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Giant City State Park
It can feel like you've stepped into a filming location for Lord of the Rings, but this isn't New Zealand. This is Giant City State Park in southern Illinois. It's not a "city" in the usual sense, as you won't find big looming buildings. Instead, you will wonder at giant sandstone bluffs and narrow corridors of mossy stone. Early explorers thought these looked like the streets of a giant city, or perhaps a city for giants.
Awash in breathtaking natural beauty and a bounty of outdoor recreation opportunities, a trip to Giant City State Park near Carbondale is an awe-inspiring adventure for visitors of all ages. This video seeks to immerse you in what it's like to spend a day wandering around the park's many hiking trails, from the most popular Giant City Natural Trail (home of the "Giant City Streets" that were formed 12,000 years ago) to the Devil's Standtable Nature Trail and all its secret steps and hidden waterfalls, to the Trillium Trail, where we follow site interpreter Jennifer Randolph as she points out the native wildflowers amid the FGB ("Full Glorious Bloom," as she likes to call it).
And the best part? This is merely the tip of the nature lover's iceberg! From camping and horseback riding to fishing and rock rappelling, it's an outdoor lover's paradise.
