Absolutely beautiful and so much fun! We stayed for a few nights and I wish it was longer! We went…read morefishing (we just had to bring our own supplies!) kayaking, hiking around the property and enjoyed the fire pit!! This is seriously such an amazing place to escape from the hustle and bustle of life and the people running it are awesome and so sweet!

Beautiful natural area, nature center is very kid-centered with friendly help, small gift shop,…read morebenches and picnic tables for resting!

Review Visit: September 29th, 2013…read more I remember coming here a few times as a kid on field trips. It was awesome as kid. They taught us about animals, bugs, nature and everything else outdoorsy. Then we got to hike a smaller trail as a group. Maybe this is what caused me to be such an avid outdoors person. Coming back here after about 2 decades was a huge nostalgic trip. Nothing had changed from what I remember as a kid. I'm sure things have been changed and updated since the early 90's, but it still retained that feel and look I remember as kid. The main building has set hours, but I do believe you can hike there before they open, as long as you follow the rule of 'no hiking before sunrise and after sunset'. Don't quote me on that. Inside the building is a small gift shop. There are quite a few learning activity areas to enrich yourself on local foliage and fauna. They hold a lot of events here, so you are surely able to drop in once a week and encounter some fun activity going on. There are plenty of trails to hike. If you want a quick hike, they have short trails. If you desire something challenging, you can hike some tough trails. Just be careful, I know a few people who have wandered off the path and ended up in a business area of Peoria Heights. The last time I was there, they had a 100-mile hike challenge. It was $10-15 to sign up and you record your hiking distances in a book there. Once you reach 100 miles, you get an award of some sort. I think it was a t-shirt and a certificate. Ive been wanting to sign up for it since I learned about it. But life gets busy. :/ Parking is plentiful but be warned; its a popular place, so there is usually a good amount of cars there at all time. But you shouldn't have a problem most of the time finding a parking spot. If you are native to the area and haven't been here, do yourself a favor and check it out. If yo are from out of town, also do yourself a favor and stop by for a quick hike. You won't regret it.

What a fun spot to stop. Three Dambo Trolls made by college students. You can explore a troll…read moretrail. Careful to check under the bridges. Spot a fairy house and garden. Visitor center to grab a map and a sack. Donations are always welcomed.

This was such a fun place to go. They have lots of jogging trails. They have both paved and…read moreunpaved ones. Making this place a good handicap accessible place. They also have free community classes. I did a mushroom foraging class, and a maple tapping one. Lots of fun stuff for the kids to do. They have an indoor and outdoor bathrooms. They also have a free parking lot to park. The staff are very nice and helpful in the visitor center. I definitely plan to go back here. It was such a beautiful, nice relaxing place.

Great break as we drive along 155. Cute nature center for children and short hiking trail so they…read morefelt like they were out in the woods away from everyone

Sugar Grove Nature Center is a wonderful little gem in central Illinois. This is an area dedicated…read moreto teaching children and their families about the natural wildlife and vegetation native to the region. There are several miles of well kept trails, a learning center, and a children's play area. The play area is especially unique in that it encourages kids to get dirty, dig, and play in the creek. Also, there are events held all year round, many are free and most are very cheap when they are not. We visit regularly and love it.

Review Visit: October 14th, 2015…read more First impressions are hard to change... If you live in Illinois at all, you know of the budget cuts, budget cuts, tax increases, budget cuts. Jubilee College State Park is one of those that has been hit by budget cuts. Decided to check this place and Jubilee Cafe out in the same day. My first time there, I encountered a few areas that were closed due to inadequate staffing. So a lot of places have become overgrown and broken down. This state park is beautiful and it's a shame that it is in such a bad shape. While looking up some info on it to write this short blog, it appears that after 3 years they finally have a (volunteer?) Park Ranger and a volunteer group to help clean the place up and make it usable. Having never been here, I tried quite a few different places that I thought were openings to go hiking, but I really never could tell what was what since everything was overgrown. Now if this volunteer group is helping out and making the place a bit friendlier, I would love to go back and check it out again. Maybe even update this blog post. I just hope I don't have to mark it 'Closed'. It fills me with such sorrow that beautiful recreational places like these are cut short on budgets and fall into disuse. I won't get into politics, but I hope they figure something out and restore this park and all the other closed/understaffed to their rightful natural beauty.

I stay here a lot but the last few times there have been many unleashed dogs therefore I had to…read moretake my dog home because she is old and can't handle other dogs. We had many coming in our site , even though your dog is to be leashed no one was doing it and no park employee driving thru so it made it unsafe for my dog which is a bummer.

Nice campground here, medium lake a great outdoors experience for walking, bringing pets, running…read moregetting that exercise in. I overall liked it.

