Starved Rock State Park Visitor Center

I went here on a Tuesday so I had no issues with parking or crowding however I can’t say how it would be at a more popular time such as on a Saturday.
There was a sweet older lady working at the visitor centers desk and she gave a map and explained the trails to us including how far they are round trip, where we could find different waterfalls and some of the most popular stops.
They have a large clean bathroom there. They also had a small gift shop which was nothing special as well as a concession stand and fudge stand. They have a few vending machine with water, soda and energy drinks.
Overall the visitor center was very helpful and convenient!

This is a must see if you enjoy a calm hike and seeing something new. The landscape is amazing! The only parts of the trail I would consider a challenge for some might be the stairs — 157 on one trail if we counted correctly — but easy enough for our 5 year old to walk over 7 miles happily each day. I would advise against a weekend visit if at all possible — we visited on a Sunday and Monday and there were too many people for my liking on the weekend. If you have an extra bag in the car and a free hand, I’d also suggest a litter pluck while walking. There was a lot of trailside trash.

This is a little bit away from the Starved Rock Lodge and Elements Restaurant. If you park here, you can easily walk and get a close up look of the Illinois River. The Visitor Center itself isn’t amazing but it does give you a quick history lesson of the Indians that lived in that area and a glimpse of Illinois’ history.

The visitor center is okay and has some nice exhibits, but it closes really early. There’s a crappy little gift store in the visitor center, but there are better gifts in the «Concessions» area by the entrance and the lodge nearby.
The Concessions area is pretty nice, though, and is open later than the main visitor center.

I think they have a great lineup of events, however, I hate that the only paths you really have access to anymore are manmade wooden pathways, which doesn’t at all feel like hiking to me. The restaurants are ususally good but avoid the burger, tastes like something out of soylent green, but the hot chocolate is quite good.

This is a very popular park. I’m not sure I have ever seen so many people in one place in a natural setting like I have here. Because of this though, the park is extremely well maintained with a fully staffed visitor center, well kept paths and trails, a restaurant and clean bathrooms.
The setting is beautiful, but you can’t really explore here anymore. All of the main trails are either paved or wooden decking. Much of the outside experience for me is the exploration and adventure of the outdoors, and that is just not possible. I suppose just a few too many kids fell off the cliffs, ruining it for everybody. Oh well.
That aside, it still is lovely here. The setting and views from the tops of the cliffs are awesome. Eagles start coming here from up north around November so I will make sure to come back and see them, but not with my wheelchaired friends. Whatever the maps may say, this place is not friendly to the unable.

Kicking myself because I didn’t buy any fudge!!!
A previous review commented about lack of parking? When there, I actually made a comment about how large the parking lot is next to the visitor center. Was there on a weekend and the lot wasn’t nearly full. Anyways, this visitor center is nicely maintained. Lots of vending machines and bathrooms. There is also a «fast food» type section where you can buy beverages, funnel cakes, fudge, etc. There is also a gift shop. Stopped back after it had already closed and the building remains unlocked so you can use the bathrooms or vending machines.
If you are looking for more challenging trails and just a better experience overall, go down the road to Matthiessen. Oddly enough, there is a huge orange sign on the entrance gates to the Starved Rock Visitor Center that mentions Matthiessen is down the road.

It was the first 70+ degree weather of the year so I pulled my bike out of storage and went for a ride to starved rock, I parked on Il route 71 just out of Ottawa and hiked 12 miles total round trip, No photo or description can, describe what is contain with in this state park, gorgeous scenery all year around. I tested my cardio burned some calories and had fun doing it.
The only bad part of this trip (which is not fault of park) is that my biker Jacket was stolen it was to chilly to ride with out on comfortably so I left it lay on my Bike, for the past 12 years this has never been a problem well at some point during the 5 hours I was gone the Jacket disappeared I thought about stashing some where of a trial some where but opted not to. now I regret it, for all of you bikers & bicyclists try to secure your belongings you never know when dastardly deeds may strike.

