Garden of the Gods....Southern Illinois

We spent Wednesday visiting the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. It basically covers the entire bottom half of the state so we barely got to any of it. We went to 3 popular spots that are about a 70 mile drive away.....Garden of the Gods, the Iron Furnace, and Cave-in-Rock. I will have to split this post into a couple of days. I'll warn you ahead of time that I saw lots of birds and animals, but mostly from the car and with no photos. This was more of a geology lesson then anything else. The road between Mt. Vernon and the Wabash River is lined with Redbud trees that are all in bloom right now. I had to take at least one photo from the car window to try to show how it looks.
Everywhere there are fields covered with purple flowers. I believe they are Henbit, but will not swear to it. It is an astonishing sight to see all that purple everywhere!

A closer look

We went to Garden of the Gods first because we have been there before and wanted to show it to our niece who was along.

There is a 1/4 mile trail winding through the rocks and trees.....this is one of the narrowest points.

The rock formations are amazing and I am trying hard to choose the most interesting ones. This is all sandstone that was formed over the last several million years, worn away by water, wind, weather conditions. I think these rounded towers are fascinating.

It seemed like every surface is covered with swirls or pits or markings of some sort.

Sort of like the rock formations out west but with trees. In the summer and fall this area is gorgeous.

An opening with water seepage.

I'm showing this sign to explain these, since I would never get it right. The rocks in questions are below.

Looks a lot like gnarly tree bark.

Many of the rocks have relatively smooth tops, with impressions like this that catch water.

Lots of lichen covered rocks mixed in.

Laura spotted this lizard. I have no idea what kind....sort of prehistoric looking in my opinion.

Camel Rock....the most famous rock formation in the area and I know that people used to climb out on it and that some have fallen. Better to view the camel from a distance.

I like the twisted roots finding their way between the rocks.

A very dark butterfly that I didn't get a good photo of, but at least it is a "critter".

Who's going to win here...the rock or the tree? Looks like the tree is chomping down on that rock.

One last rock formation.
Most of the birds I saw were the same ones I see at home...cardinals, robins, bluejay, red wing blackbirds. We saw dozens of Turkey Vultures throughout the day, but I gave up on trying to take their photos as they soared overhead. I saw at least 3 hawks on the wires coming over. A grey squirrel or two. Some other tiny white butterflies.

Tomorrow we move on to the Illinois Iron Furnace and Cave-in-Rock.