Cache River State Natural Area

Don't miss this. Even the drive to the trailhead was pretty. The hike is easy, but it is so peaceful. Walking the boardwalk out into the swamp was amazing. Stop every couple so often and just listen.

The trails were well maintained and totally shaded. Some bench seating at points of interest and no crowds.

Beautiful park. Probably not visited as much as it should be compared to the big ones in Southern Illinois. Seeing the swamplands close up is amazing. Only tip - wear bug spray!

Truly magnificent. One of the most beautiful places in Illinois for sure. It makes you feel like you are in the bayou in Louisiana. There are endless swamp cypress trees for miles and miles and a beautiful nice walking trail to take it all in.

A Gem of a find. Discovered this unique ecological wonder while exploring the Rails to Trails from Harrisburg to this State Park. Great visitor center to lean about the Northern most bayou in the Americas. Highly recommend.

Amazing place! Looks just like a walk through a swamp in Louisiana. They have a nice boardwalk to enjoy the stroll.

Beautiful, but many mosquitoes in June. Visitors center and staff are excellent

Same case as Dani Berg: Could not find the cypress swamp with the boardwalk and we probably walked for 2 miles along the gravel path. Nobody else was there. There was an area with a nice pond and kept grass along with a parking lot and notice board, which gave us hope just like Dani. However we never found it. Next time we come here we’ll try again

My daughter went on a canoe trip down cache river for her ecology class and had a blast. She said it was fun and enjoyable and would do it again. Everyone was nice and accommodating and very friendly and knowledgeable about everything about the cache.

Kind of amazing from a botanical point of view. This is apparently the farthest north that you can see a cypress swamp, and in some ways it's more Louisiana than it is Illinois. If you trudge down the Heron Pond trail for a while you'll eventually get to a surreal boardwalk into the trees which is just a magical little spot. Unfortunately, the walk to that spot is kind of blah, especially by the otherwise high standards of hikes in this area. Stars? I'd call it a five star boardwalk at the end of a two star hike, which computes to 3.5, rounded up to 4.

There is nothing comparable in the Midwest. 1000 year old trees, massive Bryson colonies and a sense of isolation and solitude. I have canoes here several times. I would highly recommend seeing it from a canoe to get the full sense of the ecosystem.

Such a beautiful area, highly recommend for kayaking! We hadn't been before, and so stopped in the wetlands center to ask about where to launch. The IDNR person was incredibly helpful. We made it to the "cache river lower access" point and had a very easy time launching. The water is gorgeous, with so many cool trees to see, some over 1000 years old. I don't recommend this spot for inflatable kayaks. There are lots of stumps under the water that they could easily get caught on. Our kayaks got caught a couple of times, but it was still worth it. The River has signs along the way to help you remember which bends you took and how to get back to the lower river access point. There are bathrooms at the access point. Highly recommend!

This park is way out in the boonies and took quite a while to get there. Once you get there you see a sign that no matter which Trail you take it's at least 2 miles in which was just too much for us. There was a little circular walking area that at least gave us hope but it went nowhere. It's a beautiful place but not much to see or do anywhere without a long hike.