Outside Down There

Carbondale was the only town in Illinois to make the cut in a new book called new book, “101 Best Outdoor Towns”.

Debbie Moore, director of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau, said she submitted information to the authors upon their request.

Just over three pages of the 472-page volume are devoted to Carbondale. Given the title of the book, it stands to reason most of the three pages is devoted to the outdoor resources surrounding the city.

"Even though Illinois has fewer acres of protected public lands than all but two other states, its biggest park is a doozie," the authors write. "The Shawnee National Forest is a diverse, 420-square mile spread of lakes, forests, steep hills, rocky bluffs and grassy floodplains, cobbled together within seven wilderness areas."

The book goes on to highlight Little Grand Canyon, Cedar Lake, Kinkaid Lake, Devil's Backbone and the River-to-River Trail.

"We always promote the natural areas in any promotion that we do," Moore said. "If we were to promote something specific about Carbondale proper, we would still mention the Shawnee National Forest or Giant City State Park."

Incredibly, Giant City State Park escaped notice of the authors.

Well, perhaps they missed Giant City because it’s neither giant nor a city (however, my 4 year-old son calls it “Big City”). Still, that’s OK. The fewer people who venture into GC the better (to a point) as far as I’m concerned. It just means more natural goodliness for me.