Located between Ottawa Illinois and Utica,this park is along the Illinois River across from Starved Rock State Park. We didn't stay long but walked to the lookout where we saw many kayakers on the river. Picnic areas and kids play areas are throughout the park. Plenty of parking. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Illinois River - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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Small but big sometimes is best! We were here last weekend. Beautiful sunny cool pleasant day. Got there about 8:20. First time here. The views of the IL River were spectacular. We were about 30 minutes into our hike, when we started to hear gunshots. Well unbeknownst to us, we didn't know it was a gun range in the area. We sorta tried to just tune out those sounds and just get more into our hike. Saw several different species of birds. Then we finally saw an eagle . That was really cool! We met some friendly faces along the trail too! Plan to go back before winter sets in and see the two remaining buffalo . We heard that there was a recent loss. Hope they can introduce more buffalo to the park. read more

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We were at Mattheson State Park and Starved Rock and worker said this state park had 2 Buffalo. Say no more! Tatanka and Bison are so beautiful. There is really nothing here other than 2 Bison. We are enroute to Illinois State in Normal for NDSU football game on Saturday. So it comes full circle. read more

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Good spot to get a nice view of the Illinois River with hiking trails and picnic tables as well as restrooms. Just across from Starved Rock State Park. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

The trail was great! Nice clear flat paths with a good view of the water. We got to see the two buffalo up close. read more

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It was on the "OK" end of the "could have been better" rating on the scale. I stopped here for the sole purpose of seeing the buffalo; I think I've heard of it before since I've been to Starved Rock a few times, but I didn't realize there were actual buffalo here. It was a cold dreary days I didn't stay too terribly long, but I did see the namesake animal of the park--three of them, in fact. (I also saw a deer when I turned up the drive to the park!) There appear to be a couple different trails here--or maybe I saw the trail from multiple places. There is a playground near the trailhead, too, and bathroom facilities in two places. There's a lot of parking, in multiple areas. I'd like to see the park sometime when the trees are more than just dead sticks in the ground, so maybe I'll be down here again sometime when it's green and leafy. read more

They had me at "buffalo". I'm a sucker for bison, and was in the area hiking at Starved Rock when I happened to see Buffalo Rock noted as another park to hike at. The trails aren't difficult, although there are some stairs at certain sections, and there are nice overlooks of the river scattered along the trails. Definitely worth a hike around. The signage for the trails left a little to be desired in some spots, and there were a few places in the park that had posts in ground that were clearly meant to have some sort of information about the area that were empty. When I was there, I was able to spend some quality time with the bison who were hanging out right near the fence line of their enclosure for much of the time I was there. Amazing animals to see up close. read more

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Most of the trails are easy to hike and not crowded which is nice. Great views of the river. However the constant bang bang bang of the shooting range nearby really ruins the peacefulness of the place. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park has nice easy trails for all levels. The trail that lines the river is quite beautiful and there are some nice hills you can walk up for a better view of the park as well. I highly recommend going early. We lucked out as it had been pouring down rain all morning, and we literally zoomed over the moment the rain stopped. However, after about 1.5 hours on the trails, the park started to become packed and the trails are narrow enough that it makes it difficult to properly socially distance yourself from other trail goers. I was a little disappointed that our peaceful afternoon was disrupted by the shooting range right next door ... who wants to be in the middle of the woods with gunshots going off everywhere? read more

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Drove two hours to experience a peaceful day hiking in beautiful nature and instead was reminded of everything that is currently wrong with America. While the nature was fairly pretty, the entire experience was ruined by the NON-STOP barrage of automatic weapon fire coming from what is apparently an actual shooting range on the park property. It's the opposite of peaceful and safe; it sounded like I was hiking in Aleppo! The entire experience was just...sad. Sad that it's legal to have an assault weapon shooting range on state park grounds. Sad that 95% of the people I saw congregating here are morbidly obese. Sad for the two depressed bison and the newborn bison on the property (they didn't seem well taken care of). Overall, rather depressing. read more

We were headed for a short hike in Starved Rock but came across this State park. And guess what? There actually are Buffalo here, 2 females and a baby born in the spring. What a treat to see these wonderful animals. The park is clean and well maintained. Will be back. read more

