 Photo Courtesy Joseph C Tury
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 Photo Courtesy Joseph C Tury
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| State Park Overview: |
 | A nature-lover's paradise, this 8,000-acre park is famous for the exceptional beauty of its fall colors and for its bald eagles during the winter. In addition to enjoying the spectacular view of the Illinois River and its backwaters from several points atop the bluffs, visitors can take advantage of a variety of year-round recreational opportunities, including horseback riding, camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and boating.
Pere Marquette's Visitor Center, opened in October 1997, welcomes you with a three-dimensional map of the park, a 300-gallon aquarium, and wealth of other displays and exhibits concerning the Illinois River, wildlife habitat, local history, and geology. |
| Reviews By Park Visitors: |
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the lodge would not guarantee what size bed or what kind of room not at all friendly nor helpful.8/6/08
Written by jesse matthews
6-Aug-2008
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| Camping: |
| If you prefer a more rustic experience, Pere Marquette offers a wide range of camping opportunities:
Our Class A campground has 80 sites, two of which are handicap accessible. Sites have electrical hookups, with a sanitary dump station, drinking water, and a shower building available on the grounds. Sites 2-30 are available for reservation from May through October. The nearby Class B tent camping area also has access to the shower building.
Within the Class A campground, the park offers two Rent-A-Camp cabins Rent-A-Camp cabin.
Popular among scout groups is the Youth Tent Camp Area, also known as Duncan Hill. This separate campground offers a picnic shelter and tables, pit-type toilets, and drinking water.
For large organized groups, Pere Marquette operates three Organized Group Camps. Camp Potawatomi accommodates 68 campers; Camp Piasa and Camp Ouatoga will each accommodate 145. All three camps feature fully-equipped kitchens and dining rooms, lighted sleeping cabins with cots and mattresses, and restroom facilities with warm showers and flush toilets. Camps Piasa and Ouatoga also feature swimming pools.
Reservations for all types of camping are accepted by mail only beginning on the first working day in January. Reservations may be made by telephone or in person beginning February 1st. We accept MasterCard and Visa for all fees. Contact our Visitor Center for more information. |
| Trails: |
| Hiking:
Approximately 12 miles of marked trails provide scenic hiking to beginners and experienced hikers alike. Lush forests, towering bluffs, and an abundance of wildlife provide the perfect backdrop for your outing. Trail maps are available at the Visitor Center.
Horseback Riding
Pere Marquette Riding Stables are open for trail rides from April through October, weather permitting, and by reservation only from November through March. For more information or to make a reservation, call (618) 786-2156.
If you have a horse of your own, the park offers about 20 miles of equestrian trails with a parking area for your trailers on Graham Hollow Road. The trails to the west of Graham Hollow are open year-round. The trails east of Graham Hollow will be closed during certain seasons of the year. These areas will be posted when closed.
Bike Trail
The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail runs from Pere Marquette State Park to the City of Alton, approximately 20 miles. The entire trail is paved, and a map is available showing the location of historic sites, restaurants, and other local attractions. |
| Picnicking: |
| Plenty of picnic areas are available throughout the park, with tables, grills and trash containers provided. Three picnic shelters are available, and may be reserved. A fee is required to reserve shelters. |
| Boating: |
| Launching ramps and ample parking provide access to the river, with courtesy docks available when weather conditions and river levels permit. Future plans include a full-service marina. |
| Fishing and Hunting: |
| Fishing:
A wide variety of fish such as bluegill, carp, catfish, crappie, drum, largemouth bass, and white bass, attract anglers to the Illinois and Mississippi River.
Hunting:
The 2,000-acre public hunting area has good stands of mature oak and hickory timber, which provide excellent habitat for squirrel, deer, and turkey. These game species may be hunted in this area in accordance with statewide seasons and regulations, with the exception of squirrel season, which begins the day after Labor Day in the park. All hunters using the public area must sign in at the check station. Contact the Visitor Center for a complete list of regulations.
