Matthiessen State Park

Since I met husband years ago, he has talked about this place that he visited in grade school or junior high called Matthiessen.  He always said how much more beautiful it was than Starved Rock, and how if I ever got strong enough, we would visit.  Well, that day finally arrived yesterday, and he was right.  Matthiessen is a miracle of nature; a perfectly hidden canyon amongst miles upon miles of corn and soy bean fields.

The day we picked to go, Friday, Oct. 8, was both a good and a poor choice.  It hasn't rained in nearly two weeks throughout most of the Midwest.  Therefore, the stream that usually fills most of the canyon has dried up. We could walk down in the dells, along the cool limestone rocks, without getting our feet soaked.  It was a poor choice because of the number of unsupervised, school-aged children that were visiting the park the same day.  Possibly due to the upcoming three day weekend, lots of families and field trips members filled the canyon with echoing screams ranging from 'Help" to much dirty words.  Because the park is bigger vertically then horizontally, these yells carried nearly as far as we could walk,  scaring away much of the wild life.  But, as you shall see in the photos that follow, the leaves were just beginning their annual transformation from green to golds, oranges, and reds. 

If the above review, or the following photos make you curious about visiting Matthiessen yourself, you can follow this link for more information:  Illinois Department of Natural Resources - Matthiessen

The Park Map - The Green line marks the lowest level of the dells, with the black circular shape around it denoting the upper paths.

The Double Bridges - This photo was taken from within the canyon itself.  I believe the bottom bridge is part of the "Lower Dell Path," & the top bridge the "Upper Dell Path."

The Waterfall - This photo was taken near the beginning of the trails.  This is where many of the younger generation were congregating.  So, though it was pretty to see, it was also loud because of the constant echo coming up from the canyon.

Though a vast majority of the trails were rough terrain, the paths up and down between them were built mostly out of wood.  This is a view down of some the more forgiving of these stairs. As long as you stick to the signs denoting human hiking trails, there are plenty of places to rest.  This series of ramps and stairs had three benches alone, if I remember correctly.

A view of a stairway through the trees.  This was probably the most grueling part of the entire hike.  But the abundance of benches, as well as the beauty below were motivation enough for me to make it down.  And what goes down, unfortunately must come up!