Although most skip town for the Labor Day weekend, there are some that cannot due to work or family obligations. It appears the weekend weather will be beautiful. So if you got a good reason for taking the easy way out now then check out these destinations.
Here are some day trips ideas in the area divided by quadrant:
North Quadrant:
Volo Bog and Moraine Hills are two areas beautifully sculpted by the glaciers that provide rolling hills, wetlands, and remnants of the tallgrass prairie. The bird life is spectacular; especially at Volo Bog and the half mile interpretative trail maybe one of the most sensational nature trails around.
Illinois Beach State Park is a great place to swim and hang out on Lake Michigan. It is also close to Great America, so it could be a good way to combine some outdoor activities like swimming and hiking with an amusement park. This might be a good way to get children into the outdoors and get them away from the video games for a day by promising Great America with an outdoor adventure.
West Quadrant:
The Nachusa Grasslands near Franklin Grove, Illinois is home to the deer attacking golden eagle, although this event took place during their migration and they have not been seen since. However, bobolinks, turkey vultures, and a slew of other birds are viewable so check out this interesting prairie preserve, which is protected by the Nature Conservancy.
South Quadrant:
Take a state park crawl along U.S. Highway 6. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is also on this route as is Goose Lake Prairie, the I&M State Trail, Buffalo Rock State Park, and Starved Rock, and Matthiessen.
East Quadrant:
The Indiana Dunes State Park and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore are only 50 miles from downtown Chicago. These locations are also easily accessible by train from Chicago.
For those that do not have the luxury of going on a three day camping trip on the Wisconsin River, these one day options will not take long for you to find out and you will find out about day tripping yeah and a little adventure.
Please click on the links above for an expanded article on each destination. Examiner's subscription notification system is currently delayed. If you get this notice after Labor Day the parks listed above are still great places to visit on any day of the year.
Comments
Wow, so many options! Thanks
Great tune..good info..
Cheers..
Interesting and sensible way to group them. As always, you are the man!
Thanks for the recs Ted. We did your north quadrant on Saturday, Glacial Park in McHenry Co., and your east quadrant on Sunday, Indiana Dunes State and National Parks. We had Glacial all to ourselves (and the birds), while we shared the Dunes with many others. It was an amazing weekend.
Carol Hilker thinks this is a great article!
I had no idea that the Beatles sang "Day Tripper". I enjoyed listening to it while viewing the slide show in another tab. Beautiful pictures Ted. Hope you had a great Labor Day off.
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-jacksonville/victoria-poller
Great pictures - especially of Mathiessen State Park. Thanks for sharing.
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