Hey everyone, I have a few questions as I will be visiting very soon and scouting out some areas to move. Not sure why, but I am confused about your public land and state parks. All of these questions I've given a decent effort looking up online but cannot find a straight up answer. So here's a few of my questions...

1. How much is a Crab Orchard Refuge permit? Does the permit cover fishing, hiking, camping etc...or are there seperate permits?

2. Are most of your state parks or public land free to use and free parking(besides Crab Orchard and the parking at Carlyle)?

3. Do most have an opening and closing time or are majority open 247?

4. Are the campgrounds free? Can you set up camp anywhere throught the park?

5. Are the trails there "must stay on the path" trails or can you wander anywhere?

Ok, I realize some of these questions may seem quite stupid, but come to San Diego and you will be amazed. All the trails are like something from Disneyland and hundred dollar fines if you even go off of the trail or are caught there after open or closing time (sunrise to sunset). Sorry, can't wait to escape it here.

Thank you everyone! I'll be there mid Oct visiting btw.

For #2, the state parks so far are free other than your annual fishing license, hunting license, etc. Camping is $20/night for Class A (electrical hook-up) and $30/night for holidays. Primitive camping in state parks is less, not sure how much since they changed rates since the last time I stayed in the primitive campsites. The parking at Carlyle is only in the Corp of Engineers areas, not the state park. Same with Rend since both lakes are built and maintained by the Corp of Engineers and also have state parks.

Smaller state parks such as Baldwin Lake and Peabody strip mine pits have opening and closing times. Rend and Carlyle do not. I don't know about Crab Orchard and some of the others. