Moraine View State Recreation Area is located just east of Bloomington, Illinois, about two and a half hours from St. Louis, Missouri. 

I spent a weekend here with a group of girl campers, and this park was very secluded and relaxing. The recreation area is centered around Lake Dawson, which is perfect for fishing and kayaking.

There is also a restaurant, concessions, and kayak rental, but when we were there, nothing was open yet as it was a bit before the regular season.

There are also three hiking trails. The Tanglewood Nature trail is a half-mile loop around some wetlands. I saw lots of birds!

I also biked across the dam at the south end of the park and hiked the Tall Timber Trail, which is a 1.5-mile loop through the woods that leads to all of the primitive backpacking camp sites. The bluebell flowers were in full bloom when we were there! 

And finally, I hiked the Timber Point trail, which is a half-mile ADA-accessible trail through the woods that leads along the bank of the lake.

Overall, I really enjoyed this park!