Illinois outdoors

Giant City State Park near Carbondale is nestled in the Shawnee National Forest and named for massive sandstone structures formed 12,000 years ago.

• Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area preserves the prairies that once covered nearly 60 percent of Illinois, with most of it a dedicated nature preserve.

• Hiking
• ·Hunting
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Picnicking

Hamilton County State Fish and Wildlife Area, also known as Dolan Lake, centers on a 75-acre lake stocked with bass, bluegill, crappie, and catfish.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

The Hennepin Canal State Trail is a 104.5-mile linear park spanning five counties along a historic canal listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling

Horseshoe Lake in Alexander County is a 10,200-acre area with a 2,400-acre shallow lake bordered by bald cypress, tupelo gum, and wild lotus.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Picnicking

Horseshoe Lake State Park in Madison County offers recreation on 2,960 acres with easy access from the Metro East region.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Illini State Park is a 510-acre riverside site south of the Illinois River with rustic Civilian Conservation Corps buildings and views of the Marseilles Locks.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Illinois Caverns State Natural Area in Monroe County is a limestone cave with stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, and an underground stream.

• Wildlife Viewing

Johnson-Sauk Trail State Recreation Area sits on a glacial moraine in Henry County across 1,365 acres of rolling hills and oak woodland.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Jubilee College State Park is a 3,200-acre facility in Peoria County with rolling topography and the meandering Jubilee Creek.

• Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Kankakee River State Park envelops both sides of the Kankakee River for 11 miles across roughly 4,000 acres northwest of Kankakee.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling

Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area spans more than 20,000 acres along the Kaskaskia River and includes the 2,018-acre Baldwin Lake reservoir.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Kidd Lake State Natural Area is a bottomland marsh vegetated with bulrush, cattail, and smartweed, with small ponds of open water.

• Hiking
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Lake Murphysboro State Park is a 1,022-acre park in Jackson County surrounding star-shaped Lake Murphysboro.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Lincoln Trail State Park is a 1,023-acre park near Marshall named for the route Lincoln's family followed from Indiana to Illinois in 1831.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Lowden State Park north of Oregon overlooks the Rock River and features Lorado Taft's 50-foot statue commonly associated with Chief Black Hawk.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Winter Sports

Marshall State Fish and Wildlife Area spans about 6,000 acres of Illinois River backwaters, bottomlands, and bluffs in the heart of the mallard flyway.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Winter Sports

Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area near Metropolis is an old cypress swamp of 2,630 acres managed for waterfowl hunting and fishing.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Mississippi Palisades State Park is a 2,500-acre park near the confluence of the Mississippi and Apple rivers, rich in Native American history.

• Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing
• ·Geocaching

Moraine Hills State Park south of McHenry covers 2,200 acres of wetlands and lakes with more than ten miles of trails.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing

Morrison-Rockwood State Park features stream-fed Lake Carlton, a prime fishing location surrounded by hardwood forest.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding

Nauvoo State Park is a 148-acre park on the Mississippi River in Hancock County with a 13-acre lake and historic surroundings.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing

North Point Marina is the largest marina on the Great Lakes, offering 1,500 slips and Lake Michigan access on the Illinois lakeshore.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Peabody-River King State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 2,000-acre former surface mine in St. Clair County with more than 20 lakes and ponds.

• Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Pere Marquette State Park offers spectacular bluff-top views of the Illinois River and year-round recreation including horseback riding and camping.

• Horseback Riding
• ·Camping
• ·Hiking
• ·Fishing

Piney Creek Ravine State Natural Area is a 198-acre nature preserve and one of only two Illinois sites where short-leaf pines grow naturally.

• Hiking

Powerton Lake is a 1,426-acre cooling reservoir, about 60 percent of which is open to waterfowl hunting with the remainder a rest area.

