Why an Illinois State Park Challenge?

In January 2022 we decided to take on an Illinois State Park challenge. We bought a map with all the Illinois state parks, forests, recreation areas, and wildlife areas. We made it a mission to try to visit every place at least once. I initially thought we could visit all in one year but quickly realized that was a huge stretch! Illinois has 69 state parks 17 State wildlife areas, 11 State recreation, 5 State Natural areas, 2 State memorials, 1 State Nature Preserve, 2 State Historic sites, and 6 State Forest. We visited 20 in the first year and will likely keep up that pace.

Finding Hidden Gems

We have found some really neat places that we never knew existed. Some parks have great views and trails, others are great for boating and fishing, and a few habe really rad playgrounds. The best part is most of these spots are within 2 hours from home and FREE to explore! Here is the list of places we have visited so far in the order that we visited them. Each button will link to our adventures there as I work on adding them. On Instagram you can follow our state park hashtag #ilstateparkchallenge_meghangarriott