After rappelling Drapers Bluff, we drove to Ferne Clyffe State Park located in the Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. I noticed that my trail map of the park's hiking trails had been cut off during printing so I stopped at a sign along the lake to figure out which trail we wanted. I determined we wanted to hike trail 3, the Hawk's cave trail, and trail 6, the Black Jack Oak trail. We first drove to the Hawk's Cave trail. After a few minutes we began hiking trail 3. It looped around and we very soon spotted Hawk's cave. Unfortunately, some reds were currently frequenting the cave. The father of the screaming children was screaming back at them and as a group they made an enormous racket. Eventually, the screams trailed off as they hiked away from Hawk's cave through the woods.
The entrance to Hawk's cave is impressive. If I remember properly, I estimated the entrance width to be 175' and the height to be 50'. The entrance really is the most impressive feature of Hawk's cave since the sandstone shelter only extends about 50' under the cliff. After hanging out inside the sandstone shelter for a bit we continued our hike along trail 3 and stopped to take a couple pictures of a large sandstone boulder below Hawk's Cave. After pictures, we quickly finished the 1/2 mile loop trail back to the cars and drove to the lake where we left my vehicle. Then we drove to the campground and started our hike down trail 5 which soon connected to trail 6, the Black Jack Oak trail. We first went downhill to the right but the sandstone cliffs weren't very impressive that way so we turned around. Kyle noticed a cave entrance and the 3 of us toured a short sandstone shelter cave. I also took a few pictures looking out the cave entrance as Kyle posed. After that, we hiked along the cliff edge back toward the car stopping to periodically take pictures. The Black Jack Oak trail provides an excellent overlook from atop the tall sandstone cliffs. Eventually, we spotted the lake where I'd left my car so after one more picture we hiked down the hill to my parked car. Then, after consulting a map, we drove toward the Little Grand Canyon. To Little Grand Canyon
Hawk's Cave
The massive entrance to Hawk's Cave, a sandstone shelter cave.
A large sandstone boulder near the entrance of Hawk's Cave.
Ferne Clyffe State Park
Erin walks through the woods below the entrance to Hawk's Cave.
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Ferne Clyffe State Park
Kyle stands next to a large sandstone boulder while hiking the Hawk's cave trail, trail 3.
Kyle stands next to a large sandstone boulder found while hiking the Hawk's cave trail, trail 3.
Ferne Clyffe State Park
A closeup of the neat texture of the sandstone boulder.
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Ferne Clyffe State Park
Kyle stands within the entrance of a small sandstone cave found while hiking trail 6.
Kyle stands within the entrance of a small sandstone cave found while hiking trail 6.
Ferne Clyffe State Park
Kyle and Erin stand together above sandstone cliffs while hiking Black Jack Oak trail, trail 6.
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Viewed:
Ferne Clyffe State Park
Kyle and Erin stand together above sandstone cliffs while hiking the Black Jack Oak trail, trail 6.
Kyle stands on the edge of a sandstone cliff while hiking the Black Jack Oak trail trail, trail 6.
Ferne Clyffe State Park
We saw pretty, green foliage along the hiking trail.
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Viewed:
Ferne Clyffe State Park
Kyle and Erin stand next to each other on the edge of a sandstone cliff above the lake along trail 6.