A Beautiful Rustic Early Fall Weekend at Starved Rock. Sept 26-28,2025

It was a beautiful early fall weekend at Starved Rock State Park, an area rich in history and natural beauty. We stayed at the Lodge, built by the Civilian Conservation Core in 1933 and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is such a rustic setting with lovely spaces, high ceilings, and wonderful artifacts. The five of us, Monica, Dave, Larry, Wendy and Dick, gathered for a delicious dinner and the beginning of many great conversations at the Lodge Friday night and mapped out our hiking plans for the next day with the assistance of ChatGPT, All Trails, and Google Maps. Ah technology! 

And the hiking was marvelous, with views of the Illinois River, caverns and overlooks. And great exercise: we all reached a high “step” counts on our fitness apps, with a lot of up and down on the well-maintained paths.

But there was also time in the afternoon to relax, nap, and/or have lunch at the outside bar, overlooking remarkable scenery.  Saturday night we ventured over to Skoogs Pub and Grill in nearby North Utica- where we all enjoyed delicious ribs, steaks, and its local small-town atmosphere.