Hiking with Shawn Blog
Welcome to the official Hiking with Shawn Blog, where you can find my trail guides, gear reviews, and more! I try to post a few times a week! Please feel free to share my posts and leave a comment!
Hiking with Shawn Blog: Latest Posts
The latest posts from Hiking with Shawn!
15 Most Asked Hiking Questions with Honest Answers
15 Most Asked Hiking Questions with Honest AnswersThese are the 15 most asked hiking questions I commonly see. When it comes to hiking, no question is a bad question. Hiking can be rewarding and life-changing as long as you do it right. But if you don’t do it right,...
How to Try Solo Dispersed Wilderness Camping for the First Time
How to Try Solo Dispersed Wilderness Camping for the First TimeHave you ever been solo dispersed wilderness camping? The chance is, if you’re on this article, you haven’t tried it. Or maybe you have, and you’d like more advice to ensure the next time is better. Either...
Banning Pets on Hiking Trails: Agree or Disagree?
Banning Pets on Hiking Trails: Agree or Disagree?How do you feel about public lands banning pets on hiking trails? The banning of pets from hiking trails isn't uncommon. It's a big practice in National Parks, Nature Preserves, State Parks, and other natural areas...
Required Hiking Permits: Should we pay to use hiking trails?
Required Hiking Permits: Should we pay to use popular hiking trails?This article questions and debates the required hiking permits for using popular trails. In most cases, permits for hiking trails will cost money. Some may cost a few dollars, while others could cost...
Giant City Road Biking Route Itinerary
Giant City Road Biking Route ItineraryGiant City road biking is great for many different reasons. It’s scenic. It’s great for fitness. It’s lightly trafficked. Your selected road biking route can make or break your cycling adventure. You spent all that money on a road...
Top 10 Causes of Death While Hiking and How To Avoid Them
Top 10 Causes of Death While Hiking and How To Avoid ThemThere are many causes of death while hiking that you can take practical steps to avoid. For the most part, hiking is generally safe for everyone. But like with any activity, there are dangers present. Some...
Hiking with Shawn Trail Guides
Free and detailed trail guides for navigating the Shawnee National Forest, State Parks, and Beyond!
Giant City Road Biking Route Itinerary
Giant City Road Biking Route ItineraryGiant City road biking is great for many different reasons. It’s scenic. It’s great for fitness. It’s lightly trafficked. Your selected road biking route can make or break your cycling adventure. You spent all that money on a road...
Glendixon Mountain Biking Trail Guide
Glendixon Mountain Biking Trail GuideHave you enjoyed some Glendixon mountain biking? Have you ever even heard of Glendixon? It combines words from the local mountain biking community in the Shawnee National Forest area. It’s short for Glendale and Dixon. Glendale...
Eagle Falls Waterfall Hiking Guide
Eagle Falls Waterfall Hiking GuideHave you ever heard of the Eagle Falls Waterfall? This amazing waterfall is attached to an old trail in the Bell Smith Springs area that is no longer being maintained, likely due to budget cuts. Access to this waterfall is rugged,...
Cache River State Natural Area Guide
Cache River State Natural Area GuideCache River State Natural Area is a nearly 15,000-acre Illinois state natural area with ample opportunities for fish and game, outdoor recreation, and educational programming. Visitors can enjoy miles upon miles of hiking, biking,...
Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area Guide
Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area GuideHave you ever visited Mermet Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area in southern Illinois? It's an amazing spot for all different kinds of recreational uses. Whether you're a boater, kayaker, fisherman, hunter, cyclist, hiker,...
Abneyville Rock Trail Guide
Abneyville Rock Trail GuideThe Abneyville Rock Trail is a short but very remote hiking trail located in the northwestern Shawnee National Forest near Sand Ridge, with the closest city being Murphysboro. The trail is around four miles out-and-back and has roughly 600...
Hiking with Shawn Gear Reviews
Check out my hiking, biking, and outdoor recreation related gear reviews.
Day Hiking Essentials: Bring these things on every hike!
Day Hiking Essentials: Bring these things on every hike!There are important day hiking essentials that you should bring with you on every day hike. These essentials will help you enjoy the best hiking experience possible. But not all hiking gear is created equal. Some...
5 Hiking Emergency Items Worth Taking on Every Hike
5 Hiking Emergency Items Worth Taking on Every HikeSome hiking emergency items are worth taking, just in case. You might plan for an uneventful day hike, but in nature, anything can happen. Humans really control nothing in nature, either. It’s rugged and unforgiving...
RightOnTrek Breakfast Meal Review
RightOnTrek Breakfast Meal ReviewI tried something new this morning. I ate a RightOnTrek breakfast meal. It was Cheesy Mushroom Egg Scramble. The name alone made it sound so delicious. I love cheese. I love eggs. I really love mushrooms. But I never thought about...
Hiking Gear List: What I Take on My Hikes
Hiking Gear List: What I Take on My HikesA lot of you have asked about my hiking gear list, and I wanted to write something that talks about it. Having hiking gear is essential to helping you make the best out of your outdoor experience. It allows you to push the...
