By: Sarah Thomas and Gracie Hanlon
Last year, you may have read our article, “A Mini Tour Guide of National Parks” . We hope you enjoyed it! This year, we have a pretty similar article to share with you. We are highlighting places to visit in our home state of Illinois, fall edition! In this article, we describe six fascinating places all over Illinois, that all feature beautiful sights and are perfect for fall! Even if you might not actually travel to these places, we hope this article will allow you to experience some fun places through the computer!
Grafton Ziplines: The first destination, takes place in Grafton Illinois, just next to St. Louis. Grafton is a small town with a population of about only 630 people! But it’s a fantastic spot to see the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers join and right around the river, the small town has a nice tourist spot, Aeries Resort, which is known for its Ziplines!
Aeries Ziplines is an incredible experience and I’m sure many people in Grafton and the surrounding areas love to go each and every fall! They have seven different ziplines and 2 suspension bridges up in the trees! And if you’re not too comfortable with this or afraid of heights, Aeries also offers walking paths as well, so you can still see every sight! The fall colors on the trees are insanely beautiful, and what’s cooler than flying through the trees at Grafton Ziplines?
Chicago Botanic Garden: The second destination is a great place to go in the fall! It is in Chicago. From its native woodlands to its enchanting gardens, Chicago Botanic Garden is a beautiful sight in the fall. Chicago Botanic Garden has many smaller gardens inside it. These include Circle Garden, Evening Island, English-Walled Garden, Aquatic Garden, and much, much more! Other than this, there are the McDonald’s Woods, natural preserves, and prairie.
Chicago Botanic Gardens are known for their wide expanse of flowers and plants. In fact, there are 385 acres of land that contain flowers. The Garden has many activities to do in the fall. They have a Fall Bulb Festival, with music and a harvest market. During October, there is a tree walk, where you can walk through the woods and see all the beautiful colors for yourself.
Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch: This place is known for its Alaskan Reindeer. Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch is in Rantoul. This place has a ton of ways that you can see reindeer. There is the “Reindeer Experience Farm”, where you can pet the reindeer! Other than the reindeer, there are huge corn mazes, hayrides, pumpkin patches, and old barns.
The corn maze is maybe the next most popular thing to the reindeer. The maze is so big, that it covers 10 acres of land! The corn maze is designed like a big treasure hunt, where you have to find all the items on the treasure hunt before finding your way out. The corn maze also has an activity called Moonlight Madness, where you have to complete the treasure hunt at night, with a flashlight. Hardy’s Reindeer Patch is a perfect place for the fall and/or winter.
Morton Arboretum: Our fourth travel destination, is located in Lisle Illinois, a village near Chicago. It was actually founded by Joy Morton, who also founded Morton Salt, in 1922! So this year, the garden is celebrating their one hundredth year anniversary or as they say, their one hundredth year, ‘growing strong!
The area is gorgeous all times of year, but especially in the fall, with the colorful leaves, their eight unique and beautiful giant sculptures and there are also many events the arboretum puts on! They have a ‘Fall Color Festival’ where there are many activities, such as a glass pumpkin patch, and a scarecrow trail, where throughout the scenic walking path, there are scarecrows designed by boy or girl scout troops and the schools of the Lisle area, and you get to vote on the best one! There’s also even a Dog Admission Day, so you can bring your pup along with you! The arboretum also offers zoom classes to learn about the Indigenous people of Illinois, the Northeastern region specifically.
Fox River Valley: This region is in Aurora, Illinois. This place is known for all the outdoor activities that you can do! There are many places where you can go on hikes. One of the most popular hiking destinations is called Fox River Trail. There are many plants and animals that you can see! Other thank hiking, Fox River Valley also has places for you to bike and ski.
Fox River Valley is also famous for its water bodies. These include Fox River and Fox Lake. You are able to paddle, fish, and boat. There are two state parks in Fox River Valley. In the Chain O’ Lakes park, there you can boat, hike, and bike around the lakes. Chain O’ Lakes has 6,500 acres of water and 488 miles of shoreline. The second park is called Buffalo Rock State Park. In this state park, you can see five earthern sculptures. So whether you choose to bike or boat, I hope you have fun exploring!
Starved Rock: Starved Rock is one of the state parks in Illinois! It is pictured above, and a fun fact I took that picture when I went this October! It is located in Ottawa and is known for the fall colors, and beautiful hiking trails and has a very long history as well. There are many sites or checkpoints as you hike through such as the French Canyon, Lover’s Leap Overlook, and Wildcat Canyon, just to name a few. And of course, if you go, you must visit the main site itself: Starved Rock! They also offer a variety of activities, from boat tours on the river to campgrounds, there’s something for everybody!
But why is Starved Rock called Starved Rock? Well, the state park actually has lots of rich history behind it. The Native Americans had lived in the area for thousands of years but in 1673, the French showed up on their journey along the Illinois River. The French were there for what was called a Christian Mission and after they claimed the region as their own they set up a base on top of Starved Rock, where they had many battles with the Native Americans. But claiming the land didn’t go so well for the French, and they eventually retreated.
But later on, the Native Americans were in battle with tribes all over the state and so the Illinois saw Starved Rock as a place to hide from the Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes. So they took cover atop Starved Rock, just like the French, but unfortunately for them, the other tribes surrounded and refusing to leave their post, and the Illinois tribe died of starvation. This is why the beautiful state park is titled Starved Rock!
During the fall, there are a lot of beautiful places to go to. These are some examples of pretty places in the fall. Even if you’re not going to these places, I hope you get to experience them through this article. From botanic gardens to natural parks, there are a lot of cool places to visit in Illinois. I hope you got to learn more about the beauty of fall!