MAKE SURE YOU TRY THE FUDGE!!!
I stop in and buy a few squares of fudge from the food area every time I come to Starved Rock, and let me tell you: they are DIVINE! My two favorites are the Chocolate Maple and the Key Lime Pie. Plus it’s only about $ 3/​square. Holy crap are they good.
That’s about all I pay attention to when I pass through the visitor center. There may or may not be some exhibits and stuff, too. Maybe.

Note: The park’s street address is actually in Oglesby, IL for purposes of online mapping or GPS navigating.
Shame on the IL DNR. First, there are not nearly enough parking lots near the lodge and visitor’s center – poor planning. Second, they did not have ANY personnel directing traffic on Saturday afternoon when several hundred cars found themselves with nowhere to park – poor execution.
We cruised around for about 25 minutes before finally driving down the road a ways and pulling off on the side. There were at least as many cars parked «illegally» as parked in the main lot. Boo.
Thank goodness that the park made it worth the trouble. We wanted a rugged, challenging hike, and were disappointed to see the trails clogged with visitors, and the trails fairly tame. However, we enjoyed four hours of tromping around the woods, taking in scenes of the canyons and river bluffs, plus a few dried-​up waterfalls (we should return in spring to see these at full strength). On October 18, leaves were only about half of peak, but it was still a lovely afternoon with near-​perfect weather.
Next time we will park further out, so that we can avoid the crowds and hit the more remote (and hopefully rougher) trails.

Only about 2 hours maximum from Chicago, this great state park boasts hilly trails, bluffs and waterfalls, and is a great place to spend the days outdoors. We hiked all day thru their trails, and boy did we get a good workout climbing all the hills and stair paths; my butt is definitely fatigued. Many of the more out of the way paths can be quite muddy and wet this time of year, but it just added to the challenge of the experience. Did you know you can walk under a waterfall? Well kept and scenic, it’s a great day trip from Chicago. They also have reasonably priced lodging onsite, and camping as well, recently remodeled and reasonably comfortable. The lodge has both cabins and indoor guest rooms, and a pool and a restaurant and bar. There are also many eagles in the park to view!

I have not been hiking in a very long time (unless you count hiking down to the gas station for a pack of cigarettes). But this was so much fun! Yeah, most of the trails are uphill and have many stairs, but the panoramic views were well worth the pain my knees felt later in the day. Not only do they have hiking, there is also a very informative visitor center. The visitor center includes exhibits on the flora and fauna from to the area, as well as historical information about the area and a very polite and knowledgeable staff. They also have a small café and gift shop in the center. Apart from that, they have a huge lodge with private guest rooms, a dining room, and a café. Both the camp sites and the lodge fill up very quickly during the summer and early fall, so be sure to book early.

If you have a hankering for a hike where there is really a bit of scenery and terrain and which is within 100 miles of Chicago, this is the place. The eponymous rock is nice to see, but the best parts of the trails are the gorgeous little limestone canyons. Not enormous in size but still large enough to be impressive and extraordinarily pretty. An Illinois treasure. Best time to visit: third weekend in October for peak fall foliage.

I decided to spend most of my day today outside so I decided to take a ride out to Starved Rock State Park. I am avid outdoors man and I really just felt like walking the trails. The have well over 20 miles of hiking trails and some of them are not very easy because they take you up and down through the valleys and hills. You can camp, fish and even ride horses in certain areas too. They have a very new visitors center where they are very helpful staff to let you know what is going on in the park and to give you some ideas on how to best enjoy your day. The visitors center also contains a snack shop, and gift shop too. The entire area around the visitor center is a large picnic area Their lodge is really nice. If you want o be able to get a room there you need to book well in advance. They have an upscale restaurant here at the lodge and also a more casual bar and Grill with outdoor seating on a rock patio over looking a valley. This is the best time to go to if you want to get away because of the lack of the warn weather crowds. That is the only reason why I would give this 4 stars instead of 5. The crowds are HUGE on nice weekends in April through September. It is not exactly the Taste of Chicago July third fireworks crowd but it is still enough to be somewhat annoying. If you are not into camping or cant get into the Lodge the nearby towns of LaSalle, Peru, Ottawa have plenty of hotels and places to stay, but they do tend to book up quickly too.