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!
27 Hiking Tips for Beginner Hikers
27 Hiking Tips for Beginner HikersHere are 27 essential hiking tips aimed at beginner hikers. If you’re new to hiking and want to make the best out of a hiking experience, this article is definitely for you. I’ve been hiking most of my life, but I got into serious...
Pomona Natural Bridge Guide – Shawnee National Forest
Pomona Natural Bridge Guide Shawnee National ForestPomona Natural Bridge is a popular natural bluff feature located near Pomona, Illinois, in the Shawnee National Forest, Mississippi Bluff Ranger District. Pomona Natural Bridge is a moderately difficult loop trail...
Cove Hollow Trail – Cedar Lake – Shawnee National Forest
Cove Hollow Trail Cedar Lake Shawnee National Forest Trail GuideCove Hollow Loop is a trail system located in the Shawnee National Forest near Pomona within the Cedar Lake area. This lollipop loop uses a combination of Cove Hollow and Wolfden Hollow trails. The total...
Shawnee National Forest Best Hikes during the Spring & Summer Seasons
10 Shawnee National Forest Best Hikes during the Spring & Summer SeasonsAre you looking for information on Shawnee National best hikes during the spring and summer months? Look no further; your Shawnee National Forest best hikes list is here. The spring and summer...
Shawnee National Forest Backpacking Guide
Shawnee National Forest Backpacking GuideIf you’re reading this, chances are you’re looking for Shawnee National Forest backpacking information – and it looks like you found the right place for that information. With nearly 300,000-acres, there are a lot of areas in...
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...
Hiking with Shawn Trail Guides
Free and detailed trail guides for navigating the Shawnee National Forest, State Parks, and Beyond!
Pomona Natural Bridge Guide – Shawnee National Forest
Pomona Natural Bridge Guide Shawnee National ForestPomona Natural Bridge is a popular natural bluff feature located near Pomona, Illinois, in the Shawnee National Forest, Mississippi Bluff Ranger District. Pomona Natural Bridge is a moderately difficult loop trail...
Cove Hollow Trail – Cedar Lake – Shawnee National Forest
Cove Hollow Trail Cedar Lake Shawnee National Forest Trail GuideCove Hollow Loop is a trail system located in the Shawnee National Forest near Pomona within the Cedar Lake area. This lollipop loop uses a combination of Cove Hollow and Wolfden Hollow trails. The total...
Shawnee National Forest Bear Branch Trail Guide
Shawnee National Forest Bear Branch Trail GuideShawnee National Forest Bear Branch Trail is a loop trail located in Pope County, Illinois. This trail consists of a 4.5-mile complete loop trail system shared by hikers and horseback riders. This trail has minimal...
Shawnee National Forest Iron Mountain Hiking Guide
Shawnee National Forest Iron Mountain Hiking GuideHave you ever been to Shawnee National Forest Iron Mountain? No, I don’t mean Iron Furnace, either. Shawnee National Forest Iron Mountain is located between Anna-Jonesboro and Alto Pass here in southern Illinois. This...
Millstone Lake Guide – Shawnee National Forest
Millstone Lake Guide Shawnee National Forest From the Hiking with Shawn Trail Guide SeriesMillstone Lake is a lake located in rural Pope County near the Village of Simpson, Illinois. The lake is about .2-square miles. Millstone Lake is open all year long, but visitors...
Hotel California Trail Guide – Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
Hotel California Trail Guide Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area Hotel California Trail consists of old logging roads that lead to a former homesite structure that is now infamously used as a hangout spot for party goers and people who use spray paint for...
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!
27 Hiking Tips for Beginner Hikers
27 Hiking Tips for Beginner HikersHere are 27 essential hiking tips aimed at beginner hikers. If you’re new to hiking and want to make the best out of a hiking experience, this article is definitely for you. I’ve been hiking most of my life, but I got into serious...
Shawnee National Forest Best Hikes during the Spring & Summer Seasons
10 Shawnee National Forest Best Hikes during the Spring & Summer SeasonsAre you looking for information on Shawnee National best hikes during the spring and summer months? Look no further; your Shawnee National Forest best hikes list is here. The spring and summer...
Shawnee National Forest Backpacking Guide
Shawnee National Forest Backpacking GuideIf you’re reading this, chances are you’re looking for Shawnee National Forest backpacking information – and it looks like you found the right place for that information. With nearly 300,000-acres, there are a lot of areas in...
5 Southern Illinois Cycling Trip Ideas for All Types of Cyclists
5 Southern Illinois Cycling Trip Ideas for All Types of CyclistsLooking to plan a cycling trip? Why not make it a southern Illinois cycling trip? Whether you’re from Chicago or St. Louis, Nashville, or Indianapolis – southern Illinois is a quick drive down, up, over,...
5 Southern Illinois Hiking Vacation Ideas for All Types of Hikers
5 Southern Illinois Hiking Vacation Ideas for All Types of HikersPlanning a vacation? Why not plan a southern Illinois hiking vacation? Escape the big city and head down, up, over, and out to southern Illinois for a grand hiking vacation that you’ll always remember....
10 Shawnee National Forest Bike Trails & Routes for All Types of Cyclists
10 Shawnee National Forest Bike Trails & Routes for All Types of CyclistsShawnee National Forest bike trails are some of the best trails in the Midwest according to local and travelers who ride in the area. It is a common misconception that cycling isn’t allowed...
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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