Rock Springs Conservation Area

We love watching the hummingbirds battle over feeder territory in summertime! At least 15 at a time!

If you enjoy an eerie atmosphere, Rock Springs is your park. ThePine Tree Forest, aka Christmas Tree Forest is eerie and spooky. Such a small cover of trees, yet so dark inside and symmetrical. Gives me the creeps and I love it. Beautiful. Furthermore, River Trail has many scattered eerily curved trees that are so distinct, they are scary. I love the scenery of Rock Springs and very shocked to find this hidden gem in Decatur of all places. I have hiked many parks on the east coast including Shenandoah National Park, as well as central Illinois/​Indiana parks and Rock Springs ranks #2 of close to 25 of those parks.

Great place for a hike or bike ride.

LOOOVE IT! I was thrilled to find over 1,000 acres of fantastic trails just 10 minutes from the Decatur Hotel and Conference Center. The visitor’s center at the park offers maps of the various trails, ranging from .25 miles to 2.25 miles. Even if you get there after the Visitor Center is closed (5pm, weekdays) you’ll be fine because everything is well-​marked. The trails are all natural dirt (the only paved trail is the bike trail), winding up and down, through forests, past rivers, across prairies, and grasslands. The map was perfect, listing the types of scenery you’d pass on each trail and providing the mileage. The map also notes how long they predict it will take you to hike each trail, which I found to be pretty generous (meaning, I hiked trails in about twenty-​five minutes when they predicted an hour… although I also walk at a quick pace). My point is — don’t be daunted by their time predictions. Anyways. As I mentioned, the trails were very well marked at intersections making me comfortable navigating by myself through the woods. Especially since I didn’t pass one other person my entire two hours hiking! I saw plenty of wildlife at very close range: three deer, one four foot long snake (don’t be scared now), and several hawks.
BOTTOM LINE: A gem of an area, just 10 minutes from downtown Decatur. Totally worth the drive.