GIANT CITY (WSIL) -- The cool fall temperatures are making it a great time to enjoy the outdoors, and we have another trail to add to your list of places to explore.
Natural Resources Coordinator Jennifer Randolph takes us to a mysterious trail located within Giant City State Park. The trail is a third of a mile and is located in Jackson County, just minutes from Carbondale.
"This trail, it's nice and short, but it is a little rugged because we have a little bit of a climb to get up there, but the payoff at the top is totally worth it in my opinion. This is also one of the trails in the park where we get a waterfall. When we get a really steady downpour, this becomes a raging waterfall, and it's absolutely beautiful. It runs right next to the trail," says Randolph.
Even if you come when it's dry, there's still plenty to see along the trail.
"The last few times that we've hiked this has not been blooming because we hiked earlier in the summer, but it's blooming now and it has these beautiful little purple blooms. It's in the mint family, and this is called dittany or wild oregano. This is a really cool flower for another reason, because we get something called a frost flower. When the ground is still warm and we get our first frost, we get these beautiful icy tendrils that spiral out of the stem of this plant. As the sap continues to rise, the stem breaks open and it's beautiful. The whole top of this trail will just be covered in frost flowers," explains Randolph.
Among the plants and wildlife, you'll also find a bit of history.
"Okay, we're almost to the top. We're going to talk about the mystery of the mysterious stone fort when we get up here. It is currently, as of 2002, on the National Register of Historic Places. Here we are at the mysterious stone fort here at Giant City State Park. It's one of eleven of the mysterious stone forts that we have spread across ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois, and what's really interesting is, nobody can figure out why exactly they were built. There's all kinds of theories revolving around this stone fort. Everything from herding buffalo off the bluff, which we didn't have buffalo here, so we're talking 400 to 900 A.D., to defensive structures, to ceremonial. That's what makes this site so special, that no one really knows why late Woodland Native Americans built it. Three-hundred tons of rock up here, and the rocks weigh between 50 and 100 pounds each. One man could've carried one rock. All of the rocks that were initially put up here and, well, all of these are from the creeks down in the park. They were carried up that long narrow passageway to be put up here," says Randolph.
For more information on and Stonefort Trail, click .
