I purposely made our route home go past the Shawnee National Forest so we could go on the Garden of the Gods hike again!
My kids raved about this hike last year when we went on it!
Of course when we got there my girls started complaining about hiking and said they did not remember it…
Thankfully they remembered it when they started climbing and I heard how much they loved this hike over and over.
The views are amazing!
Little Bit really wanted to climb like the big kids.
Thankfully there are lots of rocks to climb that are not high and nowhere near a drop off.
This kid is awesome with her.
He kept telling her where it was safe for her to go.
You don’t have to climb on this trail.
You can stay on the path and just enjoy the views.
At under 2 miles and a loop, this would be a pretty easy hike if you wanted.
Of course my kids don’t like the easy way.
You can see my oldest daughter’s shirt behind me in this group pic.
I did not realize she was not in the shot until everyone had already walked away…
HA
I had her come back for another.
Hard to see why I want to go back here over and over, right?
I never knew how beautiful Southern Illinois was.
Amazing.
You can get a look at what it was like to hike there with 5 kids here.
The hike actually goes up on the cliffs!
Which was amazing and a bit scary with 5 kids.
It had a nice lake right next to the campground.
I did not remember it though and was not sure what to expect.
This beautiful pioneer village was a pleasant surprise! 
Grinding the corn was Little Bit’s favorite.
Checking out the wheel from up above.
