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Midwest Thread

Anonymous Thu 23 Oct 2014 15:30:49 No.409729 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>409759 >>409767 >>410265 >>411955 >>417601

Let's talk about the Midwest. I'm in Chicago and looking for some interesting hikes in the area. I've done Starved Rock, I've done the Pictured Rocks, and I've done Sleeping Bear. How about some suggestions for stuff around Chicago though? Say within a three hour drive. How are the Indiana Dunes?

Anyway. Talk about all the places you like in the Midwest.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 23 Oct 2014 16:54:13 No.409759 Report

Quoted By: >>409784 >>410278 >>411975

>>409729
There's Matheson park, right next to Starved rock, but it looks about the same. I lived in Chicago most my life, and I gotta say it is shit tier for /out/doorsmen. Seriously, flat plain cornfields as far as the eye can see throughout 99% of IL and IN.

So here's your best options:
-Mississippi Palisades. It's the only area with large hills in a 3, 3.5 hour drive. Totally worth a trip, but good luck spending more than 5 nights there and not getting bored.
-Go north, lots of hilly forrested areas in WI.
-Dunes, yep they're alright. Not a whole lot of overnight options, but good for day trips.
-Starved Rock/Matheson/Picture Rocks in the off season, it's like seeing a different park.
-Pick a shitty camp ground next to a forrest and hike it up.

That's literally it. There's a reason I moved away and am never returning. Good luck bud.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 23 Oct 2014 17:09:11 No.409761 Report

Quoted By:

Another Chicagofag here.
Me and my buds are looking for a place to camp and shoot guns. We're willing to drive a good distance to get to a good place, we just need to find a place to go.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 23 Oct 2014 17:23:26 No.409767 Report

Quoted By:

>>409729

There's lots of stuff north of you.
The Manitowac area is nice. Door County is pretty awesome but a longer drive.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 23 Oct 2014 17:49:15 No.409784 Report

Quoted By: >>410329 >>411967

>>409759
Thanks for the advice. Any tips on the Driftless in WI? I dabble in fly fishing as well.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 24 Oct 2014 15:31:57 No.410265 Report

Quoted By:

>>409729

Independence, MO fag here. I've been spending some time at the nearby lake Jacomo. I want to go on a trip to Bennett Springs for some trout fishing.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 24 Oct 2014 16:12:15 No.410278 Report

Quoted By: >>410279 >>410373 >>410687 >>414273

>>409759
>Seriously, flat plain cornfields as far as the eye can see throughout 99% of IL and IN.
Southern Indiana is not flat! The Knobstone trail is a notoriously good place to practice for the Appalachian trial due to changes in elevation.

I just got back from an overnight trip to the Deam wilderness with one of my friends. It was beautiful with all the trees in full color. Pic related but not from last weekend.

I'm hoping to go one more time before it gets too cold.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 24 Oct 2014 16:13:29 No.410279 Report

Quoted By:

>>410278

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 24 Oct 2014 19:07:29 No.410329 Report

Quoted By: >>417790

>>409784
Find any good spots nearby to drop a fly in? I'm in the West burbs myself and just picked up my starter fly rod this year. Looking to expand my region/options. Found a couple nice spots, not so great for fishing but more for the ambiance. Throwaway e-mail if you want to get together for some fishing sometime [email protected]

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 24 Oct 2014 20:58:29 No.410373 Report

Quoted By:

>>410278
I guess I should have said 'not mountainous'. Hills bore me, mountains have the good views.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 25 Oct 2014 12:54:02 No.410687 Report

Quoted By:

>>410278
To be fair, if you're up here by Chicago, you'd likely be served just as well to head North to WI/MI as heading down to Southern IL/IN. That is our conundrum. Everything is 4+ hours away.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 04:24:02 No.411954 Report

Quoted By:

Southern Illinois reporting in. I'm looking to start camping instead of just hiking all the time. Any tips on finding a place to camp more primitively down here? I've done primitive back home but not since I moved down here.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 04:29:00 No.411955 Report

Quoted By: >>414096

>>409729
Joliet here, the Kankakee river state park has some nice hikes and gorges but it's pretty similar to starved rock

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 05:17:15 No.411967 Report

Quoted By: >>412092

>>409784

>I dabble in fly fishing as well.

http://www.kiaptuwish.org/kinnikinnic-river

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 05:50:10 No.411975 Report

Quoted By: >>412094

>>409759
You got the wrong idea about IL and IN, man. I am so happy that I got to grow up in and near the woods and savannas, as comparably small as they are, and it is something that needs to be valued so that Chicagoland dont become what you think it is. I return as much as I can just to indulge in those little gems all over Chicagoland like the Oak Savannas and Prairies and Marshes.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 17:37:59 No.412092 Report

Quoted By:

>>411967
>kinnikinnic-river
Not that anon, but that's about an 8hr drive for us. On that note however, I've heard from quite a few locals that the Root River in SE WI, is a good trout fishing river, and not terribly far.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 17:39:49 No.412094 Report

Quoted By:

>>411975
But the reality is that they are few and far between. Illinois, especially, is mostly flat farmland and concrete. We have this handful of oases, particularly in the North and Northeast part of the state, that pale in comparison to most of the rest of the country.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 28 Oct 2014 21:53:52 No.412207 Report

Quoted By:

Bolingbrook, reporting in.

