If you ever travel to Chicago, one place I highly recommend visiting outside the city is Starved Rock State Park. When people travel to a metropolitan area they tend to stay and explore attractions within the area. Thus, they don’t give themselves a chance to see those absolute gems that are just a little bit outside of town. I don’t recommend, of course, visiting every single state park in the vicinity of a big city but there are some very special things to do at Starved Rock State Park that you simply miss. Pro tip: there are pretty unique things to do at Starved Rock State Park in winter especially.
Starved Rock State Park is located less than 100 miles from Chicago. It derives its name from a Native American legend. In the 1760s, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe, was attending a tribal council meeting. At this council an Illinois warrior stabbed Chief Pontiac. Vengeance arose in Pontiac’s followers and a battle started. The Illinois, fearing death, took refuge on a great rock on the banks of Illinois river. After many days, the remaining Illinois died of starvation giving this historic park its name – Starved Rock State Park. You can see that famous rock in the Park (pictured below).
The best thing to do at Starved Rock State Park is exploring its amazing 18 canyons, sandstone bluffs and 14 waterfalls as well as Illinois River. It is a fantastic scenic place for hiking and a photographer’s paradise. Please, note, the strength of the waterfalls, outside of spring months, depends on whether or not there was much precipitation in the weeks preceding your visit.
The uniqueness of Starved Rock Park is due to the fact that it is as beautiful if not more beautiful in winter than in other seasons. Granted, in spring you will have huge flowing waterfalls and in the fall it is a great place to observe fall colors. But if you visit Starved Rock State Park in winter you will witness a phenomenon that is rarely seen anywhere else – frozen waterfalls.
Once temperature drops below freezing, every major waterfall in the Park becomes a glistening sculpture of ice, one unlike the other. The streams themselves will become ice covered too and the rock formations and trees will have a splendid cover of snow.There will also be less people coming into Starved Rock State Park in winter so most of the time you will enjoy this fantastic beauty in solitude.
Another unique thing to do at Starved Rock State Park in winter is observing dozens of American bold eagles that come to feed to Starved Rock State Park. The bald eagles main diet is fish. When water in the rivers freezes, the only available open waters for fishing are located near dams. Since Starved Rock is located near a dam, the eagles fly to the Park to feed (the photo of the flying bird below is from the Park’s eagles watching tips page).
Bald eagles are mesmerizing to watch generally and hunting especially. There are a couple places in Starved Rock State Park where you can’t really miss these huge birds perched on naked branches all over the trees on an island in the river close to the dam. You can literally stand there for an hour enjoying the spectacle, that is until you start freezing and you have to move on, preferably inside. Starved Rock State Park has a very nice restaurant on site, where you can warm yourself up with a hearty lunch.
My most favorite thing to do at Starved Rock State Park in winter is attending all the festivities during Eagle Watch Weekend. It is a special two days festival organized by the Park usually at the end of January. During this festival there are typically Birds of Prey shows (live birds shows) and family activities at the Starved Rock Visitor Center, Starved Rock Lodge and Illinois Waterway Visitor Center. I personally love watching native American dances and songs performed by representatives of local tribes during Eagle Watch Weekend.
In addition to the eagles weekend the Park hosts various other special events like spring Wildflowers Pilgrimage Weekend, Fall Colors Weekend, Haunted Hike and many others. There are so many cool things to do at Starved Rock State Park at any time of the year that I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy your visit, no matter when you come. But if you are able to visit Starved Rock State Park in winter your will definitely have an unforgettable experience.
Please, note, there is a nice Lodge at Starved Rock State Park as well, so if you are lucky and book early in advance you can stay there overnight. The Lodge, in addition to the Park, organizes special events too, like concerts, expos (check Wood Carvers Expo!), evening storytelling for kids, Sunday brunch, etc. So you can easily turn your 1 day visit into a weekend retreat since there is so much to see and do in the Park.
Additional tips for visiting Starved Rock State Park:
- Hikes in the Park are of different difficulty level. To get to some waterfalls you may need to walk on water/ice. I suggest asking advice at the Visitors’ Center for hikes better suited for your group’ level of ability.
- For additional information about activities and attractions in Chicagoland, please, check my detailed Chicago Family Trip Itinerary.
Useful resources:
If you enjoyed Starved Rock State Park I also suggest visiting another natural wonder in Illinois – Shawnee National Forest:
Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest
Best Hikes in Shawnee National Forest
If you found this family trip itinerary useful, please do me a little favor and share this information with others, for there’s a good chance that it will help them with their travel plans. 🙂
