Starved Rock State Park has thirteen miles of hiking trails and eighteen canyons. The park, with its St. Peter's sandstone overlooks, is located along the south side of the Illinois River, one-mile south of Utica. It is midway between the towns of LaSalle-Peru and Ottawa.

Park Hours: 5:00 am - 9:00 pm daily

Trail Parking Lots 8 a.m. to sunset

Visitors will appreciate the beauty of Starved Rock by hiking the trails and enjoying the park's many activities. Boating, fishing, camping, horseback riding, picnicking, and winter sports can all add to your Starved Rock experience. Rental of canoes, boats, horseback rides, and skis are available.

Special Note: No Climbing, Rappelling, or Swimming --- Please Stay on Marked Trails

Due to the fragile nature of the St. Peter Sandstone formations, it is very important that visitors stay on officially marked trails. Climbing, scrambling, or rappelling on the rocks and canyon walls is prohibited. Extensive erosion damage and serious personal injury have occurred because of people disregarding these laws.

Overview
Experience the fun of outdoor adventure at Starved Rock State Park. Whether you enjoy hiking along the nature trails or viewing the many spectacular overlooks along the Illinois River, recreational opportunities abound. From picnicking to fishing to boating, from horseback riding to camping to enjoying winter sports, there’s so much to do that you’ll come back again and again.

The backdrop for your activities are 18 canyons formed by glacial meltwater and stream erosion. They slice dramatically through tree-covered, sandstone bluffs for four miles at Starved Rock State Park, which is located along the south side of the Illinois River, one mile south of Utica and midway between the cities of LaSalle-Peru and Ottawa.

The park is best known for its fascinating rock formations, primarily St. Peter sandstone, laid down in a huge shallow inland sea more than 425 million years ago and later brought to the surface.

While the areas along the river and its tributaries still are predominantly forested, much of the area is a flat, gently rolling plain. The upland prairies were created during an intensive warming period several thousand years after the melting of the glaciers. The Illinois River Valley in the Starved Rock area is a major contrast to the flatland. The valley was formed by a series of floods as glacial meltwater broke through moraines, sending torrents of water surging across the land and deeply eroding the sandstone and other sedimentary rocks.

During early spring, when the end of winter thaw is occurring and rains are frequent, sparkling waterfalls are found at the heads of all 18 canyons, and vertical walls of moss-covered stone create a setting of natural geologic beauty uncommon in Illinois. Some of the longer-lasting waterfalls are found in French, LaSalle and St. Louis canyons.

History
This area has been home to humans from as early as 8000 B.C. Hopewellian, Woodland and Mississippian Native American cultures thrived here. The most recent and probably the most numerous group of Native Americans to live here was the Illiniwek, from the 1500s to the 1700s. Approximately 5,000 to 7,000 Kaskaskias, a subtribe of the Illiniwek, had a village extending along the bank of the Illinois River across from the current park.

In 1673, French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette passed through here on their way up the Illinois from the Mississippi. Known as “Pere,” the French word for “Father,” Marquette returned two years later to found the Mission of the Immaculate Conception-Illinois’ first Christian mission-at the Kaskaskia Indian village.

When the French claimed the region (and, indeed, the entire Mississippi Valley), they built Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83 because of its commanding strategic position above the last rapids on the Illinois River. Pressured from small war parties of Iroquois in the French and Indian wars, the French abandoned the fort by the early 1700s and retreated to what is now Peoria, where they established Fort Pimitoui. Fort St. Louis became a haven for traders and trappers, but by 1720 all remains of the fort had disappeared.

Starved Rock State Park derives its name from a Native American legend of injustice and retribution. In the 1760s, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa tribe upriver from here, was slain by an Illiniwek while attending a tribal council in southern Illinois. According to the legend, during one of the battles that subsequently occurred to avenge his killing, a band of Illiniwek, under attack by a band of Potawatomi (allies of the Ottawa), sought refuge atop a 125-foot sandstone butte. The Ottawa and Potawatomi surrounded the bluff and held their ground until the hapless Illiniwek died of starvation- giving rise to the name "Starved Rock."

The Illinois State Parks Commission was initially headquartered in Starved Rock State Park after the park was purchased in 1911.

Directions

• I-39 southbound: South to I-80 east (exit #59). Go 2 miles to exit #81 (Route 178, Utica). Go south (right) 3 miles on Route 178 and follow the signs into the Park.

• I-39 northbound: North to Exit #48 (Tonica exit). Go east (right) for approximately 5 miles to the T-intersection, which is Route 178. Go north (left) for approximately 5 miles and follow the signs into the Park.

• I-80 Eastbound and Westbound: Get off at exit #81 (Rt.178, Utica). Go south 3 miles on Route 178 and follow the signs into the Park.
  From the Chicago area: Take I-294 or I-355 south to I-55. Take I-55 south to I-80. Go west on I-80, 45 miles to Exit #81 (Route 178, Utica). Go south (left) 3 miles on Route

• 178 and follow the signs into the Park.