Dart and Map

I like to take my parents on little walks/hikes when I visit them since they won’t go on their own. One place that we like a lot is Starved Rock in Oglesby, Illinois. It has a lot of easy hikes that have benches placed throughout, so if you are not used to exercise and/or walking uphill you can quickly find a place to sit to get ready for the next bit. I know there are harder hikes in the park, but I don’t know that I’ll ever get to them since I only go with my parents. We first went to this park a very long time ago. I was supposed to go on a college day trip, but overslept. My parents thought it sounded like a cool place to see, so offered to drive me to meet up with the class and then hung out to explore.

This time, we did the same simple hikes we did the last time (Starved Rock & Lover’s Leap), but added one that was nice and flat and short when you start at the lodge, French Canyon. It is gorgeous without water from rain or snow so I can only imagine how great it is after the winter. I was a little nervous that the path was too close to the edge of the cliff and it didn’t have a lot of guardrails like the other hikes do. But thankfully, there was one at the scenic part. All of this matters if your parents are on the older side and you are paranoid about them possibly tripping, like I do. The hike down into the canyon was easy, and my boyfriend meandered down into it, but I opted to stay up top with my parents because I was worried they would lean on the railing and it would turn out it wasn’t secure, and fall over.

The whole park is named after a legend that a Pontiac war-Chief was murdered by a member of the Illinois tribe. When other tribes came to the village of the Illinois tribe for revenge, it caused them (the Illinois) to flee to this rock where they found themselves surrounded. With no way out to get food or water, they starved to death. However, in reality, the chief was actually murdered hundreds of miles away and not by someone else. Historians think the legend is perhaps based on a 1722 siege by Europeans. Either way, this site is historical and beautiful.

I didn’t know that Starved Rock was once known for a shocking murder until I saw a documentary title appear when I was searching for a show to watch. I did watch that documentary & can imagine the horror people felt back in the day. In 1960, three women were murdered, their bodies found in St. Louis Canyon. I won’t spoil the whodunit, but apparently it was headline news back in the day. Murder in a park in a small town!!! It is a current headline right now, too, if you are reading this in 2023, anyway. Here is a recent Chicago Sun-Times article about the killer trying to prove their innocence. The park’s bookshop has a book about the murders, if you happen to want to read up on it and plan on a visit to Starved Rock. If you don’t get the book at the park, check out a local bookstore and find one! There are multiple books about it.

The people that are buried in parks, bodies of water, and apparently bird sanctuaries are what we hear about the most in the news. Mafia or gang hits. Random murders. I think about how disturbing it must be for the hikers who find the bodies. Whenever I am hiking anywhere remote, I do have fleeting thoughts wondering if I am walking over or near the grave of a missing person. Of course, the more oxygen I get, the more surreal & random my thoughts get so thinking about dead bodies is probably the most coherent one.

I am kind of obsessed with how many people go missing in parks. It started years ago with an Outside Magazine article by Jon Billman. I now follow a lot of National Park social media accounts and am no longer surprised at how often people disappear. One wrong move and POOF. I’m sure you heard about Julian Sands. I read the article about the people who found him. I had seen prior pictures of him hiking with proper equipment, but the finders mentioned he was missing some things that could have helped save him, like a fluorescent vest. But who knows? Satellite GPS devices are life-saving but so expensive. And the ones I have looked at getting also have monthly fees. With some people unable to afford even the day pass for parking / hiking, it isn’t really a viable option, though it would be a great opportunity for some of the device-makers to partner up with parks and offer them for free, sliding scale, or donation rental. Not everyone hikes enough to buy one anyway.

When people go for day hikes, they are never thinking they are going to fall or be in distress & in need of rescue. For years, I had minimal with me on easy day hikes, too. Now, I have mylar blankets, an emergency tent, first aid kit, flashlights, solar chargers, and try to bring extra power bars. I always have excessive water with me, too. Probably more than I need but worth it. After reading about as many missing hikers and campers as I have, I’m just not taking chances.

And there are the people who are hiking, but find that going further is dangerous. Perhaps the weather changed unexpectedly, but they feel they just want to keep going ahead instead of backtracking to safety. To “finish” it. Until recently, I don’t think missing hikers were much talked about in mainstream places. They just… disappeared.

Anyhow, back to Starved Rock, which is definitely known more for hiking & nature than those murders (but the murders probably do help get the park more visitation.) With lovely views of the Illinois River, that you definitely cannot swim in by the way, trails and wildlife, the park is a great outing. Their visitor center has real bathrooms, a gift store, and a cafe with food like hotdogs and burgers. There is a lodge on site if you want to stay longer. The lodge also has more substantial meals available. The park is near historic Ottawa, IL, where the site of a Lincoln – Douglas debate is memorialized. Standing exactly where historic events actually happened is one of my favorite things to do. You can read about events, but standing where they actually occurred is another level. I really dig Ottawa. It’s a nice town. Lot of little shops and places to eat. And if you are still too “city” to stay in a small town, you are in luck because it is only about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Chicago.

Starved Rock State Park, 2668 E 875th Rd, Oglesby, IL 61373