Wisconsin has a lot to offer if you're looking for woods. Southern Illinois has some great swamps and starved rock type areas.

Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie is coming along, should really be something nice in a few years.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 02 Nov 2014 18:03:23 No.414096 Report

Quoted By: >>414100

>>411955
Do you the kankakee or any tributaries in that area? How is it, what do you catch, bait recs?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 02 Nov 2014 18:05:52 No.414100 Report

Quoted By:

>>414096
Do you fish***

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 02 Nov 2014 18:59:02 No.414133 Report

Quoted By:

Chicagofag here. If you don't mind an eight hour drive, the Porcupine Mountains are fantastic. I went up there in September.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 02 Nov 2014 23:46:51 No.414245 Report

Quoted By: >>414273

Indianapolis Fag here. Need a recomendation on where to take my younger brothers camping. I don't want to go that far up north because I don't want to spend hundreds on gear that they will use once, but I do enjoy caves and cliffs. I've got experience and were all in good shape, I can travel 6 hours. Thanks

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 03 Nov 2014 01:09:23 No.414273 Report

Quoted By: >>417599

>>414245
Indy here. No need to travel 6 hours. The hoosier national forest near bloomington is an excellent place to go out.

see >>410278

I would suggest the Deam Wilderness. You can park at a trail head and camp somewhere along the trial. It's completely free, not very busy (except for hunting season). Some of the campsites are less than a mile from the trail head.

If you up for a hike in, I would suggest camping along the lake, it's really nice (pic related) Just be ready for big hills, its a tough hike.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 05 Nov 2014 22:55:20 No.415532 Report

Quoted By: >>415978 >>415985

Iowafag here, been wanting to start hiking but don't know where to start.
I want to go to Maquoketa and see all the caves and shit but friends keep backing out.

Any other Iowans here?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 07 Nov 2014 03:57:33 No.415978 Report

Quoted By:

>>415532
Me. I am pretty much where you are. Trying to get together a roadtrip and campout to somewhere next summer and I have no idea where to start.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 07 Nov 2014 04:07:25 No.415985 Report

Quoted By:

>>415532
Just moved into that area. Bellevue state park is nice enough but the trails dont take very long to hike. Going to go to Mines of Spain by Dubuque before the weather turns butt ass cold.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 00:29:39 No.417599 Report

Quoted By:

>>414273
I second the Charles C Deam Wilderness, lots of great hikes to be had there. Are you from Bloomington by any chance?

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 00:44:50 No.417601 Report

Quoted By: >>417602 >>417790

>>409729
>the Midwest

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 00:46:09 No.417602 Report

Quoted By: >>417603 >>417790

>>417601

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 00:47:17 No.417603 Report

Quoted By: >>417790

>>417602

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 01:06:28 No.417606 Report

Quoted By: >>417790

someone should point to some winterfriendly areas around minnesota / twin citits

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 17:35:01 No.417790 Report

Quoted By: >>417795

>>417603
>>417602
>>417601
That's cool as fuck.

>>417606
Isn't it always winter in Minnesota?

>>410329
I lice in the city, and when I first moved here I tried chasing fish in all the harbors and the like. Got a little tired of how pressured it is, and all the snaggers when the salmon come in though.

I'm debating trying to chase carp on the fly next summer but mostly I've given up.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 18:03:09 No.417795 Report

Quoted By: >>417799

>>417790
I would recommend just finding shallow water and whatever fly you use, I'd just suck it up and pour on some scent. You almost HAVE to find them tailing and even then, they spook easy as fuck.
The Vermilion, at least the lower part that flows North, is loaded with common and now Asian carp as well. But if you catch it in the proper season and when the water is low, you should get some fun out of it. There are so many gd fish in that river it's stupid.
I've been debating going out front for Steelhead, but my fly gear isn't really up to it (5/6wt rod). I have some spinning gear I could load up but it just isn't the same.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 11 Nov 2014 18:21:47 No.417799 Report

Quoted By: >>418160

>>417795
Out front?

Anonymous

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Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2014 00:47:21 No.417936 Report

Quoted By: >>418156

SouthernMinn nature center a month ago, currently freezin my ass

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2014 15:27:14 No.418156 Report

Quoted By:

>>417936
And here I thought Minnesota was just tundra

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2014 15:59:15 No.418160 Report

Quoted By: >>418163

>>417799
Sorry, Lake Michigan.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2014 16:13:15 No.418163 Report

Quoted By: >>418187

>>418160
Oh i I got you. I have a 7/8, maybe I should give it a shot. Do they just run into the harbors and river mouths all winter? I have a bunch of weirdly colored streamers a buddy gave me, that's what I would throw right?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2014 18:13:30 No.418187 Report

Quoted By:

>>418163
I have no experience fishing them, but I know they're looking to spawn so ideal food patterns may not work as well as "taunting" patterns. I know guys fish them right off the rocks, harbours, river mouths etc. There are definitely more knowledgeable people to ask and I'm sure better resources for our local conditions. Feel free to share if you find anything substantial!

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