Buffalo Rock and Effigy Tumuli State Park:
Day trip and travel information.

This page provides maps, photos and directions for visiting, canoeing, and camping Buffalo Rock State Park and the Effigy Tumuli Earth Sculptures 2 miles west of Ottawa Ill.

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Created by Professor Peter Johnson
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Buffalo Rock State Park sits on the bluffs of the Illinois River just west of the town of Ottawa on Dee Bennett Road. As you can see from the map of the area, the I & M Canal goes goes just north of the park and can be accessed from the park for hiking or biking. The hearty can bike this trail back to access points at Gebhart Woods or Lockport which is just outside of Chicago , nearly the full range of the National Heritage Corridor, You can make this ride in either direction. The park has a buffalo pen for the kids and good picnic areas with grand views of the river below. The area ajacent to the park's west boundary was once a strip mine. It has been reclaimed and now contains 5 large earthen mound structures.

From Chicago go south on the Stevenson (I-55) to the I-80 interchange. Go west on I-80 (click right) and get off at Ottawa. Go south through town and turn west on Dee Bennett before you cross the river as you would if you were continuing on to Straved Rock State Park . Buffalo Rock State Park has areas on both sides of Dee Bennett Road.

The earth mounds were created as "earth art" using a earth-moving machines. The forms were designed to look like creatures native to the area and include a snake, a turtle, a catfish, a frog, and a water strider. Wildflowers now cover most of the mounds.

You can hike the trails which meander through the earth mounds. If you have a good imagination, you will recognize some of the shapes. The cliffs that the mounds sit on can be viewed from across the river while on the way to Starved Rock Park.

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