I love running my local trails, but sometimes it is fun to explore other parts of Illinois. It is even better when you do it with friends! On this trip we visited the Shawnee National Forest. We stayed at a historic house in Eldorado, Illinois. Played games, toured the town, then headed out for some trail run miles, exploring and climbing at the Garden of Gods.

It was an eventful 6.5 hour drive for all of us to our Airbnb when we were hit with hail, tornados and dangerous storms along the way. We were happy to arrive safe and sound ready to get a good night’s sleep.

We stayed at the historic Mulkey House in Eldorado, Illinois. We found this interesting video link about the history and restoration of this home. William David Upchurch, who was a cashier at Burnett bank for 50 years was the original owner of the home. William died in the home in 1946. It was then sold to the Mulkey family. They owned and ran the Eldorado Ben Franklin drugstore. The house is beautiful on every floor including the attic. The boys had fun pretending the basement was the setting for a horror film. It did have some questionable tools down there.

The town is friendly with murals painted on many walls in the old downtown area. George Harrison of the Beetles first USA performance was at the local VFW Hall at 1201 Veterans Drive in Eldorado.

After enjoying a healthy breakfast and exploring the downtown area we drove to Garden of the Gods parks in Shawnee National Forest. We enjoyed a day of running, sightseeing and climbing in the park.

Our first stop was was Observation Trail. This trail has the most dramatic rock formations and views. Here is a LINK to all the trails. This is a great day trip! I have included a picture story of our day. It is a great Illinois get away. Let me know if you have any questions that can help you out in planning your trip.

***we were on the trail April 1st. Trail conditions were dry on all the trails we visited. Weather was cold and windy.