Garden Of The God, Illinois Day Trip- Hiking with Dogs

We took a day trip to a place call Garden of the Gods. This GOTG is in Illinois. There is one in Colorado but this one was much closer to us. We got ready the night before so we could head out early to get to our destination. 
Scooby and I have never been hiking so we didn't know what to expect. 

Scooby was excited that he would get to wear his backpack. He would carry his poop bags and treats. Those were the 2 things he thought he needed. He wanted Ma to leave out the poop bags and add more treats but she said no.

Scooby say "Cheese" look

We got up extra early so we could head out. By extra early, I mean 6:00 am. It's summertime so that is early by Sarah's standards. We were on the road by 7 AM. We were finally going hiking! 30 minutes into our travels across Ky, Scooby started whining. He had to pee. We finally stopped to pee and it was a quick out-in and off we went again. 

Ma was looking around at the roads and made the comment "you would think there would be a Hardee's or McDonald's around here" which cued Scooby to whine again. Dad found a McDonalds and went through drive-thru. Everyone got something to eat. That settled Scooby down and he didn't whine again the whole way there. 

Ky roads

There were no signs telling us if we were indeed headed the right direction. We were relying on our GPS. We finally saw a sign that pointed to Garden of the Gods, it was hiding in those huge hills up ahead

Those mountains hide the gardens 

We arrived at our destination. 

We are in the Shawnee National Forest

Garden of the Gods is in Southern Illinois. It was created over 320 million years ago. It covers over 3,000 acres. Millions of years ago Ky, Ill. and Ind. were all covered by a giant inland sea. Over the years the sea headed south and carved out beautiful rock formations out of sandstone. There were earthquakes and other types of natural occurrences that happened and it pushed the area up towards the sky. Millions of years of wind, rain, and earthquakes carved out the sandstone in what we see today.

We headed to the Observation trail to start. It's a very easy trail that leads to some spectacular views of the forest. These are a few of the photos we took. 

The trail has many benches to sit and rest. There are bathrooms at the beginning and end of the trail. 

When we got to the top of the trails the views were breathtaking. The rock formations are interesting to look at with their water lines, holes in the stones and a few of the spots look like dinosaur footprints. 

This would make an excellent water bowl!

Trees grow in weird ways through the stone

The different shapes the wind and rain have created show the forces that nature can have. It's simply amazing. 

Looks like an alien head. 

amazing what wind and rain can form

Iron deposits in the rock

We think we spotted Bigfoot. BOL!

There are parts of the trail that cut through the rock. 

Sarah strikes a pose

It's cool to get to the top of the rock and look over the edge. 

 In May 2014 a 12 yr old girl lost her life when she fell 100 ft. Even with the paths and such, you still need to take precautions when walking them. There have been a couple other deaths since then.

We finished our walk and we headed out. Down the road we seen a neat looking rock formation and dad spotted a tiny turtle trying to get across the road. We stopped and Sarah assisted the turtle to get across the road. 

We got to explore some of the cave that had a natural skylight. We took the opportunity to take more photos. 

We are the mighty hikers

We are camera hounds

That wraps up our trip to the Illinois Gardens of the Gods. You can find out more information by visiting the Shawnee Forest visitors site. We highly recommend you going. 

The trails are dog-friendly but please be respectful and pick up after your dogs if they go to the bathroom. 

Thank you for reading and hope you join us on our next adventure!

Oh, one more photo. This is ma acting all big and brave because she walked the trail. BOL!