Illinois mountains

"One of my favorite hikes and certainly the best so far in Illinois. So fascinating to hike a steep rocky wooded bluff above the Mississippi River floodplain, while underneath mining is still taking place. Also cool to see the former mine entrances and historic mining archaeology. As noted by others, it's unlikely you will find many hikes in Illinois with this much elevation gain, except for skyscrapers in Chi-Town. " — rick-brown • Aug 16, 2024

"On my way to visit family in WI. Found myself not far during this open access weekend, so I stopped by. Met Matt, the new owner, who was very gracious! Nicely maintained grounds at the High Point area and found all three USGS summit markers on this bluebird day. Everyone out today was in high spirits (well except for a couple of small ones!)" — SteveM_StickMan • Jul 6, 2024

"Beautiful hike to the summit of Horseshoe Mound. An amazing array of birds were singing along the way including Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, and others. Wonderful views of Galena from the trail. " — rick-brown • May 13, 2024

"Fun little hike in the Saint Louis area. Gains about 425’ in a mile which is pretty impressive for anything in Illinois. Downtown STL (22 miles away) can be seen from the Newman trail overlook." — tylerdelia • Oct 28, 2023

"Nice drive out of town through big open fields, sprinkled between farmhouses and ranch homes. There’s a small cemetery due north of Cotton Hill. Despite not witnessing a single ‘trespassers will be shot on sight’ signs, the area kinda gave off that vibe. There were however a handful of ‘no trespassing’ signs. Lots of Chiefs, Cardinals and Gadsden flags in these parts, too. Hypervigilance was high, expectations were low. God bless the Midwest. " — Katamount • Oct 12, 2023