Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve — Attraction in Illinois

This is a very interesting and beautiful place to visit. Access is easy from Route 3 southeast of Chester, IL, and Google Maps will guide you through the couple of turns that you need to make. All roads are paved until you get within about a half mile of the parking lot, then it changes to gravel. The parking lot is partially gravel and partially grass and large enough for ten vehicles or so. The quarter mile hike from the parking lot is via a wide mowed lane between two fences and is slightly uphill. After turning right you will soon encounter a sign welcoming you to the area. At this point the trail splits with the right-hand path taking you on top of the ridge, and the left-hand path descending into the ravine and leading to the petroglyphs and pictographs. We took the latter and did not walk the whole trail that circumambulates the area. This latter trail descends and crosses a branch of the creek then rises again, goes parallel to that branch, and descends once again to cross the main Piney Branch of Mill Creek. It had been very dry for weeks when we were there, so we had no trouble with either creek crossing. After the second crossing the trail leads to a sandstone bluff, then along the base of the bluff to a point where you will find a large sign explaining the petroglyphs and pictographs. I would describe this trail as being of "moderate" difficulty, not easy but not challenging either. A walking stick of some sort would be handy for the second stream crossing that is made on rocks that can be slippery and wobbly. The rock "art" is certainly interesting, especially considering that some of it dates back over 1500 years. After your visit to the ravine you can head over to Chester to check out the work of Elzie Segar, creator of Popeye, Olive Oly, Wimpy, and the rest of the Thimble...

Tucked away amidst rolling farmland hills you will find this little Southern Illinois hike. It is short. Perhaps a total of 2 miles long. The parking lot is on the corner of a dirt road and the first 1/3 of the mile parallels an easement between two farm fields. After the second smaller sign take a right and you will progress down a very steep path moderately marked. IL DNR marked the path with little green markers. You will find stone formations, a 30foot (estimated) waterfall, swirled molten iron deposits that look like mother nature's painting. We went in the fall and there was little water flowing at the time. I would rate this hike as rigorous due to the inclines. You will not find the elevation change in IL near as long in duration as mountain hiking but the steepness could be difficult for the less...

Not that we hated it. It was a nice hike until we got to the part where we had no idea which way to go. This was after crossing the 3rd river and going up the hill. No idea if we should go right or left. We tried left first and came to the large flat rocks that we crossed and tried to follow but the was no tail after going around the bend. So went back the other direction and lost the trail there too. Decided to go back out the way we came in when a thunderstorm broke lose. Survived that after falling in the mud almost at the end. Least not hit by the lightening wish would not have been a problem if we could have found the trail...