Illinois 2021

Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc.

Friday, July 30 through Sunday, August 8

We drove from an event (supervisor’s retirement reception) in Norman, Oklahoma to sites of interest (see below) in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Because of our late departure (which is actually fairly typical), we only went to Joplin, Missouri for the first overnight stay. The points of interest were mostly places that I grew up with (various sites in/near Canton, Illinois; Wisconsin Dells; Lacey Keosauqua State Park, Iowa), or places that I visited later (Pikes Peak State Park, Iowa; White Pines Forest State Park, Illinois), or that were otherwise interesting (Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois; Spook Cave, near McGregor, Iowa). One unpleasant task on this trip was to verify that my mother’s grave marker was correct in White Chapel Memory Gardens, Canton, Illinois (see also our trip to Illinois in 2020). We returned to a different location than our departure point.

I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver). There were two track segments that I neglected to record with that receiver, so the equivalent tracks from my 2014 Subaru Outback’s navigation system are substituted for them.

NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided “view map” links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing, except for the Subaru tracks, which are not simplified (yet?).

Original GPX tracks are unedited.

Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those that I have actually rated).

Topographic maps (of the 1:24,000 type used in the USA) for the longer hikes are available via "Topo" links.

Overview

Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map.
All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.

Friday, July 30

GPX / view map—Driving from the reception (at the National Weather Center) to a gas stop at Vinita, Oklahoma to the hotel in Joplin, Missouri.

Saturday, July 31

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel in Joplin to our breakfast/lunch stop at Lebanon, Missouri, and on to Argyle Lake State Park, near Colchester, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Our very short hike at Argyle Lake State Park, near Colchester, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving from Argyle Lake State Park to a gas stop in Colchester, Illinois, and on to the hotel in Canton, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving around Canton, Illinois, including our dinner stop.

Sunday, August 1

GPX / view map—Driving to various points of interest in Canton, Illinois, including former homes, parents’ former homes, etc., plus the cemetery (see summary above), Canton Lake, and some nearby scenic areas. The drive also includes the trip to Peoria, Illinois, via Glasford-Canton Road (had meant to take Smithville Road, but turned too early)...and our visit to Peoria’s Luthy Botanical Garden in Glen Oak Park.
GPX / view map—Walking to/through Luthy Botanical Garden in Peoria’s Glen Oak Park.
GPX / view map—Driving from Luthy Botanical Garden in Peoria back to dinner in Canton, Illinois. This time, we were on the correct road from Peoria to Canton (although the travel through Peoria itself included an accidental detour).
GPX / view map—Driving in the “back country”, from Canton to Bernadotte (to see what’s left of a historic bridge), Seville, and Babylon (scenic areas), and back to the hotel in Canton, Illinois.

Monday, August 2

GPX / view map—Driving from Canton, Illinois to my favorite park in my home state, Matthiessen State Park, near Oglesby, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Hiking at Matthiessen State Park (near Oglesby, Illinois). Our generally slow progress, plus limited reception in the chasm areas led to some rather “noisy” GPS tracks. The general direction of travel was clockwise. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving from Matthiessen State Park to our hotel in Rockford, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a restaurant for dinner.
GPX / view map—Driving from the restaurant back to the hotel.

Tuesday, August 3

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to an electronics store (for camera supplies), a car wash (because of our driving on back roads near Canton a couple of days earlier), and finally to Andersen Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Walking through Andersen Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois. We took a mainly counter-clockwise path around the gardens.
GPX / view map—Driving from Andersen Japanese Gardens to a gas stop (just as we were leaving Rockford), and on to White Pines Forest State Park, west of Oregon, Illinois.
GPX / view map—One of our two hikes at White Pines Forest State Park (Sleepy Hollow Trail, which we took counter-clockwise). (Topo [western hike])
GPX / view map—Driving back to the lodge area at White Pines Forest State Park.
GPX / view map—Our other hike at White Pines Forest State Park (includes the Whispering Pines Trail, as we hiked in a generally counter-clockwise direction). (Topo [eastern hike…same map as above])
GPX / view map—Driving from White Pines Forest State Park to get dinner in Rockford, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Walking the rather short distance from our parking spot to the restaurant and back in Rockford, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving from the restaurant to the hotel in Rockford, Illinois (including a wrong turn near the hotel).

