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!
10 Least Visited State Parks & Recreation Areas in Southern Illinois
10 Least Visited State Parks and Recreational Areas in Southern IllinoisAre you looking for the least visited state parks and recreation areas in southern Illinois? I get it! Not everyone wants to go where everyone is. Garden of the Gods is an incredible place, but...
Tunnel Hill State Trail Guide
Tunnel Hill State Trail GuideTunnel Hill State Trail is a 50+ mile rail trail in Southern Illinois. The trail was once a bustling railroad line during the 1800s into the 1900s, back when there was a coal mining boom in the region. The railway transported coal and...
LaRue Pine Hills Snake Road Guide
LaRue Pine Hills Snake Road GuideLaRue Pine Hills Snake Road is the only road in the world that closes annually so snakes can migrate across, and that road is located in the Shawnee National Forest. The road closes two times a year. During the closer-horseback,...
What to do at Garden of the Gods Illinois?
What to do at Garden of the Gods Illinois?Garden of the Gods Illinois consists of a recreation area, natural areas, and a designated wilderness area. Garden of the Gods is located in southern Illinois and part of the Hidden Springs Ranger District of the Shawnee...
Glen O Jones Lake Visitor Guide by Hiking with Shawn
Glen O Jones Lake Visitor Guide by Hiking with ShawnGlen O Jones Lake is an Illinois state-managed fish and wildlife area. Other than fishing and hunting opportunities, there are numerous other recreational activities, too. You can kayak the lake. There is a bicycling...
22 Benefits of Hiking for Health, Fitness, and Wellness
22 Benefits of Hiking for Health, Fitness, and WellnessThere are a lot of benefits of hiking! Hiking can save your life. It saved my life! It made me healthier. I met my girlfriend because of it. I think that hiking will make me live longer. Hiking can do the same for...
Hiking with Shawn Trail Guides
Free and detailed trail guides for navigating the Shawnee National Forest, State Parks, and Beyond!
Tunnel Hill State Trail Guide
Tunnel Hill State Trail GuideTunnel Hill State Trail is a 50+ mile rail trail in Southern Illinois. The trail was once a bustling railroad line during the 1800s into the 1900s, back when there was a coal mining boom in the region. The railway transported coal and...
LaRue Pine Hills Snake Road Guide
LaRue Pine Hills Snake Road GuideLaRue Pine Hills Snake Road is the only road in the world that closes annually so snakes can migrate across, and that road is located in the Shawnee National Forest. The road closes two times a year. During the closer-horseback,...
What to do at Garden of the Gods Illinois?
What to do at Garden of the Gods Illinois?Garden of the Gods Illinois consists of a recreation area, natural areas, and a designated wilderness area. Garden of the Gods is located in southern Illinois and part of the Hidden Springs Ranger District of the Shawnee...
Glen O Jones Lake Visitor Guide by Hiking with Shawn
Glen O Jones Lake Visitor Guide by Hiking with ShawnGlen O Jones Lake is an Illinois state-managed fish and wildlife area. Other than fishing and hunting opportunities, there are numerous other recreational activities, too. You can kayak the lake. There is a bicycling...
Rim Rock National Recreation Trail – Shawnee National Forest – Trail Guide
Rim Rock National Recreation Trail Shawnee National Forest Trail GuideRim Rock National Recreation Trail is a premier recreation area in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Rim Rock offers multiple hiking opportunities, historical sightseeing, nature...
One Horse Gap Hiking Guide – Shawnee National Forest
One Horse Gap Hiking Guide for the Shawnee National ForestOne Horse Gap is a beautiful area located in the Shawnee National Forest. There are ample hiking opportunities available at this location. Other great activities in this area include fishing, paddling,...
Hiking with Shawn Gear Reviews
Check out my hiking, biking, and outdoor recreation related gear reviews.
10 Most Important Hiking Gear Items for the Shawnee National Forest
10 Most Important Hiking Gear Items to take to the Shawnee National ForestAre you carrying the most important hiking gear items that you should be? The Shawnee National Forest is a small forest consisting of just shy of 280,000 acres spread across the southern portion...
Oboz Waterproof Hiking Boots Review
Oboz Waterproof Hiking Boots ReviewSince I’ve recently purchased my second pair of Oboz waterproof hiking boots, I figured that was a good time to create a review for it. I’ve used these new Oboz Mid Bridger waterproof hiking boots for a few months and those before...
Day Hiking Gear: 4 Essentials for a Successful Day Hike
Day Hiking Gear 4 Essentials for a Successful Day Hike When it comes to day hiking gear, we tend to think that we don’t need to pack that much day hiking gear because we’re not going to be out in the forest that long. However, we tend to forget the underlining issues...
MPG Cycling Shorts Review
MPG Cycling Shorts ReviewYes, I am a Cyclist... I've been an adult cyclist since 2012 after realizing that I was 300 pounds of fat and laziness. I would become out of breath bending down to tie my own shoes - no joke! So I got a bicycle and started riding every other...
Hiking Gear Tag – 5 of My Favorite Hiking Gear Items
Hiking Gear Tag The Hiking Gear Tag is a tag challenge going around within the hiking, backpacking, bushcraft and outdoor communities on YouTube. I was a recipient not once, not twice but three times of the Hiking Gear Tag challenge. So three channels challenged me to...
Hiking with Shawn Blog Posts
My latest posts about the Shawnee National Forest, state parks, and beyond!
10 Least Visited State Parks & Recreation Areas in Southern Illinois
10 Least Visited State Parks and Recreational Areas in Southern IllinoisAre you looking for the least visited state parks and recreation areas in southern Illinois? I get it! Not everyone wants to go where everyone is. Garden of the Gods is an incredible place, but...
22 Benefits of Hiking for Health, Fitness, and Wellness
22 Benefits of Hiking for Health, Fitness, and WellnessThere are a lot of benefits of hiking! Hiking can save your life. It saved my life! It made me healthier. I met my girlfriend because of it. I think that hiking will make me live longer. Hiking can do the same for...
How to do the Shawnee Challenge!
How to do the Shawnee Challenge!Have you heard of the Shawnee Challenge? If not, I created a website for it. So, to sum it up, this is a 10.5-mile adventure challenge where you can hike, mountain bike, or do both activities to complete the challenge route and get a...
Is the Shawnee National Forest Worth Visiting for Outdoor Adventuring?
Is the Shawnee National Forest Worth Visiting for Outdoor Adventuring?Are you asking the question - is the Shawnee National Forest worth visiting? I can tell you that the Shawnee National Forest is worth visiting. And I can share with you the many reasons why you’d...
15 Shawnee National Forest Best Views that are a Must See!
15 Shawnee National Forest Best Views that are a Must See!There are Shawnee National Forest best views worth checking out. Many of these views are so awesome that you want to see them again and again. And these views should be seen multiple times a year because each...
15 Shawnee National Forest Safety Tips for Summer Hiking in 2022
15 Shawnee National Forest Safety Tips for Summer Hiking in 2022Below are some Shawnee National Forest safety tips that could save your life. Safety in the Shawnee National Forest is critical, especially during summer when more hazards are present. The Shawnee is a...
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!
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