- Nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Illinois is a city, not one designed and constructed by human hands, but one which appears to have been carved by giants.

Sandstone skyscrapers jut out of the ground, creating views that inspire awe and wonder.

Between these massive structures are streets and alleys compacted not by machinery, but by the feet of millions of curious visitors.

This is Giant City State Park, our stop today as we travel the Illinois backroads.

This Illinois backroad is called Giant City Road.

It leads straight into the park bearing the same name, and it opens a world of outdoor opportunities, discoveries, and interesting history.

Hi, I'm Mark Kiesling.

When most people think of Giant City, they think of the hiking trails.

There are eight of them stretching throughout the park.

We'll get to those in a minute, but we wanna start our visit at the historic lodge.

This lodge has been a fixture at the park for nearly 90 years, providing a place of respite and hearty family-style meals.

Its story dates back several decades when the nation was going through one of its most difficult periods.

Our country was in the midst of the Great Depression.

Following the stock market crash of 1929, more than 9,000 banks nationwide closed.

The bank failures wiped out the savings of millions of families.

Many people were destitute and in despair.

When President Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, nearly 25% of the nation was unemployed and unable to find work.

In Southern Illinois, that number was closer to 60%.

To help put people back on payrolls, Roosevelt's administration began its so-called alphabet agencies, government funded programs offering unskilled jobs for long-term unemployed men.

One of those agencies, and perhaps its most popular, was the Civilian Conservation Corps.

- They put young guys to work and they came from all over the country.

So sometimes maybe a local guy that was in the CCC, he might've been working in Wisconsin or somewhere else, but they moved him around.

Some stayed probably in a location forever.

Some guys probably a month and they went to another one.

But they got paid like $30 a month.

They got to keep five, 25 went back home to their family.

And so that was kind of the initiative.

You know, obviously it's the Depression.

There's no work.

So it put guys to work.

- [Mark] Unemployed, unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 25 were allowed to enroll in the CCC.

They provided labor to enhance rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments.

- Millions of young guys took advantage of it.

You know, they were not only paid that bit of money, of course they got meals, three meals a day, clothes, shoes, medical care.

They did have recreation.

You know, they had ball teams and stuff.

So it wasn't just work.

But it was probably, I'm gonna venture to say I can speak for many of 'em, it was probably one of the best experiences of their life.

- In 1934, the CCC came to Giant City State Park.

Mike Kelly is the general manager at Giant City Lodge.

He tells me the park itself was created in 1927 when the state of Illinois acquired nearly 1,000 acres of land in northern Union and southern Jackson counties.

The CCC workers were sent to the park to build the lodge, cabins, roads, and other infrastructure still in use today.

When the CCC came, they had to build cabins first for the workers to stay in, correct?

- Yeah, barracks.

They called 'em barracks.

Again, everything was somewhat like the military.

Some of the clothes that they were given were basically uniforms from World War I. So they repurposed some of that stuff.

So, yeah, they built barracks.

And I think there were three companies in total that worked on the entire project.

And one company came in at the very beginning and was only here for, oh, maybe not even a year, a limited amount of time, and I think that's what the purpose there was, getting things started, getting things cleared, and, you know, kind of getting a head start.

And then those guys went on to other missions, so to speak, instead of staying here for the real construction.

- CCC workers had to hew by hand these massive oak posts that support the lodge and they had to gather and cut the stone that went into these walls and this fireplace.

- And they would spend a lot of time gathering the rock, which was all local, all from the park.

And at that time, the park wasn't as big, you know, so they would get it out of creeks and fields from surrounding farm land and they would shape it.

And they did a lot of that work in the winter when the ground was harder.

They could drag it, move it easier, and shape it probably mostly undercover.

And then in the nicer months is when they started laying it.

- Government officials held a lodge dedication in 1936, even though it was not quite finished.

Work continued for a few more years.

Part of that work was making the furniture, which is still part of the decor in the lodge's Great Room.

We were talking earlier about the furniture here.

- Yeah, they built all this furniture, the lamps, and there was some other furniture that's no longer here because it was utilized in other places.

But, yeah, this furniture, it still lives on proudly today.

- [Mark] The Kelly family took over running the lodge in 1981 when Richard became the concessionaire.

Now his son Mike oversees operations along with his son Mikey.

Three generations of Kellys covering 45 years of hospitality and oddities like the bison mount that greets you at the front door.

- First thing you walk in the door and hang a right towards the dining room, it's like, "Oh, what's he doing here?"

And pretty darn neat.

