October is quickly coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean we’re all quite ready to hibernate yet. Here are some ideas to get you out of the house to appreciate the last few weeks of balmy fall weather.
Wolfe Orchard
A 20 minute drive west on Monticello Road will get you to Wolfe Orchard, where Hope and Ron Wolfe offer as many as 68 varieties of apples for purchase from their big barn. But hurry, they stop selling their tasty heirloom apples on October 31st, so get out there soon to sample and buy apples with names like Stayman Winesap, Crowegg, Smokehouse and Red Pippen.
Wolfe Orchard began as a hobby farm over 23 years ago when Ron Wolfe, a research agronomist (now retired), planted some apples trees in a soybean field next to their house. The desire to preserve heritage apples inspired Ron to continue planting trees year after year, and every year they add more varieties, experimenting with different rootstocks and grafting combinations. They maintain their trees using a conservative spraying program ensuring a six-week “spray-free” period before picking.
When you arrive at the barn (Noon to 6 p.m. daily except Monday), Hope can help you choose the best apples for your purposes, and also provide detailed history and usage for each apple variety they grow. She especially likes to educate young people, who are sometimes unaware of the amazing variety of apples that exist because of the limited selection available at most grocery stores. No, this isn’t Curtis Orchard with its goats, playground equipment and corn maze. Wolfe Orchard is instead all about the apples themselves, and preserving our unique apple heritage.
It isn’t on most maps, but the conservation area around the little town of Funk’s Grove, just a few minutes southwest of Bloomington-Normal off I-55, is absolutely stunning in the fall. Funk’s Grove is the largest remaining intact prairie grove in the state of Illinois and parts have been designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Over five miles of trails take visitors through prairie and woodland habitats, and the Sugar Grove Nature Center offers programs, live animal displays, and a wonderful outdoor play space for kids, including a tree house to climb. In late winter, there is a maple sugar camp where visitors can learn about the process of making syrup, as well as buy some to take home.
Friends Creek Conservation Area
Little known, but only a few short miles from Allerton Park, is another wonderful area to take a fall hike: Macon County’s Friends Creek Conservation Area. There are several trails here that take you along creeks and through woods and prairie. In addition, a quiet and almost unknown campground (seasonal) lies within this park. (BTW, another “secret” campground can be found at Lodge Park near Monticello, Ill., for those who like to stray from the more popular campgrounds at Kickapoo or Moraine View State Parks.)
Jim Edgar Panther Creek Conservation Area
Feeling like getting romantic in nature? Don’t mind driving an hour and a half? Then try renting a cabin on the lake at Jim Edgar Panther Creek Conservation Area, a short distance northwest of Springfield. The two-room heated cabins rent for $45 a night, and my favorites of the bunch, cabins 8 and 9, are secluded in the woods. You will have to bring sleeping bags, and be willing to walk to the outhouse (no indoor plumbing or cooking in the cabins). But a great way to extend the outdoor season for camper-types, or those who are reluctant to camp.
This natural area, once owned by Commonwealth Edison, has thousands of acres of prairie and timber and a large, man-made lake. It is therefore great birding and, of course, hunting territory. In fact, this is a super destination for people who like to kill things. The lake is really suitable only for boating and fishing (my kids love to catch frogs and dabble about in the mud and sand, but there really was no place for them to access the water).
There are a few hiking trails, and what looked to be great mountain biking trails, but again, the only place we found where the kids could access a streambed was on an equestrian trail that smelled, well, rather very well-used by the horsy crowd. As the kids tried to play in the stream, there was the constant sound of a combine harvesting the adjacent farmland that the conservation area rents out to area farmers. In fact, it was strange to be driving through beautiful restored prairie only to find most of the upland areas of the park leased as agricultural fields.
Much of the land bordering the farmland is prime hunting territory, and based on the number of folks we saw at the campground sporting blaze orange and camouflage gear, rather well used for this purpose. The campground, while large and well equipped with modern conveniences, is basically a large field catering primarily to RV owners and hunters/fisherman. But as a home base to explore Sand Ridge State Forest, Dickson Mounds, the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge and the Chautauqua National Wildlife Reserve, the cabins at Jim Edgar Panther Creek are ideal… just remember to reserve in advance!
Emiquon and Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuges
Here, on the Illinois River Floodplain, visitors can view thousands upon thousands of migrating and resident waterfowl. Bring a kayak, or hike the levees and discover what happens when private organizations like the Nature Conservancy and the federal government cooperate to reclaim floodplain farmland and restore the wetlands that were once widespread in the area. The day we were there, we saw hundreds of snow geese and swans circling overhead. The kids caught frogs and toads in the cattails, and we tried to identify the dozens of duck species that swam by in the meantime.