• Hunting

Prophetstown State Park is a 53-acre historic park along the Rock River, named for the Native American prophet Wa-bo-kie-shiek.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Red Hills State Park in Lawrence County preserves 967 acres of wooded hills and a 40-acre lake, with the highest point between St. Louis and Cincinnati.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports

Rock Cut State Park in Winnebago County spans 3,254 acres with two lakes, Pierce Lake and Olson Lake, for fishing, ice fishing, and skating.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports

Rock Island Trail State Park is a 26-mile rail trail from Alta to Toulon through a tree-canopied corridor of prairie grasses and wildflowers.

• Biking
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Hiking

Sand Ridge State Forest is the largest of Illinois' state forests at 7,550 acres of oak-hickory woodland, pine plantations, and sand prairies.

• Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Geocaching

Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area is a bottomland complex of sloughs, backwater lakes, and timber with roughly 500 acres open to walk-in hunting.

• Hunting

Sangchris Lake State Park southeast of Springfield exceeds 3,000 acres with 120 miles of shoreline on a 1964 power station cooling lake.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Siloam Springs State Park east of Quincy in Adams County is a 3,323-acre site of wooded terrain and a sparkling lake.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area is named for a clear bubbling spring, with the Fox River and several small lakes running through it.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Winter Sports

Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area in Tazewell County surrounds a long, narrow lake formed by a meander of the Illinois River.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing

Trail of Tears State Forest in western Union County spans just over 5,000 acres managed for timber, wildlife, and recreation.

• Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Tunnel Hill State Trail stretches 45 miles from Harrisburg to Karnak along a former railroad bed, crossing scenic bluffs, creeks, and an old rail tunnel in southern Illinois.

• Hiking
• ·Biking

Volo Bog State Natural Area, northwest of Chicago, is home to the only open-water quaking bog in Illinois and is a National Natural Landmark with a floating boardwalk.

• Hiking
• ·Hunting
• ·Picnicking
• ·Winter Sports

Walnut Point State Park in east-central Illinois is a 671-acre site offering fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and picnicking around its lake near Charleston.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Boating
• ·Hiking

Washington County State Recreation Area south of Nashville features the 248-acre Washington County Lake, abundant wildlife, and more than 900 acres for hunting.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

White Pines Forest State Park is a 385-acre park in the Rock River valley with moss-covered cliffs, creeks, a historic CCC-built lodge, and cabins.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

William W. Powers State Recreation Area sits on Wolf Lake on Chicago's far southeast side, offering outstanding fishing along about six miles of shoreline.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Wolf Creek State Park lies on Lake Shelbyville in east-central Illinois, with wooded campgrounds, a swimming beach, and abundant wildlife across thousands of acres.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Woodford State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 2,900-acre site of bottomland forest and backwater lakes along the Illinois River, a favorite stopping point for migrating waterfowl.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Picnicking

Anderson Lake is a floodplain lake that frequently receives overflow from the Illinois River, set in a bottomland of silver maple, cottonwood, and willow.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Boating
• ·Hunting

Beall Woods State Park, on the banks of the Wabash River, preserves one of the few remaining tracts of virgin timber east of the Mississippi River.

• Camping
• ·Hiking
• ·Fishing
• ·Boating

Big River State Forest in Henderson County is a 2,900-acre remnant of prairie woodland border managed to demonstrate sound forestry practices.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Burning Star is a former coal mining site reclaimed into a fish and wildlife area with forests, grassland, wetlands, and 24 lakes and ponds.

• Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Boating
• ·Hiking

Cape Bend is a fish and wildlife area of bottomland hardwood forest, reforested crop fields, wetlands, and shallow water sloughs.

• Hunting

Carlyle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area lies at the northern end of Carlyle Lake, with woodland, open water, wetlands, grassland, and cropland for wildlife.

• Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Clinton Lake State Recreation Area surrounds a 4,900-acre cooling lake in east central Illinois, with boat launches, a sand beach, and trails.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Coffeen Lake is a fish and wildlife area opened in 1986 under a lease with Illinois Power, offering fishing, boating, picnicking, and hunting.

• Fishing
• ·Boating
• ·Picnicking
• ·Hunting

Crawford County Fish and Wildlife Area is a rolling landscape bisected by Hutson Creek, with mature oak-hickory forest, farmed openings, wetlands, and ponds.

