Garden of the Gods, Illinois

This is a different place from the Colorado formation of the same name and gets confused with it constantly. The rock is Pennsylvanian-age sandstone laid down around three hundred million years ago, uplifted and then weathered along joints and bedding planes into blocks, fins and honeycombed faces that stand above hardwood forest - Camel Rock, Devil's Smokestack and Anvil Rock among the named ones. A quarter-mile flagstone observation trail runs along the top of the bluffs with the forest dropping away on both sides, and the wider wilderness behind holds longer trails. Southern Illinois is well outside what most people picture of the state, and the glaciers never reached here, which is why the terrain survives.

Highlights

• Weathered sandstone blocks and fins - about three hundred million years old.
• A flagstone observation trail - along the top of the bluffs.
• Named formations - Camel Rock, Anvil Rock, Devil's Smokestack.
• Hardwood forest below - not desert, unlike its Colorado namesake.

When to go

April to June and September to November; October for colour. Two to three hours.

Before you go

It is regularly confused with the Colorado site of the same name. The bluff edges are unfenced. The observation trail is short - the wilderness behind holds the longer walking. Autumn weekends fill the small lot.

Nearby

The Shawnee National Forest surrounds it; the Ohio River is south.