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With Starved Rock and Matthiessen nearby, Buffalo Rock often gets overlooked, or worse, people come to gawk at the pair of buffalo and leave. This park has a lot more to offer than most realize. Yes, we took thirty seconds to look at the buffalo. My son is 7 and wanted to see them. Moments later we were on the path. The gravel path at BR isn't very extensive at maybe 2-3 miles worth. The bonus areas are accessed by the grass paths or better yet, no path at all. The effigy's are moderately interesting and if you're looking to add to your hike you should climb each. I don't think the view from the top of each offers much, but sometimes it's just about getting more path time. As scenery goes, there are several good vantage points of the river and on a good day you might see some wildlife back here like deer, a fox, coyote and eagles are frequent. The best part of BR is the back (westernmost) end of the park where the rock formations are located. Beautiful sandstone cliffs shape the top of the bluff down to the river bank floor. It isn't a large area by any stretch, but climbing and great scenery are plenty back here. The cliffs consist of an awesome array of colors and the rock formations are just as cool, if not better than any I've seen at Starved Rock or Matthiessen. If you do climb the area just a word of caution..the sandstone is loose and fragile, making those cliff edges a dangerous place to venture. If you hike around the north side of the rock formation the path will lead you down to the base of the rock cliffs. I highly recommend this as the views down there are stunning. If you visit the rock formations please respect them and don't be the a-hole who carves their initials in. This is one of the reasons I like BR more than Starved Rock, the graffiti is at a bare minimum back here. Happy hiking and climbing! read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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About 5 miles away from Starved Rock, the claim to fame for this smaller park is to see two of Illinois' only bison. The trails basically run the length of a river in either direction from the linked parking lots. I walked the length of the park and didn't see any furry little bison. I was told they're easier to see in the winter. Basically I got a couple of scenic views of the river and an oak savannah with a lot of natural Illinois plants. The park is also supposed to have large scale landforms from an artist of a turtle, water bug and a fish. These are now overgrown and hard to distinguish from the rolling hills themselves. This wouldn't be bad for a picnic if you wanted to avoid the crowds of Starved Rock or a nice jog along a trail. Otherwise, it's kind of a yawn. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Oak savannah - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

This park, is A-OK. This was an old silca quarry that they've retired and redesigned with these mound sculptures that are supposed to look like native animals. I get the concept, but i think it's cooler to look into the old quarries than to try to imagine a 500 yard turtle, built out of the terrain. The park is more of a prairie. It's a good walk, but I'm not sure I'd make a stop back here. Also, they have 2 buffalo in residence behind the fence, to the right of the entrance. Don't forget to give them some love before you leave. read more

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Came by with some friends and our dogs. It was a fun, but rather short. Definitely try to check out multiple places if you're driving in for the day. We found it hard to spend too much time here. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

This is a very nice park and I think it is the place to go this year with most of Starved Rock being closed. We tried Starved Rock and almost everything was closed. We went over to Matthiesen State park and the hoards of people that are usually at Starved Rock were there. So in a last ditch attempt we made our way over to Buffalo Rock State Park. It is true that this park is a lot smaller than the other two but it was nowhere near as crowded and annoying as the other two parks were either. The main trail is mainly a flat walk through an open prairie with a little bit of a wooded area on one side. We only made it about half way around because we had dogs and there wasn't a lot of shade. The difference between this park and other parks in the area is that you can explore of the beaten path without fear of a $120 ticket. My husband and I went searching off the path and found a really cool rock area that had a cliff and about a 70ft drop. The area was surrounded by trees but one of the local people we rain into told us to come back in the fall or winter when the trees have lost their leaves and you can see for miles. There are some bison in an enclosed area. They were fun to see but definitely not a main attraction. We explored off the beaten path and then we had a lovely picnic to end our day here. read more

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Buffalo rock isn't as big as Starved Rock or Mathessian but it's lots of fun. They have some nice trails and a good view of the river. A large portion of the trails are in the direct sun so make sure you have a hat or sunglasses. I love being able to see the bison up close. They are very relaxed and seem happy and make me and my dog happy to see them. I wish they didn't close the snake trail. That was always my favorite part of Buffalo Rock. I can't find anything on line that says why, but it is really high with no railings. So maybe they were worried that someone would fall. read more

After visiting Starved Rock State Park, I was on my way home when my aunt decided to stop by Buffalo Rock State Park to show me buffalos. I was a bit skeptical because it seemed too good to be true to see wild buffalos that isn't from a zoo. We drove up to the top and the park was pretty empty (granted, it was end of November and there was a little bit of snow). But I did get to see the 2 buffalos. They were just sitting facing away from me so I didn't get a good picture. I definitely want to come back in the spring/summer and check out the hiking trails around there. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - 2 buffalos js chilling - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

Not much to it. A couple of Buffalo are nice but there's really nothing else here. Also, forget about the solitude of nature. The gun range a few miles away will squash that. read more

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!!! The buffalo had no food or water readily available besides grass. They were enclosed into a small area. Green burrs and spiky weeds COVERED their heads! VERY SAD! read more

Nice place to explore. Paths super easy for all but take your hat. Not a lot of shade on the hiking paths.