10 Kayaking Gift Ideas to Get this Holiday Season
10 Kayaking Gift Ideas to Get this Holiday SeasonDo you need kayaking gift ideas this holiday season? Is there a special kayaker in your life that you want to treat? Look no further! In this article, you’ll see ten great kayaking Christmas gift ideas for that special...
10 Awesome Hiking Gift Ideas this Holiday Season
10 Awesome Hiking Gift Ideas this Holiday SeasonAre you looking for hiking gift ideas for that particular hiker in your life? Christmas and other holidays are almost here, and there is little time to shop. Hiking gifts are perfect for our outdoorsy significant other,...
Hiking with Shawn Blog Posts
My latest posts about the Shawnee National Forest, state parks, and beyond!
15 Most Asked Hiking Questions with Honest Answers
15 Most Asked Hiking Questions with Honest AnswersThese are the 15 most asked hiking questions I commonly see. When it comes to hiking, no question is a bad question. Hiking can be rewarding and life-changing as long as you do it right. But if you don’t do it right,...
Banning Pets on Hiking Trails: Agree or Disagree?
Banning Pets on Hiking Trails: Agree or Disagree?How do you feel about public lands banning pets on hiking trails? The banning of pets from hiking trails isn't uncommon. It's a big practice in National Parks, Nature Preserves, State Parks, and other natural areas...
Required Hiking Permits: Should we pay to use hiking trails?
Required Hiking Permits: Should we pay to use popular hiking trails?This article questions and debates the required hiking permits for using popular trails. In most cases, permits for hiking trails will cost money. Some may cost a few dollars, while others could cost...
Top 10 Causes of Death While Hiking and How To Avoid Them
Top 10 Causes of Death While Hiking and How To Avoid ThemThere are many causes of death while hiking that you can take practical steps to avoid. For the most part, hiking is generally safe for everyone. But like with any activity, there are dangers present. Some...
Hiking Hydration: How much water should you take?
Hiking Hydration: How much water should you take?Hiking hydration is extremely essential to your safety and health. I recently published an article about items not to take on a hiking trip. The main idea for the article was to make it humorous. I failed to make that...
16 Things Not to Pack for Hiking
16 Things Not to Pack for HikingDISCLAIMER: due to some of the content from comments made on this blog post, I’ve decided to add this disclaimer. first of all, my reasoning for this article is mainly geared at hikers who are looking up cut weight. If you were with...
Hiking with Shawn Patreon Posts
Premium blog posts only available to Patreon Members. Learn more at My Patreon Page.
Bushwhacking Off Trail: How to Effectively Hike Off Trail
Bushwhacking Off Trail: How to Effectively Hike Off TrailBushwhacking might sound a little taboo. Many folks are against bushwhacking off trail for a number of reason. One particular reason is ecology because you might harm sensitive plants or violate leave no trace....
Apps Hiking with Shawn Uses
Apps Hiking with Shawn UsesHowdy Patreon Supporters! In this exclusive Patreon-member only article, I’ll be going over each of the apps Hiking with Shawn uses on my phone and what I use it for. This will be apps Hiking with Shawn uses on my iPhone of course but I’m...
Hiking Hacks for Patreon Supporters
Hiking Hacks for Patreon SupportersWelcome to another Patreon Exclusive article! In this article, I’ll be focusing on hiking hacks or just tips and tricks to make hiking much easier. Many of these hacks are something I use and have changed hiking for me altogether....
Lightening your Load while Hiking and Backpacking
Lightening Your Load while Hiking and BackpackingLightening your load will reduce the weight you must carry while hiking or overnight backpacking through the forest. Most of us hikers deal with the issue of weight. Our packs get loaded with weight and sometimes it can...
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Hiking with Kids in the Shawnee National Forest
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Hiking with Kids in the Shawnee National ForestMany of you might have kids and your kids might be smaller kids that still live at home. Getting your kids involved in your hikes promotes outdoor stewardship and a healthy lifestyle. Kids nowadays seem...
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Top 5 Waterfalls Away From the Masses in Southern Illinois
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Top 5 Waterfalls Away From the Masses in Southern IllinoisWaterfalls in southern Illinois are probably one of our better features of the Shawnee National Forest. But a lot of them can get pretty crowded on active days. Getting a good view or photo...
Write for the Hiking with Shawn Blog
I’m always looking for one-time guest bloggers as well as reoccurring guest bloggers. If you’re interested in writing outdoor-related articles for my blog, then I am interested in you. While I will allow you to have a link to a related websites (outdoor related), I don’t allow affiliate links or posts that are commercial in nature from guest bloggers. If you’re just looking for do-follow links, you should definitely look somewhere else. I’m looking for articles about Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois state parks, local events related to the outdoors, state outdoor topics, and general hiking/biking/outdoor articles. If you’re interesting in writing for my blog on a one-time or regular basis, please Contact Me Today!
Copyright © 2022 Hiking with Shawn™ All Rights Are Reserved.
Hiking with Shawn® is a Registered Trademark of Hiking with Shawn, LLC
Hiking with Shawn is not affiliate with any local, state, or federal government agency.
