Riding Vacation in the Shawnee National Forest

Shawnee Riding Vacation March 2011

The last week of March, good friend, Karen Farnsworth and I traveled to the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois for a riding vacation.

The Shawnee forest in managed by the federal government and is comprised of over 280,000 acres of forest.
We decided to stay at Bear Branch Horse Resort, which is centrally located near Lusk Creek Canyon.

  Our host, Dick, was very pleasant and informative.  He gave us maps of the forest area as well as his personal maps.

We got the horses settled in their stalls for the night.  Stalls are pretty basic, clean and shavings were included in the cost of $12/night.

 

Due to a scheduling snafu, we were unable to stay in our originally requested cabin and we were offered the Bear's Den for a couple of nights at a discount.  Not a problem.  We settled ourselves in the Bear's Den cabin.  It was as small as it looks! but it did have a shower, toilet, heat, air-conditioning, fridge, sink, and most importantly, a coffee maker!

  

We were a bit apprehensive setting out the first morning.  The Shawnee Forest encompasses over 280,000 acres of land.  That's quite a bit of trail to get lost in!  Our plan was to explore out 2 -3 miles, find our way back and then venture out again.  Well, after a short ride out, our worries were put aside,. the trails were extremely well-marked and we never once felt that we were in navigational danger. 

The scenery was breath-taking.  Beautiful hardwood forest interlaced with gravel covered trails.  We were quite fortunate to make our first trip during the spring.  The lack of foliage made navigation quite easy! 

We averaged between 15 and 20 miles per day over mostly gravel covered trail.  The trail is criss-crossed with numerous stream crossings.  Perfect for a horse that is a bit water apprehensive.  Read - EL. ;)

  After crossing 15 streams the first morning, he never batted an eye at water the rest of the week.  Cross that item off my to do list! :)

I rode the first 2 days totally barefoot and felt the rock covered trail was starting to bother El's hooves.  I decided to boot for the remainder of the week.  I had brought 4 Epic Easyboot with me, so I could boot front and rear if need be.  Karen decided to boot her mare also and she was doing some experimentation with Renegade boots.   

On the third day, we were able to move into our new home away from home, the Wrangler Cabin.  The Wrangler is able to sleep 6 people and we had much more room.

Okay, now that we were settled in our new home, had our horses booted, we decided to become adventurous.  We packed water and a snack and headed out on a long ride.

  

Once again, beautiful trails and large rock formations everywhere.  The only hiccup today was after crossing a small river.  We began to climb a rather large hill, when Karen yelled out, "Snake, snake."  I looked up and told her, "Don't be silly, that's a stick." 

 Obviously, I need glasses!  Sadly, I already have them.  Karen's mare wanted no part of the 'stick.'  El wasn't sure what to make of it, but was a little too interested for my taste.  I asked Karen if she was in a hurry to get going or perhaps we could just wait until the snake decided to leave the trail.  We decided to wait!  A funny moment.  If that snake hadn't decided to leave the trail, we would probably still be sitting there, chatting nervously. :)

On the 5th day, I had a goal of riding out to Cedar Grove Road, about 12 miles from our base camp.  No particular reason, just an idea.  The weather looked a bit dicey as we set out, so I packed disposable raingear for us.  These raincoats are so handy and cheap, I have at least 4 or 5 on hand at all times.  I pack them in my saddle bags, in my crew bag and one in my trailer. 

Good thing we packed the raincoats as we were rained on twice and had a bit of hail on our way out to Cedar Grove Road.   

Doesn't this look like beautful riding?

Here I am at our destination.  You can tell by El's expression, he is as thrilled as me!  Next year, when we go back, I want to go past this marker, cross the road and explore that unknown area!

All in all, it was a great vacation and a wonderful riding experience.  I would encourage everyone to take a few days and explore the Shawnee Forest area.  Beautiful scenery, well-marked trails and excellent horse and human accommodations!  Please contact me if you would like more information about our trip!