of central Illinois. I regret not stopping to watch a Minor League ball game in Quad Cities. The stadium which is beautifully situated right along the Mississippi River looked pretty full and I wasn't sure yet were I'd be able to camp.

Statistics
Miles: 1251 (1,225.46 driving, 25.4 hiking, 0.2 oxcart)
Days: 4
States: 5
Total Counties: 54
New Counties: 30
Pictures Taken: 397
Pictures Archived: 70
Fuel: 37.39 gallons
MPG: 32.8
Cost: $262.43