BY ANDREW MORKES, FOUNDER & AUTHOR OF THE “NATURE IN CHICAGOLAND” BLOG
UPDATED AUGUST 2025
To many, a visit to Galena, Illinois, means shopping, restaurants, and ice cream on the historic town’s beautiful main street. Visitors revel in the packed streets, stores, and restaurants in high-summer or on crisp fall weekends.
While I certainly welcome a cold drink, a tasty meal, and perhaps 10 minutes of shopping, my favorite version of this far northwest Illinois town on the Galena River involves live music (often watching my friend, Katie Sullivan, the talented singer perform at the Irish Cottage Boutique Hotel) and the great outdoors.
The Galena area is special because it’s located in the Driftless Region (or the Driftless Area), which features limestone bluffs, rolling hills, wooded valleys, waterfalls, creeks, wetlands, rivers, caves, Native American Effigy Mounds, and rare ecosystems and plant and animal species. Unlike much of the Midwest, this area was not flattened and otherwise reshaped by the glaciers during the Wisconsin Glaciation. The Driftless Region comprises about 24,000 square miles. It reminds me a lot of the beautiful hills of Ireland, where I got engaged.
There are excellent hiking, paddling, camping, fishing, birdwatching, and other outdoor activities in the Galena area. Many of the nature properties in Galena and surrounding areas were acquired and are now managed (or co-managed) by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF). Some are equivalent in size to a city park, while others are larger, wilder areas. You can learn more about these properties by clicking here.
One of my favorite JDCF spots is Horseshoe Mound Preserve (1679 N. Blackjack Road, Galena, 61036): This 200-acre property provides stunning views of Galena and the rolling wooded and wildflower-covered hills that surround it, as well as short hiking trails. Here are seven things to do at the preserve:
Savor the stunning views. The site provides awe-inspiring views of the roiling hills of the Driftless Region and the charming town of Galena. Additionally, viewing scopes are available that will allow you to see three states—Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. One caution: in warm weather, be especially careful when using the scopes because bees may be lingering in or near them. My son and a young girl were stung in perhaps the first 10 minutes of our last visit.
Enjoy the wildflowers. Volunteers have completed significant ecological restoration to the area to return it to its native roots. During our July visit, the hills were covered with wild bergamot and sweet black-eyed Susans, the air swarmed with bees and dragonflies, and birdsong provided a wonderful natural soundtrack as we walked.
Check out the Council Ring. The ring features a stone seating area and a collection of massive stones that were set to align with the summer and winter solstices.
Go hiking. Approximately 1.1 miles of trails travel through restored oak savanna, prairie areas with wildflowers, and rock outcroppings. The JDCF classifies about half this mileage as “moderate” and half as “rugged” in terms of hiking difficulty.
Go birdwatching. More than 70 bird species have been sighted at the preserve, according to eBird. Some of the species that have been sighted include red-bellied woodpecker, eastern wood-pewees, black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, eastern towhees, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and indigo buntings.
Take a children’s adventure. Your kids can participate in the Dorte Breckenridge Children’s Adventure, in which they can learn about the time-traveling adventure of twins Neto and Natalia via five riddles that were written and etched into a series of stones to be used as clues during their adventure. While exploring nature, children learn about the value of conservation, with the goal that they will apply these lessons to their everyday lives. Click here for the guidebook for this adventure.
Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. From mid-July to late August, the Perseid meteor shower—which many consider to be the best meteor shower of the year—wows onlookers with an average of up to 100 meteors per hour during its peak (which falls this weekend). The JDCF often hosts a Meteors on the Mound event that offers family-friendly activities including free telescopes, a presentation by an expert astronomer, and other activities. This is the only time of the year that Horseshoe Mound Preserve (which is one of the highest points in Jo Daviess County) is open to the public after dark. Of course, the event will not be held if it’s raining or extremely cloudy, so check with the JDCF for current conditions. There are also many other great places to watch the Perseids in the Galena area. Click here for more information about the event.
Here are some other great Driftless Area destinations:
Mississippi Palisades State Park—Great Views, Muddy Shoes, and Eagles in Twos
6 Things to Do at Witkowsky State Wildlife Area
Author and Professor Discusses the Magical Driftless AreaCopyright (text/photos): Andrew Morkes, except Perseid meteor shower photos (Bill Ingalls, NASA)
Looking for some other great nature destinations in Chicagoland? If so, check out my book, Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit. It features amazing destinations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Click on the title to learn more. The book has 306 pages and 210+ photos and is only $19.99.
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ABOUT ANDREW MORKES
I have been a writer and editor for more than 30 years. I’m the founder of College & Career Press (2002); the author and publisher of “The Morkes Report: College and Career Planning Trends” blog; and the author and publisher of Hot Health Care Careers: 30 Occupations With Fast Growth and Many New Job Openings; Nontraditional Careers for Women and Men: More Than 30 Great Jobs for Women and Men With Apprenticeships Through PhDs; They Teach That in College!?: A Resource Guide to More Than 100 Interesting College Majors, which was selected as one of the best books of the year by the library journal Voice of Youth Advocates; and other titles. They Teach That in College!? provides more information on environmental- and sustainability-related majors such as Ecotourism, Range Management, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Built Environment, Sustainability Studies, and Sustainable Agriculture/Organic Farming. I also served as a member of the parent advisory board at my son’s school for five years.
In addition to these publications, I’ve written more than 70 books about careers for other publishing and media companies including Infobase (such as the venerable Encyclopedia of Careers & Vocational Guidance, the Vault Career Guide to Accounting, and many volumes in the Careers in Focus, Discovering Careers, What Can I Do Now?!, and Career Skills Library series) and Mason Crest (including those in the Careers in the Building Trades and Cool Careers in Science series).
Here’s a list of the environmental-focused titles that I’ve written:
- Nature in Chicagoland: More Than 120 Fantastic Nature Destinations That You Must Visit
- Wind Turbine Technicians (Great Careers Without a Bachelor’s Degree series)
- Environmental Scientists (Cool Careers in Science series)
- Renewable Energy Careers (Cool Careers in Science series)
- Environment (Getting Started series)
- Solar Power Technicians (Careers in Infrastructure series)
My poetry has appeared in Cadence, Wisconsin Review, Poetry Motel, Strong Coffee, and Mid-America Review.
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