And he comes right from Bison Bluffs Farms five miles as the crow flies down in Cobden, Cliff Howell's farm.

And he just walked in one day and was speaking to my dad about, you know, "Would you like a life-sized bison?

Like, a full-sized bison?"

Dad's like, "Cliff, where the heck we gonna put that?"

He goes, "Ah, we'll make an enclosure so he can't get out and don't worry."

And so all of a sudden, a few months later, this big boy showed up.

- [Mark] Another interesting attraction is this guy, Earnest, who sits by the hostess counter.

Richard Kelly found him at a gift show in Gatlinburg and brought him to the lodge in the 1980s.

At that time, Earnest could move and speak.

- My grandpa, being a smart alec having fun with things, he came with a microphone, and his head can move, which is, again, terrifying.

And when he would speak through the microphone, Earnest would speak, his mouth would move, and that really scared kids.

But you always would have fun with that.

And now he just kinda sits there and- - And serves as your night watchman, right?

- Great night watchman, yeah.

Yeah, never speaks back or anything.

Great employee.

Yeah, he does a pretty good job.

Pretty good job.

He's been waiting for a seat for a while.

(Mark chuckles) So, not bad.

Terrifying, terrifying.

- [Mark] Earnest greets guests as they head to the dining room where the specialty is the family-style chicken dinner.

It's a huge hit.

There are many sites to see outside the lodge, like this statue.

The Kellys bought and erected the statue to honor the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, dedicating it in 2006.

- They were trying to just collect funds so that they, you know, put a statue out here.

And so dad and grandpa, you know, had the wherewithal and, you know, they built this place and it's been good to us, should probably give back a little bit, and instead of them having to wait until, you know, some of them, more pass on, 'cause they were older men, it's like, "Hey, let's just get this built ASAP so that they can enjoy it."

So there was a good crew of 'em still to be able to, when it was dedicated, there was still a good chunk of guys that were able to come see the unveiling of it, which is pretty neat and special 'cause you want them to be able to see it.

And so it's pretty cool.

There's a few of those statues throughout the country, but this one's ours.

- [Mark] The lodge itself does not offer rooms for overnight guests, but there are several cabins within a short walk from the lodge.

So, Mikey, how many cabins do you have out here?

- Sure, we got 34 in total.

12 of the Historic cabins.

Those are our smaller size.

18 of the Prairie cabins.

Those are our medium size.

And then four of the Bluffs, the ones right down here.

And the Bluffs, definitely the most popular and they're the biggest as well.

And these are the only ones you have to walk down to.

The other two sizes, pretty much parking right outside the cabin.

So, of course, anybody with trouble walking or older folks that don't want to make this little trek down here, the Historic and Prairies are a little bit better suited for 'em.

But if you don't mind a little hundred, 150 yard walk down to be nestled in the woods, Bluff cabins are definitely a winner.

- [Mark] And they provide a great view.

- Hard to beat.

- Oh, wow.

- [Mikey] Hard to beat here in the woods.

- After a stop at the lodge, we're ready to do what most people do at the park, hike the trails.

We suggest you start with a stop at the visitor center.

There, you'll find displays highlighting the fauna and flora in the park and you'll discover this great topographical map showing the various features and trails within Giant City State Park.

That's where we met the park's natural resources coordinator, Jennifer Randolph-Bollinger.

How big is this park?

- So Giant City State Park is 4,055 acres, which may not seem like a lot in comparison to, say, the Shawnee National Forest, but we've got a lot of valleys and hills and hollers and lots of really cool places to get in and discover new things.

- How many trails are there in the park?

- So we have eight different trails, and they range from a third of a mile all the way to 12 miles for the adventurous backpacker.

And each trail offers something completely different.

Even if you've walked the same trail 500 times, every time you go out, you're gonna see something new and exciting.

- So if you had to pick a few of your favorite trails, I know this is kind of like asking somebody to pick their favorite child.

- Right.

- But what are some of the trails that you like and why do you like those?

- So I do tend to be a little bit more a plant lover or a plant nerd, if you will.

So I would have to say our two-mile Trillium Trail would be my favorite.

Specifically- - That's the one way up north here, right?

- Yes.

Specifically for the beautiful spring wildflowers that we get every April.

So starting in February, I will run down, there is a huge tree in the parking lot, and if you look sometimes on a warmer day in February, you'll see the harbinger of spring, which is the very first blooming wildflower.

When I see that wildflower, I know, it's my little beacon of light, that spring is right around the corner and that we can expect so many more to start popping up.

