Outdoor Mystique (Published in TripsandJourneys.com, Winter 05/06)
"Going to starved Rock in winter is special. You can crunch over the snow to the stone-and-log lodge from your cabins, to be welcomed by huge roaring log fires."
Starved Rock State Park
Peaceful Privilege
by Vivienne Mackie
You’re sitting up on Eagle Lookout, the wide, slow-moving Illinois River below. The lookout is perched on high, dramatic sandstone cliffs, these bluffs that are part of the legends. Behind is the forested park with bald winter trees silhouetted against a clear pale sky. Lovers Leap is another lookout point, which looks down on the rocks below and across to the Starved Rock.
Maybe it’s because of the legends, or because of the bald eagles. Whatever the reason, Starved Rock is a special place, a peaceful place, a small state park not far from towns and cities, and yet you could be a thousand miles away. It’s a surprising park, to see forested hills and steep rocky canyons, as central Illinois is mostly flat.
The legend explaining the park’s name says that in the 1760s a band of Illiniwek Indians killed chief Pontiac of the Ottawa Indians. To avenge his death, Ottawa and Potowatomi tribes chased the band of Illiniwek, who took refuge on top of a 125-foot sandstone butte. The Ottawa and Potowatomi surrounded the rock, and the Illiniwek chose to starve rather than surrender.
The legend of Lovers Leap tells of a beautiful Illini maiden, Wauwatosa, who loved a brave Illini warrior. He was called to battle, supposedly to return in three months. But he did not, and later word came that he was living elsewhere with another maiden. Heartbroken, she threw herself off the cliffs. The account is unverifiable but adds to the place’s mystique.
The river is quiet and peaceful, ripples and eddies the only sign of movement. A dam and lock are far below, and the only sound is water rushing through sluice gates and the sigh of the wind. A barge tootles mournfully as it passes through, then silence descends again. Seagulls wheel and dive (seagulls? ...so far from the sea), ducks float, and you spot ospreys and herons. Wait quietly and you'll probably be rewarded by seeing a Bald Eagle swoop and dive, then settle on a rock jutting out in mid-river, a fish in its beak. It’s awesome to get a close view of these huge birds, once endangered. Removed off the endangered list in 1995, there are now 43 known active nests in Illinois. Eagles come here, from their breeding grounds up north, at the end of October to mid-March. The Illinois River is a popular wintering spot because of abundant food and open water, especially at locks and dams, which keep the river from freezing. Bald Eagle Watch weekends are planned in January, and day tours take place every Wednesday in January and February. (Check www.flocktotherock.com)
Every visitor to the park goes to the Visitors’ Center, and climbs to the Starved Rock, and probably to Lover’s Leap. But if you go on the other walks and trails (there are more than 15 miles of hiking trails), you might be alone at times, and then you can savor the peace and silence of the forest and canyons.
The18 glacier-carved canyons in the park are amazing, cutting deeply and steeply through the forests. The canyons are laced with trickling, to cascading, to frozen waterfalls depending on the season.
Walking along one of the canyons in the park you’ll likely see white-tailed deer, grazing quietly, unconcerned about the humans. They nose the fallen leaves, looking for edible morsels, flick their fat white tails, and move on slowly. It’s a privilege to witness animals in their natural surroundings, going about their natural activities.
The Visitors’ Center has good displays of the area and its history and peoples. You can also watch an informative short movie and see a model of the now-ruined French fort that existed on Starved Rock. The Lodge runs a trolley to the Visitors’ Center, if you’re tired of walking.
This small park of almost 2,700 acres is about 94 miles from Chicago, and 224 miles from St Louis. So, it’s an easy day trip from Chicago, but you can also stay in the large stone lodge or log cabins, allowing for walks at any time of day. The park is lovely at any time of year, each season different and spectacular in its own way, but going in winter is special. You can crunch over the snow to the stone-and-log lodge from your cabins, to be welcomed by huge roaring log fires. The Great Hall is beautiful, with a high wooden ceiling supported by enormous log beams, a central fireplace, heavy polished log mission-style furniture and Native American artifacts and wall hangings. The dining room is off the side of the Great Hall (reservations recommended), and the Back Door Lounge is accessible through the dining area. There’s an indoor pool, and games and other activities (wine tastings and storytelling for example) are also planned during the festive season.
Around the lodge and cabins are a series of outdoor wood sculptures, crafted from tree trunks by Jeff Prust, a chainsaw carver. Now varnished or painted, these striking totem-pole-like sculptures line the paths. Look for a heron, many eagles, Indian chiefs, sunflowers, a bear below a soaring eagle, a raccoon, and wonder how he achieved some of the really fine details with a chainsaw.
Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center is in North-Central Illinois close to the crossroads of I-80 and I-39. 800/868-ROCK (7625) or 815/667-4906, www.starvedrocklodge.com
Park entrance is free. Accommodation costs depend on type of room in the lodge or cabin.
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Starved Rock State Park
www.starvedrocklodge.com
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It's awesome: Hiking in the woods (top) is a lot of fun; From the top of Starved Rock (left), you look out at the river and lock below and across to Lover's Leap Lookout Point; Examine one of the many totem-pole-like carvings dotted around the cabins (below). The soaring eagles remind you of the magnificent birds seen on the Illinois River earlier in the day; A white-tailed deer (above) blends in with the brown winter leaves.
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