Southern Illinois Wine Trail
Most of Illinois is one big flat corn field. But once you get south of Effingham, the landscape turns to rolling hills, lakes and interesting scenery.
Our plans for a ride to Tennessee fell through, but Shawn Young stepped up and planned a nice ride in Southern Illinois. The plan is to ride down to Marion, Illinois. From here, we’ll make a loop to Southeast Illinois to Garden of the Gods, Iron Furnace, Cave-in-Rock State Park, Shawnee Town Bank and Bell Smiths Springs. For Saturday and Sunday night, we’ll stay at the Makanda Inn and ride day loops to the south and north.
Saturday, we’ll loop to the south through Cairo, the epicenter of “Little Egypt”. We’ll see Alto Pass, Inspiration Point, Customs House, Fort Defiance, the Superman Statue and Trigg Tower.
Saturday night, our plan is to have dinner at a local winery along the famous Shawnee Hill Wine Trail.
Finally on Sunday we’ll loop west and north along the Mississippi river, visiting Bald Knob, Chester, Kaskaskia Bell, Fort Kaskaskia and Cahokia Mounds. If you’ve never explored Southern Illinois, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the scenery.
Thursday Sept 20th:
Make your way down to Marion IL and stay overnight in a hotel near I-57 exit 53. We recommend the Quality Inn & Suites: 2600 W Main St, Marion, IL 62959. (618) 993-6221.
Friday Sept 21st:
At 9am, we will meet at the Cracker Barrel next door for breakfast where route sheets and short riders meeting will be held for a 10am departure. We’ll head east for a day loop and end up at the Makanda Inn next to Giant City State Park, which is south of Carbondale. Please call and book your reservation for Makanda Inn. There is a two night minimum, and rooms are limited, so book early. If they run out, you can get a cabin in nearby Giant City State Park for about the same price.
Makanda Inn: 855 Old Lower Cobden Rd, Makanda, IL 62958 (618) 697-7929
Saturday Sept 22nd:
Today we’ll be riding an interesting loop to the south. We’ll end up at a Winery along the Shawnee Hill Wine Trail. This is a route that passes more than 11 wineries in a 10-mile radius. The “Norton” at the Hickory Ridge is one of my favorites!
Sunday Sept 23rd:
On Sunday, we head north and west along the Mississippi. It is very hilly and scenic. We’ll visit some sights along the way. You can choose to continue on home, since our last stop will be near St. Louis. Or you can pick another hotel of your choosing and take a leisurely route home on Monday.
We hope you can join us! For those of us that have spent time going to school and living in Southern Illinois, we love it. You will too!
