St. Louis Canyon Trail

St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park is widely considered one of the most beautiful glacial canyons in the Midwest, a narrow sandstone gorge capped by a seasonal waterfall that transforms into a frozen column of ice in winter. The canyon was carved by glacial meltwater drainage at the end of the Pleistocene epoch roughly 12,000 years ago, cutting through the St. Peter Sandstone into the Ottawa Sandstone below and exposing a layered record of ancient sand dunes. The canyon walls are draped in maidenhair ferns and walking ferns — species that require the constant humidity produced by the falls — and thick colonies of green and yellow mosses coat every surface below the overhang. The trail approaches the canyon from the Illinois River blufftop before descending steeply into the gorge interior. In summer the falls may reduce to a trickle or stop entirely, but the canyon retains its cool microclimate and lush vegetation. Winter visits are spectacular when the falls freeze into a dramatic 80-foot ice column ringed by ice formations on the canyon walls. The loop returns via the canyon rim overlook trail. Starved Rock receives over 2 million visitors annually — arrive early on weekend mornings to avoid crowds at the canyon entrance.