Saturday, October 18, 2014

Red Hills Illinois State Park



We left St.Louis,Mo. this past Wednesday, after waiting out storms which were passing through and going eastward, the direction we intended to travel.  The weather is rapidly changing and bringing about beautiful fall colors, which we have enjoyed seeing this past week during our travel.
In all of our five years of traveling in our motor home we have not had as much of a problem finding a place to stay as we have encountered this past week.  Red Hills State Park was filling up for the week-end because of Halloween festivities,  however the campground host did find a place for us.  His trailer home, all decorated for Halloween,  is pictured below. His was not the only one ready for Halloween!
The park is located in southeastern Illinois between Olney and Lawrenceville.  It sits on Red Hill, which reportedly is the highest point between St. Louis and Cincinnati.    After we had settled in and eaten our supper at the park’s lakeside inn, we drove up that hill to take in the view of the surrounding countryside.
We also discovered historical markers in the park noting that it was the westernmost edge of the first land ceded by Native Americans to the United States by a treaty made in 1795.  At that time the area was designated as the Vincennes Tract.  It was bisected by the old Cahokia Trace, which ran east and west just north of what is now U.S. 50.  The "Trace Road" use to be the major road between historic Vincennes, Indiana and St.Louis and the west.
The next day, before we moved out, I walked down to Red Hills Lake.  It was a joy to no longer need an umbrella and the sun was making an attempt to peek out. The latest spate of storms have certainly caused many trees to turn from their bright summer green to the vibrant red and golden hues of fall.

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