Location: Ottawa Canyon Trailhead, Ottawa, IL 61350
Date: Saturday, 02/07/26
Time: 9 AM - 12 PM
We'll be exploring the magical winter landscape of the canyons along the Illinois River at Starved Rock State Park- Ottawa, Kaskasia and Illinois canyons. As we hike along and on top of frozen streams, we'll look for winter residents like woodpeckers, kinglets and winter wrens. We'll plan to hike to some of the frozen waterfalls in these canyons and walk back to the parking lot. If time permits, we can drive to the west side of Starved Rock park to look for other winter songbirds in St. Louis Canyon. After this, we'll look along the Illinois river from Lone Point shelter for Bald Eagles and waterfowl.
This will be the official end of the walk. At this point, participants have two options (or can choose to head home). Trip participants can explore Starved Rock on their own from the main entrance and perhaps take in views of the frozen river from the top of Starved Rock. Or, with the trip leader, they can caravan along the open agricultural landscapes of La Salle County, looking for openland raptors like Northern Harrier and Rough-legged Hawk as well as longspurs and Horned Larks. This will be a detour on the way back to Chicago but could potentially yield good birds.
Leaders: Vinod Babu
Pre-registration is required. Please contact Vinod Babu (pavinodbabu@gmail.com) at least 24 hours in advance if you cannot attend or with questions.
Accessibility:
Total trip distance is approximately 2 miles through tricky terrain. We'll walk through the canyon bottom which will likely be frozen over. Lone point shelter will have restrooms, but you can also choose to stop along the way in the town of Ottawa. This is a trip where a carpool would be convenient. Message the trip leader if you would be interested in carpooling.
Weather/Attire/Other:
Please remember to dress warmly and wear sturdy winter boots. This is a fairly tricky hike. Hiking poles may be useful. This will be a fairly long ride from Chicago, so it's helpful to stop in Ottawa for a break and for breakfast/lunch.
The exact meeting location will be emailed in advance to registrants. Free parking is available at the trailhead parking lots. The location is not readily accessible by public transit.
Respiratory Illness Precautions:
COS supports the decision of individual trip participants to wear masks.