A few weeks ago, we headed up to northern Illinois to meet up with the Illinois Park Project for a clean up at Rock Cut State Park near Rockford, Illinois. Since we came up a day early, we hit a few hiking spots around Rockford. One place we stumbled upon was Kishwaukee Gorge North Forest Preserve. We were looking at a map and trying to find a place to check out and I thought anything with “gorge” in the name must be worth a shot.

Located southeast of Rockford and along the Kishwaukee River, this 127 acre provides great scenery just outside the city. There is a small parking lot with a trail cut into the prairie. We headed to the right along the mowed trails.

The trail then begins to enter the woods and after just a short bit, a staircase leads down to the right. This is the trail down to the gorge. It is a short out and back hike, but its steep!

The gorge is a series of rock ledges that a trickle of water runs over. I bet after a good rain, the gorge would be really neat!

There is a nice view of the river.

We headed back up and after looking at the map we noticed a cave marked on the map. We tried to find it, but the trail dead ends at a platform.

We continued the loop back through the prairie. Overall, this is a great escape from the city. Check it out!

Below is a map of the forest preserve; it is a bit blurry!