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area from Belleville to Carbondale is a relatively flat farming
area divided by streams and rivers, and even though the scenery
in the area is rather monotonous, there are hidden jewels to
be found.
Illinois Caverns
is one such jewel. You are driving down a blacktop road with
fields on both sides and in this area, a lot of sink holes,
or circular depressions in the ground. Some are filled
with water some are not. Some are grass covered and some have
stands of trees surrounding them. But at one point just a
few hundred yards off the road on which you are traveling,
lies a wooded sink hole that that will allow you to experience
the mysteries of the inner earth. Miles of passageways, beautiful
exotic cave formations that vary from massive forms almost
30 feet tall to tiny "Soda Straws" sometimes only a couple
of inches long. And the entrance to all this beauty
and mystery is disguised by the ordinary look of the surrounding
area farms.
Our special places
do not have the visual dramatic presence of the Rocky Mountains,
or commercial billboards announcing their wonders, therefore,
many of these local treasures are relatively unknown. The
waterfall at Randolph County Conservation area is found by
only a few visitors, even though it is clearly marked on the
brochures. And then there is Piney Hills Ravine, on the Randolph
/ Jackson County Line. This Ravine with it's waterfalls and
Indian petroglyphs, has been said to be, "foot for foot, the
best hiking trail in Southern Illinois." But because of its
remoteness and lack of publicity, it is visited by a very
few.
One of the purposes
of making this hiking guide is to provide information on this
type of site, the little known but special.
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