The lower tip of Illinois is oddly shaped by its border rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi. This southern land is thickly wooded and sometimes referred as the Illinois Ozarks. These are the Shawnee Hills, a large section of national forestland that butts up to the Ohio River Valley. Illinois Route 146 follows along the gentle curves of the Ohio River. The Ohio River National Scenic Byway passes the Smithland Locks and dam, the Cache River State Natural Area, historic towns and Golconda and Elizabethtown, Cave-in-the-Rock and Fort Massac State Parks and Tower Rock.
Inland, in the midst of the 270,000 acre Shawnee National Forest, is the pounds Hollow Recreation Area, and a fanciful rock collection found in the Garden of the Gods. Pictured here is a scene found in the Cave-in-the-Rock State Park alongside the Ohio River. The 160 foot cave is deeply carved into the river bank's limestone bluff. Once a hang-out for river pirates, the cave is now a fun attraction at the 200 acre state park.