High Knob Campground, Shawnee National Forest

By: Jody Weldy

Having ridden in the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois for the past 4 springs, I'd have to say that the trails around the High Knob campground are some of the best.

From High Knob, you can ride to the Garden of the Gods, No-No Rock, Dead Horse Canyon and other wonderful places that often don't have names. We did run across one sign that said "Burrito Canyon" and under the sign tacked to the tree was a horse skull. The rest of the bones were scattered at the bottom of the tree. Bet there's a story behind that! We should have known that was a good indication to turn back but we didn't and the trail got a little rough in spots and finally ran out. We ended up having to ride a short ways in a natural area which is off limits to horses. We didn't want to but also didn't want to backtrack either. In one bad spot, my husband Bruce got off his horse to help our friend Mike and ended up getting pushed into the creek by Mike's horse. Bruce had brand new boots on had only just commented that morning that he needed to get them good and wet to break them in!

Now that the campground owners are able to go out in the forest and marked the trails and give you good trail maps the riding is even better with no worry of getting lost and not finding your way back to camp.

The high rocky bluffs that Shawnee is so noted for are easily seen from the River to River trail for those of your who like nice wide and level trails. For those of you who like to live on the wild side, there are trails closer to and in and around the giant rocks that put your trail riding skills to the test. Those are the ones we opted for.

High Knob campground has poles for you to run your highlines,or you put up a portable electric corral, they have electric and water and a showerhouse. All the comforts of home. The trails start right at the camp's edge.

Feel free to contact me for more info.

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