Advertisement says 25 a night. We got charged 30 for broken rotted picnic tables, unkempt campsite…read morewith no pad, closed restrooms, open restrooms were filthy.

Review Visit: April 24th, 2017…read more Carpenter Park is more than your typical park. Since the coming of Spring, I have been getting the itch to hike. There are plenty of places to hike in Illinois, but I wanted something different. Something off the beaten path. Somewhere that wasn't Starved Rock or a 2 hour drive for me. After scouring Google Maps for a place, I stumbled upon Carpenter Park. So in my car and off to hike I go! Carpenter Park is located on the outskirts of Springfield, almost in Sherman. Taking Sherman Road in, you will find it on the right. Your turn will take you to a one lane road where it leads to a small but ample parking lot. Beware, this road is mighty bumpy and will test your suspension due to all the dips and holes. Parking at Carpenter Park, you'll easily notice the main board that has a map with the trails marked on it. Food for thought, if you ever go hiking, take a photo this is map with your phone. You never know when you will need it. I have referred to the maps on my phone many times, just to make sure I was where I thought I was. The main parking area has all the entry hiking points, so it is easy to hop on a trail and start walking. I noticed main of the trails tend to intersect and cross each other, so you could easily go from one path to another to another. While this was fine and dandy, it was at a certain point that I noticed all the crossings no longer had markers. So you really need to pay attention to where you are going or you may end up getting lost... like I did. Just like at Matthiessen State Park, I somehow wandered out of the hiking area and into the main road that leads to the parking lot. As for the trails, they are all fairly flat, well-defined and suitable for people of all hiking skills. There are quite a few that had logs laying across the path, so you will have to go around or climb over. Not a hassle for someone who is in shape, but if you are looking for a gentle walk, this may be a problem. Some paths had a path going around the logs, but it's not a guarantee. While kind of getting lost, I did stumble upon some really cool cliffs/canyon of Sandstone. They were facing the Sangamon River. If you view some of the images below, I managed to sit on a part that stuck out. It was a fantastic view as long as you didn't look down and see the rocks and river below. Thrilling! Overall, I was here just shy of 2 hours and it was a fun place to hike. It is somewhat connected to another place called Gurgens Park that seems to offer more of the same as here. So if you felt daring, you could literally cross the road that splits them and hike both places. Carpenter Park has some interesting history, if you read the Wiki link below. Guess it is an Old Route 66 attraction. How cool! If you do hike/camp/fish in nature areas, please please please pick up after yourself. I filled an entire Kroger bag full of trash. Keep Nature Beautiful.

Could use better maintenance and more signage…read more Pro tip- to find this park on google maps search "Historic Stone Shelter" This park is a nice little oasis in Springfield and my go to place for a short hike. I love the views by the river but my biggest gripe with the trails is that there aren't very many signs to delineate where trails are intersecting. The trails that are not by the water are nice for a little taste of nature but don't have any standout features. In all, I enjoy coming to Carpenter Park to hike and enjoy a scenic lunch but I wish there was better marking of the trails.

The Railsplitter at Lincoln's New Salem has amazing cheeseburgers, the staff is top notch, and the…read moreactual park is very quaint.

Good side trip if you are exploring the area. Staff and volunteers are very knowledgeable. Nice…read moreplace for photos. I visited on a weekday afternoon and felt like I had the place to myself, which was a real bonus. There are a series of night events which I want able to attend. Will be back to check them out.

Review Visit: August 9th, 2016…read more Somehow I am usually the last to learn of cool places. Farmdale Reservoir is no different. I have driven past signs for Farmdale many times in my life and just thought it was a giant water reservoir or something like that. Then one day I decided to google it to see what it was. Well, talk about kicking yourself in the ass for taking forever to do something. I came out here and hiked for a few hours and enjoyed every second of it. I decided to hike the 'tough' trails and they proved to be a challenge. Especially if you were mountain biking. While I only hiked about 4 miles and it was just a small section of the map, I was very impressed and will be back in 2017. The entire area is beautiful and far enough removed from society that you do feel isolated, but not far from help and home. This could be a great place to bring dogs, if you have one and they are properly trained. They say Illinois is boring... but we have beautiful places like this to help dispel that notion.

Hidden Washington backyard gem, hiking, running, biking, and dog walking trails all over with some…read moresurprising views for central Illinois sprout out this suburban park as essential oxygen to check in frequently. Coming from Indiana I didn't realize what was here til introduced recently and quickly fell for this lil slice of Gatlinburg. Parking isn't well marked but just like life I kept going until I found what I wanted. A decent Saturday morning gave clear nice weather without a crowd, will definitely be back!