Sports & Outdoors
Outdoor AdventureGiant City State Park
Check pricesWalk between towering sandstone bluffs on the Giant City Nature Trail, try rock climbing or a trail ride, and eat at a 1930s CCC stone lodge.
Photo: National Trails Office ( US National Park Service ), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Sports & OutdoorsOutdoor AdventureHistory BuffLocal Gem
Trail of Tears State Forest
Hike the steep, wooded ridges of the Ozark Hills in southern Illinois, with spring wildflowers, CCC stone shelters and backcountry camping.
Western Union County, five miles northwest of Jonesboro, IL · Jonesboro, IL
About Trail of Tears State Forest
Trail of Tears State Forest covers 5,114 acres of the Ozark Hills, some of the most rugged land in Illinois, five miles northwest of Jonesboro. Fire trails are open for hiking all year, horse trails from May through October, and 620 kinds of flowering plants and ferns grow here. The Civilian Conservation Corps built stone walls and log shelters in the 1930s. The name recalls the Cherokee and other nations who camped a few miles south during the forced march of 1838 and 1839. Gravel roads close to cars from December 24 to mid-May.
- #state forest
- #hiking
- #horseback riding
- #camping
- #wildflowers
What's around here?
The closest stops to Trail of Tears State Forest, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
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Cache River State Natural Area
Check pricesPaddle or hike through southern Illinois swamps to see bald cypress trees more than 1,000 years old, including the state champion.
23 mi awayMore like this
- SightseeingHistory Buff
Millstone Bluff
No admission feeWalk a short interpretive trail to the top of a bluff in Shawnee National Forest to see the remains of a Mississippian village and petroglyphs.
36 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
- Sports & OutdoorsHistory Buff
Fort Massac State Park
No admission feeWalk the Ohio River bank at Illinois's first state park, where French and American forts once stood, and see Native American artifacts in the visitor center.
43 mi awayMore like this
- Sports & OutdoorsOutdoor Adventure
Garden of the Gods
No admission feeFollow a quarter-mile sandstone trail across the bluffs to rock formations like Camel Rock and views over the Shawnee Hills.
53 mi awayMore like this
