Buffalo Rock State Park, IL

Buffalo Rock State Park is located on a bluff which once was an island in the Illinois River. Now standing majestically on the north bank, this promontory affords a magnificent, sweeping view of the Illinois River. Located approximately 3 miles west of Ottawa in LaSalle County, this 298-acre park has long been a favorite picnic area, as well as a nature lovers’ delight. The area of Buffalo Rock was the home of the Illinois Indians when Louis Jolliet, the French explorer, and the Jesuit missionary priest Father Jacques Marquette made their trip up the Illinois River in 1673. 

This is a simple hike across the river from Starved Rock SP. Make sure to get down to the last video where we see a tree fall in the forest. Spoiler Alert: It made noise.

At the trailhead and next to the parking lot are 3 buffalo that are the gatekeepers of this state park. One of the bison, Cocoa, was recently transferred to Buffalo Rock State Park from Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (a hike we also did this past summer, linked later in the description). Cocoa gave birth to a currently unnamed baby bison in May and this video was recorded in October. So, this buffalo family is the first thing you’ll see when you visit Buffalo Rock State Park. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv7FZ…

A beautiful view of the Illinois River from Buffalo Rock State Park.

You can hear gun shots in the background as I talk about our hike today and Matthiessen State Park this morning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a447u…

This state park hosts a large outdoor sculpture called Effigy Tumuli. It is one of the largest sculptures in the nation since Mount Rushmore. It was constructed as tribute to the Native American tradition of mound building. Artist Michael Heizer depicted the outdoor sculptures (mounds) as different creatures native to Illinois. These creatures are the snake, turtle, catfish, frog and water strider.

The “end of the lollipop” is the furthest point of the trail at Buffalo Rock State Park before having to turn around.

As the wind picks up, we continue our hike back to the trailhead. Part of the “not the craziest hike I’ve done” comment stems from the fact that the plaques along the trail were all empty. It seems that at one point there was lots of good information placed along the hike but now the plaques are barren and I wasn’t really sure what I was looking at a lot of the time.

This was the best vantage point we got at this State Park. Overlooking the Illinois River, the rock we stand on could be the “Buffalo Rock.”

This is the other excellent vantage point we got on this hike. We found out that the gun shot noises were coming from the Buffalo Rock Shooting Range just next to the state park. We also witnessed a tree spontaneously fall into the river, which was a pretty weird thing to see.