I’ve got another rural treasure for you. After seeing a couple of people post about Fall Creek, we decided we would spend some time exploring Fall Creek, Illinois. This little gem is a great example of how there are probably some really great things right in your back yard, but you have to look for them.
Fall Creek Overlook is about fifteen minutes from our home and we have driven past it probably a million times, yet we had never been. The park consists of walking trails and an overlook on the bluff. The park is listed as part of Siloam Springs State Park and under the care of the Department of Natural Resources.
When you enter Fall Creek, there is a place to park with bathrooms, and a map to tell you where to go. On the map, we located a walking trail near the creek that would take us to a stone arch bridge. We walked maybe a tenth of a mile on a paved trail that ran along the creek. The trail then kept going up a hill or veered left toward a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole. We decided to veer off of the walking path and instead go toward the creek since there was access. We wanted to try and walk in the creek to the stone arch bridge.
We could see a part of the cliff we were near had given way and fallen in to the watering hole below. It looked like concrete supports and a wooden overlook that was built for people to view the area had given way and tumbled below. Because the overlook was gone, people have made a very narrow trail on the steep bank to get to the waterfall and the water hole below it.
We safely made the trek on the narrow trail and got to the waterfall.
We walked the half-mile or so up the creek to the arched stone bridge. There we found another waterfall and my kids thoroughly enjoyed walking in the water, identifying bugs, leaves, and tracks.
There were very pretty rock cuts on both sides of the creek.
We stopped for a superman pose. The kids thought these deep cuts in the rocks were super cool.
All of them splashed around and though no one really swam, all of them were wet from “slipping and falling” in the water.
We spent about an hour and a half at the Fall Creek Overlook and we thought it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And of course, we only had to travel fifteen minutes to find a waterfall and check one more thing off of the summer bucket list!
Happy exploring!
Love,
Stef