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Shawnee National Forest
Shawnee National Forest is located in Herod, Illinois. I decided to take a trip there this weekend to do some backpacking. I was ready to get out of Ohio and this one looked like it had some decent trails. I made the 7 hour drive on Saturday, after selling Girl Scout cookies at a booth with my youngest. Since the drive was so long and I’d started so late, I ended up staying in a hotel the first night.
I chose to stay at a Super 8 since it was cheap and I knew I just needed a place to sleep. The room wasn’t bad, just a king sized bed. It was super frustrating that the room next to me had non-stop visitors and they tried to open my door several times. Fortunately I had the deadbolt engaged and the chain on. It was still un-nerving though.
I checked out of my room at 7am and made my way to the trailhead. Got all my gear on, switched from tennis shoes to boots and was ready to go! The beginning was ok and the trail was easy to follow. About a mile and a half in, it got more difficult to stay on the trail. I would have to keep looking at my phone to make sure that I was still on track and several times I was off route and would have to backtrack.
There were a couple of sections where I had to cross water and there were never any easy spots. Both times I got very wet and very muddy!
About 2 miles in, I decided that this trail just wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to end up getting lost out here, especially considering it wasn’t even that pretty of a hike. It was supposed to be a 12 mile backpacking trip and ended up being 4.5 miles hiking. I was so disappointed in the place.
Mammoth Cave National Park
Since I’d left early and had already planned on being gone for 2 days, I decided to make the short drive to Kentucky to visit Mammoth Caves. By the time I arrived, they were closing for the day so I got another hotel room for the night at a Days Inn.
Mammoth Cave National Park is located in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. They have a variety of tours available for the caves as well as many walking trails. I chose to do the Mammoth Passage tour while I was there. Tour tickets are available on a first-come first-serve basis. The doors open at 8:30 and then tickets go on sale. My ticket was $11 to get in, parking was free.
This was a short tour, or at least in my opinion it was. It last just over an hour and went less than a mile into the cave, however, it was pretty amazing. The immensity was breathtaking! There’s a large cavern when you first go in. This is where gunpowder was made during the War of 1812 and some relics of the machinery is still onsite.
As you can see, I knocked 2 locations off my list, one National Park and one National Forest! Illinois is now done!! Let’s see if I can reach my goal! Where should I go next?
