After visiting the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site in Lerna, Illinois, we headed across the backroads of Illinois to Hidden Springs State Forest. The Forest is about an hour and 45 minutes east of St. Louis. I could not find a lot of information online about this site, but there are several areas to hike at spread throughout the forest. We only had time for one hike so we headed to the Rocky Spring Nature Trail in hope of finding something interesting.

A small parking lot sits just off the road. Here is a picture of the trail map.

The trail is wide heading into the forest. After a short trek, there is a small sign on your right for Rocky Spring. We didn’t really see much of a spring so the trail’s name sake was a bit lack luster, but we continued on.

The best part of the trail is the back part which borders Richland Creek.

The trail then loops back around to the parking lot. The trail is 3.5 miles long and I would rate it at easy. It is just a nice stroll through the forest.

Hidden Springs State Forest seems to be a quiet area in the heart of Illinois. I plan on coming back here to check out more of the trails.