Our first trip to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois - Part 1

I crave adventure.  I crave a great place to hike through and bring my camera.  I like finding places that I can use my tripod every now and then, mostly for longer exposures.  I found one. A new one where I didn't spend as much time as I'd like, but isn't that the fun of it?  Planning more trips back?  Taking my time in savoring the scenery slowly and then eventually going back for seconds, thirds...

Our first trip here.  We've only seen pictures.  All we knew was that it was free and about a 2.5 hour drive into Illinois (avoiding tolls).  We showed up at the flooded visitor center and drove uphill a ways to get to the lodge parking lot.  I did not get pictures of the lodge, but it's a beautifully crafted log structure, huge in scope inside and out.  I got a trail map from the gift shop and a few hiking stick medallions.  I asked the cashier what were the best trails to really make an great first impression.

The first trail we took was the French Canyon trail, which is a one way trail, not a loop, like most of them.

The first waterfall at the French Canyon entrance

 Walking up after the first waterfall in French Canyon

The main French Canyon waterfall

Ok, I'm impressed.  This is just the first and she circled 6 of them.  I spent so much time on just this first one, I don't thing I'm getting to all of them today.  I was taking upwards of 90 second exposures with all of my filters on and self timing them.  After the shot, it takes awhile for the camera to put all the information into picture form, which is about the same amount of time as the shot itself.  Anyway, off to the next Canyon, Wildcat.

Wildcat Canyon, the view from the top of the rim.

Walking into the canyon after the long climb down.

The waterfall at the back of Wildcat Canyon.  Not sure why there's a tire in there, but it adds a focal point for the camera.  Another 75 second exposure.

Anyway, these are just 2 of the 18 canyons that are here and 14 of them have waterfalls in them.  I will be exploring more of these later., that is for certain!