It is just breathtaking in the spring.

You can walk it on any spring day and see white trilliums and yellow celandine poppies, purple larkspurs, pink geraniums.

It is just, it's magical.

It's so beautiful.

- What are some other trails that you enjoy and that you recommend for people?

- Absolutely, so one of my very first questions that I have for any visitors that come into the park is have you seen our namesake trail, the Giant City Nature Trail?

So this very one-mile trail here is how Giant City State Park gets its name.

So it gets its name from the wonderful rock formations that, of course, we're known for, the giants of Giant City.

So here folks can find what we call the streets of Giant City, which are some really interesting rock formations that are roughly 250 million years old.

But they do kind of look like the streets for a city of giants.

- It does.

One that people may not be as familiar with is the Red Cedar Trail, which ramps all the way around the park, right?

- Yeah, so for those folks maybe who are interested in backpacking, but maybe haven't done a lot of backpacking in the past, this is a good starter trail.

It is a 12-mile backpacking trail, but six miles in, we do have a primitive campground.

So if somebody wants to come and backpack six miles, camp out, and then they can backpack six miles the next day, it's just a great starter trail.

- If somebody was wanting just a short hike, they're not an experienced hiker, but they want something that's relatively short where they can see some scenic rock formation.

- Sure, so I have the perfect trail.

The Post Oak Trail is our accessible trail.

So this is up to ADA standards.

It is a third of a mile and it is paved.

But the cool thing about the Post Oak Trail is that you're walking along the tops of the bluffs.

So you get some of those really cool bluff top plants like rose ginseng or wild oregano.

You can see some of the rock formations down on the Devil's Standtable.

And it's completely accessible with some nice benches.

So if folks wanna take a little rest and sit and enjoy the scenery, they can.

- [Mark] Yeah, you have those nice little wooden overlooks that are built into that trail.

And another one I think is, it's a short trail, but it's one that a lot of people talk about is the Devil's Standtable.

- The Devil's Standtable.

So this trail is only a third of a mile, but boy is it a cool 1/3 of a mile.

Devil's Standtable is host to some beautiful rock formations.

Of course, the mushroom-shaped Devil's Standtable is there.

Also, there are some lovely bluff overhangs.

It's great habitat for nesting birds.

It's great for salamanders.

And then the trail itself is just beautiful.

It's one of the two locations in the park where we allow climbing.

So on any nice fall or spring day, it would be common to see climbers there repelling.

- We didn't have time to hit all the trails, but Jennifer agreed to give us a guided tour of the Giant City Nature Trail.

We're ready to go.

- We're ready.

- So what can we expect to see on this trail?

- So this trail, like I said, is our namesake trail.

So this is where you're gonna find a lot of the giants of Giant City State Park.

So it's a one-mile loop, relatively easy hike, but very scenic and great for anyone who loves rocks.

- All right, let's go check it out.

- All right, let's go.

- So, Jennifer, the first thing we see is this sign asking if our shoes are clean before we hit the trail.

Why is that?

- Yes.

So, unfortunately, here at Giant City State Park, we do have a lot of invasive species of plants.

So in order to prevent the transportation of those from one location to another, we kindly ask that people would be kind enough to clean their shoes off before and after the trail to help prevent the spread.

- [Mark] All right, so we'll make sure we do that and then- - [Jennifer] We'll hit the trail.

- [Mark] So what can we expect to see as we head up this trail?

You said the giants, but- - Yes, as we're hiking along, I do wanna point out something that scares a lot of people.

Did you know that there's a plant that people are afraid of?

- [Mark] I know many people are afraid of poison ivy.

- Let's talk about that.

- Okay.

- So all along the trail, you'll see these leaves of three, Toxicodendron radicans, or poison ivy.

It's actually something here at Giant City that we don't control.

It's a native.

It's a great food source for a lot of bird species and it provides habitat for mammals.

- Okay.

So just keep an eye out for leaves of three.

- Leaves of three.

- All right.

Good advice.

This particular trail leads us to some of the rock formations that give the park its name.

- So here are the giants of Giant City State Park, and they provide habitat for a lot of interesting animals here at the park.

Do you wanna take a walk up and check it out?

- Yeah, let's go check it out.

- Okay.

Let's go check it out.

- Notice I let Jennifer lead just in case we come across a bear or something.

- Bear, you know better.

(Mark and Jennifer chuckles) - [Mark] Jennifer assures me there are no animals that will eat you in the park, however, you could spot a deer, raccoon, skunk, or armadillo.

