Off the beaten path

Commentary

You hear the cicadas' shrill buzzing and scraping that seems to encircle your ears.

The chirping crickets join in the melody.

There are no sounds of man's world that you've left behind.

There is no concrete visible.

Lush greenery surrounds you as far as the eye can see.

You are hiking in Southern Illinois' great natural treasure - its forests.

"It's just a really nice thing to do as a stress release," said U.S. Forest Service Archeologist Mary McCorvie.

The forested hills of Southern Illinois are one of the most obvious, as well as the most important, distinctions between this area and the rest of Illinois.

If you've never visited the natural wonders this area has to offer, now is as good a time as any.

Fall is the best season in this area with the many colors and the comfortable temperatures.

"We're just entering into the best part of the year," McCorvie said. "October will be really, really pretty."

Giant City State Park is a good place to start, especially for those hailing from the vast flatland that extends across most of Illinois north of Carbondale.

The real joys of nature, however, are not found near a paved road with a neat little handicapped-accessible trail leading a few dozen feet to a scenic area.

The views in the forest that are really worth seeing take an effort - a sacrifice - to reach.

It's the feeling of accomplishment that makes a hike to one of the area's natural wonders worthwhile.

It's an experience that transcends time.

You are seeing the bluffs just as man hundreds of years before you saw them, with no cars, pavement or other evidence of modern technology.

You share the space with more non-human mammals than human ones.

One of the best places to experience this is in the Shawnee National Forest, the only national forest in the state.

One of the forest's treasures is Little Grand Canyon, just a short drive from Carbondale.

The loop trail that winds through the canyon gives you great views of what the area has to offer.

"It's one of our premier recreation destinations," McCorvie said.

The trail starts out along a ridge with steep hills on either side that lead downward to the lush valleys below.

You then reach a lookout point where you can see for miles across the vast floodplain carved over time by the Mississippi River.

The trail then begins its descent into the valley.

The climate changes, the temperature cools, but Mother Nature seems to be sweating. Water seeps out of everything.

When you reach the bottom, large bluffs tower over you, lush green mosses and other vegetation surrounds you, and the nearby series of waterfalls lend a calm, otherworldly feel to this place.

When you're here, it's easy to forget that you're only a few miles from all of the trappings of modern man.

The trail then winds around the Big Muddy River's bottomland, a wasteland that reveals all that Old Man River has deemed unworthy to transport.

After this, the trail takes you back to the exquisitely contoured walls of rock that lead to a series of steps carved into the rock next to a series of waterfalls.

You climb out of the canyon and then up the slopes to the parking lot, where you can get into your car and re-enter the rat race that the human existence has become.

Modern man has become far too disconnected from his Mother Earth.

Luckily, Carbondale is very close to many areas where you can reconnect with your heritage and take a momentary respite from the madness that is everywhere.

Ethan is a senior in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.