Shawnee National Forest

Southern Illinois, also known as ‘little Egypt’ locally, held a few surprises for me on my first real visit to this location. I had previously stopped in Shawnee National Forest in August of 2017 for a day to shoot the solar eclipse but I was, shall way say, distracted by other factors on that day and particularly soaking up the area.

Unfortunately, the weather did not play with me on this early April trip. It was partially cloudy the first night I arrived, allowing me to get some process-heavy star trails that night. My principal photography day was overcast, gray, and had diffused opaque lighting. Some photographers I know tell me how much they love shooting on overcast days. I’m personally not a fan – I like capturing deep shadows and the glow of the golden hour.

That being said, the landscape was surprising and dramatic. As a long time resident of this state, I never would have expected to be hiking on limestone crags with an overview stretching out as far as the eye can see in THIS state. Yet, Garden Of The Gods held that promise of vistas and seemingly endless parkland. The dynamic landscape is also pocked with a personal favorite of mine – caves! I got the chance to crawl through a small opening into mother earth called Cave-In-The-Rock located on the banks of the Ohio River.

While there are taller mountains to be summited and deeper caves to be spelunked, It’s great to have these options available somewhat localishly. At least its driveable (about 5 hours from Chicago) and much cheaper to access than hopping on a plane.