• Hunting

Delabar State Park sits on the Mississippi River near Oquawka, with forested acres of oak, birch, and hickory and more than 50 species of birds recorded.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Devils Island Wildlife Management Area is composed of bottomland, hardwood forests, and agricultural fields.

• Hunting

The Donnelley/DePue State Fish and Wildlife Areas complex is managed primarily for migratory waterfowl at the entry to the lower Illinois River valley.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Edward R. Madigan State Park is a 974-acre site along Salt Creek south of Lincoln, with a forest canopy that includes the largest sycamore tree in Illinois.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area is a 3,000-acre site on the western shore of Carlyle Lake, with one of the largest campgrounds in the state park system.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Fall Creek Scenic Overlook, a unit of Siloam Springs State Park, overlooks the Mississippi River valley with high-quality forested habitat.

• Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Frank Holten State Park is an urban recreation site in East St. Louis with an 18-hole golf course and two lakes totaling more than 200 acres.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Golf
• ·Hunting

Golconda Marina is a 274-acre full-service boat marina along the Ohio River, serving as the gateway to the Smithland Pool area.

• Boating
• ·Fishing

Green River State Wildlife Area is a 2,565-acre wildlife restoration area of swampy sloughs, prairie restorations, fields, and timberlands.

• Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Harry 'Babe' Woodyard State Natural Area is a wooded area with upland prairie openings and a rocky creek running through a draw bisecting the park.

• Hunting

Heidecke Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area is managed for fishing and hunting on a former cooling lake providing more than 1,300 acres of water.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Henderson County Conservation Area includes 27-acre Gladstone Lake on an 87-acre site about 20 miles southwest of Monmouth.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Picnicking

Hidden Springs State Forest consists of about 1,200 acres near Clarksburg and is named for seven springs once used for drinking water by early settlers.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

The Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail follows a 96-mile route past state parks, historic sites, and varied landscapes along the old towpath.

• Hiking
• ·Biking
• ·Fishing
• ·Camping

Iroquois County State Wildlife Area sits in a low glacial outwash plain of marshland, sand ridges, and dunes, including the Hooper Branch Savanna.

• Hiking
• ·Hunting
• ·Winter Sports

James 'Pate' Philip State Park preserves restored prairie, wetland, and creek habitat near Bartlett, adding open space adjacent to Pratt's Wayne Woods.

• Biking
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Jim Edgar Panther Creek is a 16,550-acre fish and wildlife area of mature forest, agricultural land, grassland, and rare hill prairie in central Illinois.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Kickapoo State Recreation Area near Danville spans 2,842 reclaimed acres with 22 deep-water ponds for boating, fishing, camping, and hiking.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Fishing

Kinkaid Lake in Jackson County is a 2,750-acre lake built in 1968, popular for fishing, boating, hunting, and camping.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area in Stephenson County centers on a 40-acre lake with multi-use trails and several campgrounds.

• Biking
• ·Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports

LaSalle Lake is a manmade 2,058-acre cooling lake southeast of Marseilles, popular among anglers and boaters.

• Boating
• ·Fishing

Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial is an 82-acre historic site on the Sangamon River near Harristown commemorating Abraham Lincoln's first Illinois home.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Picnicking

Little Grassy Fish Hatchery south of Carbondale is Illinois' warm-water hatchery, open to the public on weekdays for visits and tours.

Lowden-Miller is a 2,291-acre wooded area in the Rock River Valley south of Oregon, reforested with pines by Governor Frank O. Lowden.

• Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Hiking

Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area near Mackinaw consists of rolling timbered hills and former farmland bisected by the Mackinaw River.

• Paddling
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Marseilles State Fish and Wildlife Area is a predominantly wooded site with rugged terrain used for hunting programs, located near Starved Rock.

• Hunting

Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 900-acre former strip mine in Bureau County with 16 ponds and lakes for paddling and fishing.

• Paddling
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing

The Mazonia-Braidwood complex in Grundy and Will counties features more than 200 water impoundments and grassland habitat for hunting and fishing.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area in Vermilion County covers 2,700 acres of grass, forest, and cropland along the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Winter Sports

Mississippi River State Fish and Wildlife Area spans more than 24,000 acres along 75 miles of river, managed primarily for wetland and waterfowl habitat.

