WINTER 2024/2025 – SHAWNEE GROUP SIERRA CLUB OUTINGS
Cache River Hike, Sunday, December 8, 2024
Meet at the Cache River Wetlands Visitors Center before 10 am. This will be an easy hike along this beautiful and unique ecological area. You must call Jon Womack at 815-263-9625 in order to attend this hike.
Sierra Club Shawnee Group Annual
New Year’s Day Stone Soup Picnic
Wednesday, January 1, 2025, 11am – 3pm at Giant City State Park, Shelter 2
Join us by the warm fire at Shelter 2 at 11 am on January 1st to add your pre-cooked vegetarian ingredients to the big soup pot. Please bring a side dish to share, beverage, and reusable soup bowl/eat ware to reduce disposables. We’ll eat at noon and hike if you like following lunch. Open to all. Questions? Contact Patty at pweyhrich711@hotmail.com or Carla Womack at crusso1957@yahoo.com, 815 263 8173. Map of Giant City State Park, shelters are highlighted in red:
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Documents/GiantCitySiteMap.pdf
Bulge Hole Ecological Area Hike,
Sunday, January 12, 2025
We will learn about plants, wildlife and nature as we explore the Bulge Hole ecological area of the Shawnee National Forest. Bulge Hole is owned and managed by the Shawnee National Forest and protects rare species and habitats. The hike is moderately difficult and covers about 3 miles. There is a steep
section that may be difficult for some. We will see a unique shelter bluff as well as wildlife and rare plants. Meet by 10 am at the roadside parking along Bowman Bottoms Road (no parking area). Bring water and a snack if desired and wear appropriate shoes. This is a joint event of the Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club and Illinois Extension. The event is free, but space is limited, and registration is required. Sorry, no pets
allowed. You must contact Kevin Rohling at 618-695-3383 or krohling@illinois.edu in order to register or if you have questions.
Bell Smith Springs Hike,
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Meet at the parking lot at Bell Smith Springs by 10:00 am. We will do the Sentry Bluff trail and natural bridge trail, which is a moderate to difficult hike of 3 miles. If interested, we can also do the Old Grist Mill Hill trail of about 1.5 miles. Wear appropriate hiking shoes and bring water. You must call Jon Womack at 815-263-8173 prior to the hike in order to attend.
Browse the lower right Index on our old blog page for numerous southern Illinois hiking trail descriptions and explore some of these during your own time: http://shawneegroup.blogspot.com/. Check the Illinois Chapter listings for other outings across the region: https://www.sierraclub.org/illinois/events-calendar.
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Service Outings – Help Save High Quality Natural Areas
Shawnee Group is committed to helping rid high-quality natural areas of non-native invasive plants (NNIS) that are threatening to crowd out our native plant communities at La-Rue Pine Hills Research Natural Area (Snake Road) and at Fern Rocks Nature Preserve (Trillium Trail) in Giant City State Park.
To volunteer, contact Barb at 618-549-9684, babitaji@aol.com or text 618-534-7440.
Other Outings:
Piasa Palisades Group Outings Chair: Carol Klinger, 618-288-5506, ciklinger@yahoo.com
http://www.sierraclub.org/illinois/piasa-palisades
Eastern Missouri Group Outings Chair: Doug Melville 636-288-1055, douglas.k.melville@gmail.com
http://sierraclub.org/missouri/eastern-missouri
See http://content.sierraclub.org/OUTINGS/local-outdoors and http://sierraclub.org/missouri/eastern-missouri/outings for more outings.
Bob Tyson, former Outings Chair for the Sierra Club, compiled a list of beautiful, scenic trails which are basically level and easy to walk. Open the .PDF files below for more information. We have printed a limited number of trail guides and distributed them to select locations in southern Illinois. Easy Trails for Seniors