Very pretty, small park on the Illinois river away from the rush of Starved Rock. Some interesting history regarding the park as well. However, there is a gun range nearby with constant gun shots being fired off-no matter the time of year. So if you're looking for a quiet stroll, this is not the place. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park for what it is, can not be compared to Starved Rock, or Matthiessen State Park. Buffalo Rock has a historical past and while not as adventurous as other state parks in the area is still worth a short visit. Buffalo Rock once served the French as a military, and trading post. After the building of Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock in 1882, LaSalle and Tonty gathered a few thousand Indian warriors at the front of Buffalo Rock to form an alliance against the Iroquois. Presently Buffalo Rock consists of a few trails, all of which can be hiked or biked in a day. The park also boasts earthwork which is best viewed from the air it consists of five animal sculptures as tribute to ancient Native American tradition, mound building. The five animals that are depicted are a 685-foot-long (209 m) water strider, a 650-foot-long (200 m) turtle, a 770-foot-long (230 m) catfish, a 340-foot-long (100 m) frog, and a 2,070-foot-long (630 m) snake which is measured from head to toe. The park also features two caged Bison on the main path as well as many picnic shelters which are great for gatherings of 4 - 20 people. Buffalo Rock may be be the black sheep of the areas state parks, however it has its place as a low traffic easily assessable state park and nature trail. read more

Nice and peaceful, I have yet to really go through the entire park since we usually go to the area for starved rock, since it's my favorite park around but I love to visit the buffalo for the kids. This year I plan to throughly go through the park and see what it has to really offer other than the buffalo. read more

Very very nice walking trail and park in the spring. Not much there beside a view and nature but that's exactly what we wanted. The buffalo there did not have any space and I don't think they should be there without roaming abilities but otherwise it was a simple nice park. read more

Our fav annual Christmas hike. This year we had our dog with us which made it more memorable. read more

Buffalo Rock State Park - Our dog Rudy was enthralled by the encounter with one of the two buffalos at close range. - Parks Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

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Such a bad park! If the state is not going to maintain this park and the facilities there, they should close it! It's dilapidated and it needs a lot of work. The enclosure for the American bison was absolutely pathetic; I felt awful for the animals. The trails are poor compared to other local state parks. Rundown, needs CLOSED! Free the bison. Very sad. read more

If you know where to look in this park it can be really a cool place. I found it on a helicopter ride when a friend and I were scouting locations for a short film that was a western. If you go drive in the entrance go to the farthest parking lot. Then start of the path they have but go to the right side of it then go off the trail and you'll find a cool spot that looks like it belongs in New Mexico or Arizona. They even let us film there. read more

Definitely worth a visit. Beautiful trails with awesome views of the river. And the buffalo are pretty cool to look at, they were right next to the fence so we were pretty close to them. read more

Buffalo rock state park is very beautiful and wonderfully hidden amongst the larger parks of the area (starved rock, mathiessen). There is a large shelter and baseball diamond located at the park as well and a great overview of the river. However, my fiance and I chose this location for our after-wedding party and were disappointed. After a year of correspondence between myself and the contact person for the park I was assured that the date should be available for rental and not to worry- just to mail in my reservation application and fee by the first of the year. After all of this was done, we were denied as someone else turned in an application before us (really? How upsetting is it that my application just happened to be opened from the mail after theirs?) Normally i would be understanding of the situation but seeing as i was assured that i should have no problem with my reservation i am pretty upset. There was no sympathy from the park at all and we are now out of a wedding location. Since my wedding is in June and it is now January there are slim pickings for any new location. Since the park contact person knew this was such an important reservation I expected some sort of apology or assistance but nothing was given. read more

Many of the trails including the ones that overlooked the river were closed. The "sculptures " were disappointing. It was very grown up and you could not make out what they were and all of the signs to tell you except for one was gone. There were two buffalo that were close to the fence but that was all. read more