Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center

If you are going to Starved Rock for a quiet weekend, make sure you stay in a cabin! Lots of unsupervised children running the halls, at the pool, etc and no parents to be found. The restaurant is fabulous, as is the architecture of the buildings (built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30's?). Ask staff when their "down times" are and stay then. Trails are nice but crowded on weekends and holidays. If you are looking to getaway from the city, it's close but full of people from the city.

Beautiful, serene, fun! What more can you say? Lodge stay was excellent - food, likewise. Try one of the "cabins" in the woods with the fireplace.

Starved Rock contains many trails for all abilities--park personnel provide maps for easy boardwalk paths with access for physically challenged or easy evening amblers near the lodge, all the way to more serious treks along the bluffs or the muddy banks that require long, fairly steep climbs up and down, hanging onto trees to get past washouts, and other fun! The park provides a great winter experience. Hike for a few hours, watch the eagles, take pictures, (take care on the ice and snow covered trails!), then head to the warm, comfy lodge for some scrumptious fare from the dining room or soak up the warmth from the massive stone fireplace. You will feel comfortable there whether in your Sunday best or your sweaty, dirty hiking duds. Mattheson and Buffalo State Parks nearby also provide horse and hiking trails, but with less crowds than Starved Rock.