Wednesday, August 4

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to our lunch stop (near the hotel), then along non-toll roads (because toll roads in Illinois seemed difficult to deal with) to Wisconsin. We went by the Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, then on to the hotel in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin (Lake Denton area).
GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to a parking area in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.
GPX / view map—Walking from the parking area to the Upper Dells Scenic Tour docks in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.
GPX / view map—The Upper Dells Scenic Tour. This includes mostly a boat ride north on the Wisconsin River (Dells area), but also includes two short walks near the north end. On the east side is “Witches Gulch”, and on the west side is “Stand Rock”, where the famous dog jump takes place.
GPX / view map—Walking around Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, including our dinner stop.
GPX / view map—Driving back to the hotel.

Thursday, August 5

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel in Wisconsin Dells/Lake Denton, Wisconsin through the scenic “Driftless Zone” of southwest Wisconsin and on to Pikes Peak State Park, near McGregor, Iowa.
GPX / view map—Hiking at Pikes Peak State Park, taking the Bridal Veil Falls Trail to the small waterfall, and the Myotis Trail back to the parking area...barely beating a rather heavy rain shower. This is a generally counter-clockwise path. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving from Pikes Peak State Park to Spook Cave, east of Monona, Iowa.
GPX / view map—Walking from the parking lot (at north end of track) to the visitor center at Spook Cave, and on to the boat dock (and back). I left the GPS receiver on during the cave tour, and obviously, the tracks did not update while we were in the cave.
GPX / view map—Driving from Spook Cave to our dinner stop in Dubuque, Iowa, and our attempt at visiting Mississippi Palisades State Park in Illinois (park closes at sunset, so we didn’t enter the park, since it was after sunset when we arrived), our gas stop just south of DeWitt, Iowa, and on to the hotel in Davenport, Iowa.

Friday, August 6

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to our lunch stop in Davenport, Iowa.
GPX / view map—Driving from the restaurant in Davenport, Iowa to Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Our brief walk in the area of a lookout (scenic overlook) from Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving on the hilly, twisty roads in Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Hiking on the Indian Head Trail (toward the northwest), and back, then southeast a short distance to a picnic table amid a stand of white pine trees, and back to the parking area in Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving in Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Hiking in the “Twin Sisters” area, including a very short bit of the Pine Trail at Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving from Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois to Moline, Illinois (past a couple of my former residences), Rock Island, Illinois (Augustana College), River Road (in Moline), dinner in north Davenport, Iowa, an ice cream restaurant farther south in Davenport, and finally to the hotel in Davenport, Iowa.

Saturday, August 7

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to Duck Creek Park in Davenport, Iowa.
GPX / view map—Walking on the Duck Creek Trail in Davenport, Iowa. According to our GPS receivers, we walked almost exactly 1 km each way. (Topo)
GPX / view map—Driving from Duck Creek Park to Lacey Keosauqua State Park, near Keosauqua, Iowa.
GPX / view map—Our brief walk from the parking lot to the beach (and back) at Lacey Keosauqua State Park.
GPX / view map—Driving from Lacey Keosauqua State Park to our gas stop in Princeton, Missouri, dinner in Bethany, Missouri (also a stop at a nearby convenience store), and on to our (supposed to have been) hotel in Merriam, Kansas.
GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel we originally reserved to the one we had to move to instead (because the original one was overbooked) in Olathe, Kansas. The convoluted route was because the bridge over Interstate 35 was closed for construction.

Sunday, August 8

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel in Olathe, Kansas back to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Stops include our attempted breakfast/lunch stop in Olathe, Kansas, our actual lunch stop in Ottawa, Kansas, photo stops in Strong City and Cassoday, Kansas, refreshment stop at the Towanda, Kansas service center, gas stop at the Belle Plaine, Kansas service center, and dinner in Oklahoma City.