Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-13-2009, 11:14 AM
 
7 posts, read 14,632 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

anyone have any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything that is not at least 15 hours away from Chicago.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-13-2009, 12:36 PM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
6,896 posts, read 22,524,243 times
Reputation: 4565
Great Smoky Mountains? Almost in your time-range.

Quote:
Originally Posted by clacal1 View Post
anyone have any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything that is not at least 15 hours away from Chicago.
That's one reason we moved down here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2009, 12:39 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,259,477 times
Reputation: 6426
I know Hot Springs. I'd say it is betweem 15-17 hours from Chicago - depending upon traffic and weather - and how well you like driving through mountains at night. If you want to plan a little different, you can still visit the baths.

Hot Springs has three things seasonal baths, free water-bring your own bottles. horse races = and some times dog or c*** (bird) fights if you can find them. Otherwise it is wall-to- wall tourists and traffic like LV. .If the recing season is on you will have a hard time finind a place to park much let alone fina a motel or camping. Been there done that. .

Last edited by linicx; 05-13-2009 at 12:58 PM.. Reason: edit
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2009, 02:17 PM
 
Location: Peoria, IL
148 posts, read 624,213 times
Reputation: 56
Default Camping, Hiking & Rock climbing

Just off the top of my head, a couple places within reasonable driving distance of Chicago (less than 6 hrs) where you can do 3 out of the four things (hiking, camping & rock climbing - Natural hot springs are more of a rarity in the midwest):

1) Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois. There's plenty of camping & hiking opportunities. Last time I checked you can rock climb at Jackson Falls (near Ozark, IL) and also at Cedar, Draper's Bluff, and Ferne Clyffe State Park in the vicinity.

A bit closer to Chi-town

2) Mississippi Palisades State Park in NW corner of Illinois near Savanna.

3) Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin, north of Madison near Baraboo.

None of these places would be like a Rocky Mountain climbing (or even Smoky Mountain) adventure, but they are nice and MUCH closer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2009, 05:06 PM
 
103 posts, read 303,026 times
Reputation: 93
Default Are you serious linicx.......

" some times dog or c*** (bird) fights "

There's a reason NOT to go there!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-13-2009, 07:41 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,372,455 times
Reputation: 10371
Quote:
Originally Posted by clacal1 View Post
anyone have any suggestions? I can't seem to find anything that is not at least 15 hours away from Chicago.
Are you serious? Cant find any camping or hiking or rock climbing within 15 hours? There's a lot more than you think.

There are no hot springs around, but TONS of hiking and camping. There is all the hiking you want at Starved Rock State Park, Matthiessen State Park and Mississippi Palisades State Park as well as Apple River Canyon State Park, Castle Rock State Park, too. Those are a whopping 3-4 hour drive from Chicago at most.

Travel a little further into WI and the state parks there also offer some incredible hikes. CHeck out Wildcat Mountain State Park, Devils Lake State Park, etc, etc, etc, etc.

There is also the incredible Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest, which is only 6 hours away that has more hiking than you can ever shake a stick at. There is decent rock climbing at Devils Lake, Shawnee National Forest and Mississippi Palisades.

Also easily within 15 hours is everything Michigan and the UP offer... unspoiled beaches, incredible hikes and thundering waterfalls, towering sand dunes, rock climbing, etc, etc.

Just curious, are you new to the Midwest?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2009, 04:23 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,259,477 times
Reputation: 6426
Default Yes

Quote:
Originally Posted by hawk1 View Post
" some times dog or c*** (bird) fights "

There's a reason NOT to go there!

I am serious. You do not undestand Arkansas..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2009, 12:29 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,618,797 times
Reputation: 3799
Quote:
Originally Posted by linicx View Post
I know Hot Springs. I'd say it is betweem 15-17 hours from Chicago - depending upon traffic and weather - and how well you like driving through mountains at night. If you want to plan a little different, you can still visit the baths.

Hot Springs has three things seasonal baths, free water-bring your own bottles. horse races = and some times dog or c*** (bird) fights if you can find them. Otherwise it is wall-to- wall tourists and traffic like LV. .If the recing season is on you will have a hard time finind a place to park much let alone fina a motel or camping. Been there done that. .
Just for the record, there's no way it takes that long to get to hot Springs. It's less than 7 from St. Louis, so it can't possibly take more than 11 hours or so total.

Clearly, that's still a long drive -- probably too long given the destination -- but I just wanted to point that out.

A closer distance but with the mountainous atmosphere you're looking for would be the Missouri Ozarks. MO has some great state parks worth checking out. They are at least a million times nicer than those in Illinois (which I've found to be shockingly disappointing) and the few I've been to in Wisconsin.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2009, 12:36 PM
 
Location: Southeast Missouri
5,812 posts, read 18,827,879 times
Reputation: 3385
^A lot of people don't understand that Arkansas is full of hills (called the Ozark Mountains) and lots of lakes. I've been to Hot Springs, but it's been a few years.

Missouri has lots of hiking and camping as well, but not so much on the hot springs or rock climbing as far as I know.
Missouri also has caves, some of which you can tour. Brewers in St. Louis used caves to keep their wine cool before refridgeration was invented.
Some Missouri caves you can explore (prices vary):
Onondaga Cave State Park - Cathedral Cave - Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, MoDNR
Fantastic Caverns - America's Only Ride Thru Cave! ... Springfield, Missouri, U.S.A.
Fantastic Caverns, Springfield, Missouri
Bridal Cave and Thunder Mountain Park
Meramec Cavern - Missouri's Buried Treasure - www.AmericasCave.com
Crystal Cave - Springfield, Missouri - Crystal Cave Missouri, Cave tours, Visit Crystal Cave Missouri (http://www.crystalcavemissouri.com/crystal_2.htm - broken link)

Here's some rock climbing info: Rock Climbing Routes in Missouri, United States - Rockclimbing.com
There's no shortage of places to camp in Missouri, and camping is available in just about any area of the state of Missouri and Southern Illinois. Be warned, it does get pretty humid here in summer. Even when on vacation I really enjoy a camper with air conditioning.

I think Johnson Shut-Ins in Southeast Missouri might still be closed.

Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 05-14-2009 at 01:05 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-14-2009, 12:42 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,618,797 times
Reputation: 3799
^^ Johnson's Shut-Ins is supposed to reopen this year: Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park - Recovery Update - Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, MoDNR (http://www.mostateparks.com/jshutins/recovery.htm - broken link)

Actually, I believe it was supposed to open last year and was delayed -- I hope that doesn't happen again. Great memories of near concussions and drownings there from my childhood LOL!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top