• Boating
• ·Paddling
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Moraine View State Recreation Area is a 1,687-acre site with a 158-acre lake offering picnicking, camping, swimming, and horseback riding.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding

Newton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area is a day-use conservation area centered on 1,775-acre Newton Lake.

• Fishing
• ·Picnicking
• ·Hunting

Pyramid State Recreation Area is the largest IDNR-managed site in Illinois at 19,701 acres of forested hills, lakes, and ponds.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area near Ramsey in Fayette County features rolling hills, timbered shoreline, and Ramsey Lake.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Randolph County State Recreation Area covers 1,101 acres of rolling hill country northeast of Chester in southern Illinois.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding

Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 1,140-acre mosaic of bottomlands, woodlands, wetlands, and bluffs along the Illinois River in Pike County.

• Hunting
• ·Hiking
• ·Wildlife Viewing
• ·Fishing

Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area combines bottomland hardwoods, ag fields, and 3,000 acres of impounded water managed primarily for waterfowl.

• Fishing
• ·Hunting
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area in Fulton County is a backwater wetland providing a stop-over for migrating waterfowl and excellent wildlife observation.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Sahara Woods is a roughly 4,000-acre former strip mine west of Harrisburg with 270 acres of fishable water and nearly 30 miles of OHV trails.

• Fishing
• ·Hunting

Saline County State Fish and Wildlife Area near Equality covers 1,270 acres including a 105-acre lake in southeastern Illinois.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Sam Dale Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area near Johnsonville in Wayne County centers on a 194-acre lake with five miles of shoreline trails.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Horseback Riding

Sam Parr State Fish and Wildlife Area near Newton in Jasper County covers 1,180 acres including a 183-acre lake.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Paddling
• ·Horseback Riding

Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area covers 1,550 acres of rolling prairie and a 318.8-acre fishing lake west of Chicago.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Winter Sports
• ·Fishing

Shelbyville State Fish and Wildlife Area contains more than 6,000 acres of mixed habitats along the Kaskaskia and West Okaw rivers near Sullivan.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Sielbeck Forest State Natural Area is a protected forest managed as a satellite of Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area.

• Wildlife Viewing
• ·Hiking

Snakeden Hollow State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 2,500-acre former coal surface mine developed into fish and wildlife habitat.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Spitler Woods State Natural Area is a 200-acre Mt. Zion site holding one of central Illinois' largest acreages of old-growth woods.

• Hiking

Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area features a lake surrounded by oaks and rolling hills, with Rocky Point Beach and Oak Ridge Campground.

• Boating
• ·Camping
• ·Horseback Riding
• ·Fishing

Ten Mile Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area in Jefferson and Hamilton counties provides wildlife viewing, hiking, fishing, and hunting.

• Wildlife Viewing
• ·Hiking
• ·Fishing
• ·Hunting

Located on the Mississippi River bluffs in southwestern Illinois, this site varies from level flood plains to steep hills with cultivated fields and mature bottomland and upland timber.

• Hunting
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Union County State Fish & Wildlife Area encompasses 6,202 acres of Mississippi River bottomlands and is a noted wintering refuge for tens of thousands of Canada geese.

• Hunting
• ·Fishing
• ·Wildlife Viewing

Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area overlooks the 19,000-acre Rend Lake Reservoir in southern Illinois, offering water sports, fishing, hunting, camping, and hiking.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

Weinberg-King State Fish and Wildlife Area is a 772-acre site of rolling hills with a meandering creek and a 4-acre pond in Schuyler County, western Illinois.

• Camping
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking
• ·Hunting

Weldon Springs State Park near Clinton in DeWitt County is a 550-acre park offering fishing, boating, picnicking, camping, hiking, and wildlife viewing year-round.

• Camping
• ·Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Hiking

William G. Stratton State Park in Morris was developed in 1959 to provide boat access to the Illinois River, with four public boat launching ramps.

• Boating
• ·Fishing
• ·Picnicking