Starved Rock trails rise above the Illinois prairie

The trails at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois are well trodden.

That may be due to the park’s proximity to the Chicago metro area. While Chicago’s forest preserves offer quiet trails and paved paths, most of them are pretty simple walks in the woods.

Those who live in or visit Chicago and want more robust hiking must jump in a car and head north, south or west for a couple of hours. (Going east would require a boat.)

A view looking down at a canyon floor.

If you’re up to the drive, I suggest Starved Rock. And bring your Parkinson’s along.

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Starved Rock State Park got its name from a Native legend of an epic battle in which one tribe found refuge on a tall butte facing the Illinois River. The tribe became trapped, and they eventually starved to death there.

It’s a gruesome story, and the name of the park doesn’t reflect its beauty. In fact there is a movement to get the name changed.

A staircase going up to a lookout.

Do you enjoy the challenge of stairs on hikes? If so, you’ll love this place. If stairs are difficult for you, the dirt trails on the eastern portion of the park will be your best bet. Read on.


The state park, just a few minutes off I-80, contains 12 miles of hiking trails ranging in length from .3 miles to 4.5 miles one way. Most of the shorter ones include wooden boardwalks and staircases. Many trails interconnect, making a spider web of sorts on the map and offering hikers many options.

Woman looking at a map board outside.

In other words, you can design your own trek!

Do you want a view? Add Eagle Cliff to your hike. Seeking a place to cool down? Take the French Canyon trail. Want lots of stairs all at once? Go to the top of the Starved Rock butte.

For our outing, my friend Carol and I chose a sunny Saturday in September, when the leaves were hanging on to their chlorophyll before the fall color season.

Carol doesn’t have Parkinson’s disease as I do, but at the time she had her own mobility issues after blowing out her knee on a rafting trip the summer before. She said she was ready for a moderately challenging hike, but we’d have to go slowly. “My specialty,” I assured her.

A brown building with many windows.

The parking lot still had plenty of space when we arrived at 11 a.m. That’s not often the case during the summer and leaf-peeping seasons, so to avoid crowds it’s wise to go earlier then.

First stop: the visitor center, where a ranger gave us a map and ideas on where to go.


We decided to take a wandering approach. Since the trails were so short, we could try several of them.

A sign with an arrow pointing to several named trails.

Upon leaving the building through the back door, some options were right before us. The signs throughout the park are very helpful.

We chose French Canyon first, which was .4 miles away and only slightly uphill.


The path from the visitor center is paved for a short distance and leads to some uneven stairs. See the family pushing a stroller up on the dirt next to them? Carol followed behind them, avoiding the steps, which were harder on her injured knee.

The area in and around French Canyon often has slippery walkways because of moisture and loose sand. WATCH YOUR STEP!

People hiking up on the side of the steps.
A large canyon with wall formations and lots of people looking up at them.

French Canyon was the place to be, apparently. The wall-to-wall crowd included a well-behaved Scout troop.

The sandstone rock formations are impressive, and in springtime water runs down them.

From there we opted to get some high views of the Illinois River. Lover’s Leap, Eagle Nest and Beehive overlooks are each less than a mile from French Canyon, and the trails leading to them are mostly wooden boardwalks and steps.

Handrails are there for support, making it safer for kids and unsteady hikers.

A woman going up a wooden staircase outside.


I often suggest using trekking poles for steadiness. But here I’d say bringing just one pole is a good idea. That way you can keep one hand free to hold the railings.

A female hiker grabs handrails as she walks up wooden stairs.

The handrails were essential for Carol, who tried to go easy on her knee by using her arm strength to pull herself up the stairs.

That technique seemed to work well for her.

The views were nice and we savored the sunshine.

A cement trail next to a river.

After stopping at the overlooks, we headed down 80 steps to the River Trail.

This lower trail is part paved, part dirt, and it is the park’s longest at about 3.5 miles one way.

There were fewer people here. Instead of hiking to the end of the River Trail and the eastern part of the park, we took a right to go up to the Bluff Trail. It looked like a shortcut back.

A sign that says Bluff Trail points to a wooden staircase.

But, you guessed it, more stairs to climb. Over 100 of them. Carol’s knee was good and warmed up by now.

Along the heavily wooded Bluff Trail is Wildcat Canyon. It has two overlooks on opposite sides of the canyon, so we could wave to the people across the way.

The fascinating formations like Wildcat Canyon are quite a departure from the flat prairies and farmland characteristic of Central Illinois.

Starved Rock State Park changes its look depending on the time of year. The park is open just about every day, with hiking allowed in any season.

A female hiker takes pictures from across a canyon.

A hiker is seen on a trail passing a "return" sign.

Following signs that simply said “Return” — as in, return to the parking lot — we made our way back on the dirt path and past one final boardwalk and staircase.

Our total time on the trails was just under two hours.


For a video of our trek, click here.

Hike info

PD difficulty level (see chart): moderate
Distance: choose your route’s length
Elevation gain: from 50 to 1,000 feet, depending on your route
Trailhead location: many trails can be accessed from the visitor center, 2678 East 873 Road, Oglesby, Illinois. Refer to map for trailheads on the east side.
Bathrooms: at visitor center, which is closed November to February
Emergency medical support: hospital in Ottawa is 20 minutes from visitor center
Cost: Illinois state parks are free to enter and park in
Road access to trailhead: the lot is large and you may have to walk 800 feet or more to the visitor center
Insider tip: Avoiding crowds is possible if you arrive early — around 8 a.m. on weekends if you can swing it. Also, the trails closest to the visitor center are always more jammed than the trails and canyons farther to the east.


Have you found a hike you like in the Chicago area? Let me know in the comments!

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