| Illinois |
| Illinois is famous for the city of Chicago, which is America's third largest. I haven't made it to Chicago yet, so for the time being I have only the southern and western parts of the state on my site. Many large cities in the middle and northern parts make Illinois the 5th largest state in the country. The southern parts of Illinois are more rural and reminded me of states like West Virginia or Kentucky. |
| Illinois Travel - For more information on the United States, visit http://www.willgoto.com/266/1/categories.aspx |
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| Illinois Links |
| The area in between the Missouri and Ohio Rivers is known as Shawnee National Forest. This is the best place for outdoors in Illinois, with plenty of trails and over night camping. On the left is a flower along the Mississippi river, on the right is a view Shawnee National Forest, with the wildnerness going back as far as you can see. |
| Further south in Illinois takes you near the border of Kentucky. Here religion is still strong in the community and you have a feeling of being back in the south, even though Illinois is traditionally seen as a mid-western state. On the left is a religious mural painted on the side of a building, on the right is a sign offering alligator meat at only $7.89 a pound. |
| The entire western border of Illinois is made up of the Mississippi river, which runs from Minnesota all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico. On the left is a boat casino and hotel in Illinois taken from St. Louis Missouri. On the right is a trailer near East St. Louis, Illinois. |
| A very impressive part of Shawnee Forest are the boat rocks that are found in Ferne Clyffe park. The forest here is densely covered with decidious trees with giant moss boulders randomly scattered. Another scenic part of Shawnee is an area called Garden of the Gods, which also has some impressive rock formations and scenic views. |
| There was a lot of wildlife to been seen while I hiked in Shawnee. On the left is a terrible picture of a male buck, but something is better than nothing right? Also above is a hawk that was circling over a large lake. |
| This is a small but very cool swamp I saw next to the Mississippi river a few hours north of Shawnee. The entire swamp is covered with duckweeds, making it look like it is filled with green water. I saw several species of birds here such as a heron, gulls, and the wood ducks seen above. |
| The large rock formations in Shawnee Forest formed a large cliff, with the bottom of it washed out forming a low ceiling. On the left is a box turtle taking shelter under the cliff after a rainstorm. On the right is a slug seen on one of the large boat rocks. Since it had just rained, the whole forest was extremely humid, reminding me of the Amazon. |
| Occasionally at the Cahokia Mounds are Indian festivals known as pow wows. Pow wows still take place all over the United States, and always include Native American singing and dancing with the traditional clothing. On the left is an Indian after performing in the festival, on the right are remains of a small hut in the Cahokia Mounds. |
| In the year 1000 A.D, an ancient native American civilization existed on the western border of Illinois right along the Mississippi River. The old city was once constructed of giant mounds with wooden temples on top, and surrounded by small villages. This area is known as the Cahokia Mounds, and is the largest native American ruins north of Mexico in the continent. Today the mounds have been weathered down and might not be very scenic, but they represent a unique tribe of Native Americans, who usually were nomads leaving little behind. The left photo is the largest mound known as the Monk Mound. On the right is a photo taken inside the visitor center, of what Cahokia Mounds might have looked like during its peak; in the background is a drawing of the Monk Mound. |
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