And yes, there is one venomous snake native to the park, the copperhead.

Although, we didn't see any on our hike.

- Oh.

- Okay, which way do we head?

- We're gonna head up here.

So we are heading to the most iconic spot here at Giant City State Park, the streets of Giant City.

- [Mark] I remember coming here as a kid and just being mesmerized by these bluffs.

- [Jennifer] I know.

They're really quite spectacular.

And there's a lot of really interesting history here as well.

I don't think a lot of people realize the significance of some of the history here.

- As we enter the alleyway between the giant bluffs, we notice several names carved into the rock, some dating back to the 1800s.

But there is one name in particular that stands out.

There is one up there though that has an interesting story behind it.

- Very special carving there.

So if you look, you can see, you can just make it out, Thompson, February 22nd, I believe it's 1864.

So the Thompson family owned most of what is now Giant City State Park.

- [Mark] Okay.

- And they were staunch union supporters during the Civil War.

So during the Civil War, Southern Illinois was an area of divided loyalty, right?

So we would have a lot of Southern sympathizers come up from Tennessee and Kentucky and they would have secret meetings in the rocks.

The legend goes that the Thompson brothers hung a rope from the side of the bluff, climbed down, and carved their names as a warning to the Southern sympathizers that this is union territory.

So the Thompson name is well-known for anybody who's gone to SIU, Southern Illinois University, because of the Thompson Woods.

And that property was owned by the very same Thompson family that you can see carved in the rocks here at Giant City State Park.

- Yes, and I know many people watching probably have a connection with Thompson Point.

- Absolutely.

Yeah.

- Farther ahead, we see another unique rock formation wedged just above the pathway.

So tell us about this rock.

- If you look up, you'll see our iconic balanced rock.

How it got here, who knows?

Maybe an earthquake or some kind of big catastrophic event moved it here, but it has probably been here for at least a million years.

- Wow.

Yeah, you imagine it came tumbling down this hill and somehow landed here and stayed here.

- And stayed here.

And Mark, this is all sedimentary rock.

This is all Pennsylvanian sandstone.

So it is continuously wearing away with rain and snow and ice freeze and thaw.

It's really interesting.

- [Mark] And then up here, you have these different circles of color.

- Yes.

- What is that?

- So that is called Liesegang banding, which is a mouthful, right?

(chuckles) So being a sedimentary rock, being the Pennsylvanian sandstone, as it's wearing away, the solidified iron oxide in the rock continues to protrude and it is this dark banding that you see.

- Oh, this right here?

- Yeah.

And there's some areas in the park, especially along our horse trail, where you'll find some beautiful Liesegang banding.

- [Mark] Our time at Giant City State Park is coming to an end and there are so many trails left to see, each with its own unique features.

- Stone Fort, oh my goodness.

The mysterious Stone Fort of Giant City.

So we have one of the I believe it's 11 stone forts in Southern Illinois, spread across the state.

We have one here at Giant City State Park.

It's a third of a mile.

Again, a relatively short hike, but it does go up.

So you get some nice vantage points of the park from the top of that trail.

And then, of course, the Stone Fort, which is a mystery.

- Right.

A mystery because historians are not 100% sure on why indigenous peoples built these stone structures.

This fort is significant enough that it was rebuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

- And then we have the Arrow Wood Trail, which is attached to the visitor center, a third of a mile.

So this is our tree ID trail.

So all along the trail, we have QR codes and we also have a brochure for folks wanting to learn more about some of our common trees here at Giant City State Park.

- [Mark] We'll have to save those for another trip.

This park has so much more to offer, including the Giant City Stables for horseback riding, free fishing ponds, picnic shelters for group gatherings, and other recreational areas.

But Jennifer says there is one thing above all that makes it special.

- There's something magical about this park.

I'm not quite for sure what it is.

It's probably a combination of the things I just mentioned, but it really is just a unique and special place.

And I think a lot of people have left a little piece of their heart when they've visited here at Giant City.

And you can feel that when you're here.

It just feels like a special place.

- It truly is a special place.

And if you would like more information on Giant City State Park, scan this QR code to link you to the park's website.

There you'll find information on the trails, lodging, programs, and much more.

But there is one more attraction I want to show you.

Just a short walk from the lodge is this water tower.

It provides water for the entire park, but it also serves another purpose.

Come with me.

Once you've climbed the nearly 90 steps, you come to this platform 50 feet above the ground.

And if you come at the right time, you just might see a beautiful Southern Illinois sunset.

Just another perk of traveling the Illinois backroads.