The Garden of the Gods Recreation Area in the Shawnee Hills is a treat for anyone with a taste for geology. The sandstone bluffs and huge boulders at Garden of the Gods present unique formations including one dubbed “Camel Rock.”

Garden of the Gods is featured in Exploring Nature in Illinois: A Field Guide to the Prairie State. Throughout the book naturalists Michael Jeffords and Susan Post invite you to discover fifty preserves, forests, restoration areas, and parks in the Land of Lincoln.

Each Wednesday we’ll preview some of the unexpected beauty of Illinois’s prairies, lakesides, river bottoms, and woodlands found within the book. . . . just in time for you to plan a weekend trip.

You’ll find maps and descriptions of these wild places in Illinois, including many hard-to-find sites, within the pages of the book.