Proposed Shawnee Projects

This is interesting, a Forest Service  list of proposed projects for the Shawnee National Forest. One of them especially close to Carbondale is a proposal to stabilize gullies along tributaries to Cedar Lake, Lake Kinkade and Lake of Egypty

5 Places in Southern Illinois

Since it is Labor Day and the end of Summer (thought it does not feel like it yet), I started thinking about where I would take a visitor to the area if I wanted to show them five iconic spots in the southern Illinois.  Since I am not a big fan of water sports and I don't drink wine, that leaves the lakes and local wineries out.  After a little thought, I came up with these five:

1.  SIUC 
2.  Giant City State Park
3.  Cave in Rock
4.  Bald Knob
5.  Garden of the Gods

Granted this list does weigh heavily towards outdoor activities but southern Illinois does hold over 400 square miles of national forest drawing outdoor enthusiasts from all over the Midwest. You probably have a different set, if so, leave them in the comments.