Archery Deer Hunting is offered on an additional 3,000 acres in the three Organized Group Camp areas by special permit. Three one-week seasons are offered, beginning on the Monday after the last Sunday in October (when the group camps close for the season). By random drawing, 5 hunters are selected for each season in each area. The drawing for this hunt is held the first working day in April each year. Applications will be available by March 1st. Contact the Visitor Center for applications and information. Archery Deer Application
Spring Turkey Hunting is also available in the Organized Group Camp areas by special permit. To be considered for this hunt, hunters must use the statewide Firearm Turkey Permit application, and apply for Pere Marquette Group Camp Area. For further information, contact the Visitor Center, or the IDNR Permit Office at (217) 782-7305. |
| History of the Area: |
| The history of Pere Marquette State Park centers around that of the Illinois River. The forces that formed the river can be traced to ancient glaciers that pushed their way down over most of Illinois, but stopped just short of the park land. In the path of the glaciers and their meltwaters, a rich network of streams and rivers were formed, and tons of soil and bedrock were ground to dust which rose and blew up against the hillsides. These ancient layers of wind-blown soil, called Loess (pronounced "less") can be seen along the roads and trails of Pere Marquette.
Gradual climate changes over thousands of years made the region an ideal environment for prairie grasses and plants which eventually covered two-thirds of Illinois. Deciduous forest, dominated by oak and hickory, held their ground along rivers, streams and upland hills protected from prairie fires.
Throughout the hills, ravines, and prairies, native American people hunted game, gathered food, and later made homes. Archaeologists describe six native American cultures common to this region. Evidence of their presence here have been found in the form of fragments of pottery, spear points, and planting tools. Burial mounds also are distributed throughout the park, including one atop McAdams Peak.
When Europeans began to explore the Illinois country, most of the Native Americans they met were members of the Illini tribe. The first of these explorers, in 1673, was a group led by Louis Joliet, a cartographer, and Pere (Father) Jacques Marquette, a french Jesuit missionary. Marquette and Joliet, accompanied by French voyageurs, paddled down the Mississippi River in search of a passage to the Pacific Ocean. On the Mississippi Bluffs, they encountered something which has become a local legend: "we saw . . two painted monsters which at first made us afraid and upon which the boldest savages dare not long rest their eyes." They learned that the creature was part bird, with the face of a man, scales like a fish, horns like a deer, a long black tail. The creature was called Piasa. A representation of the Piasa Bird is still maintained in paint on the bluffs about twenty miles from the park.
Learning from the Native Americans that the Mississippi River emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, Marquette and Joliet turned back, returning by way of the Illinois River and stopping near what is now Pere Marquette State Park. A large stone cross east of the park entrance commemorates their historic landing here.
Generations later, local civic groups sought to preserve this land by the river as a state park. They raised money and were successful in persuading the state to match their funds for the purchase of the land in 1931. The newly created state park was to be called Piasa Bluffs. By popular demand, it was soon renamed Pere Marquette State Park in honor of the adventurous French missionary. |
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| Area Accommodations |
| Cottages and Cabins | |  | Carry On Inn - Kirkwood, MO
Carry On Inn is a log cabin in Sullivan, Missouri. It is the place where you can leave behind your concrete, traffic and pollution, your busy schedules, stresses, worries and cares and just relax and find peace in these beautiful scenic surroundings.
Web Site: http://www.carryoninn.com |
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| | Note to Park related businesses:
List your vacation cabin, weekend getaway, log cabin rental, romantic cottage, vacation home, resort, hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, country inn, campground, RV park, horseback riding stable, canoe livery, river rafting, outfitting, sporting goods store, guide service, RV rental or any other park related activity, park related attraction or park related service on Google or StateParks.com. (more).... |
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| Related Links: |
| Pere Marquette State Park - Grafton, Illinois - greatriverroad.com home page Pere Marquette State Park Route 100, PO Box 158 Grafton, IL 62037 618-786-3323 Located 5 miles west of Grafton, Pere Marquette State Park comprises 8,050 acres making ... | | Jerseyville Illinois Bed and Breakfast near Pere Marquette State Park Bed and Breakfast In - A place where Victorian elegance can be experienced - 15 rooms Italianate Victorian mansion on 20 ... Illinois Bed and Breakfast near Pere Marquette State Park Homeridge 1470 North State Street ... | | The setting is Pere Marquette State Park - ... is Prime Fall Color Time) Spectacular scenery of Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton Reservations will be made on a first ... The setting is Pere Marquette State Park, which has more than 8 ... | | The Gateway Dulcimer Society - ... Yes, we're continuing! August 20-22, 2004 Pere Marquette State Park Lodge, Grafton, Illinois 45 miles north of St. Louis ... nest in winter. The Pere Marquette State Park is on Route 100 ... |
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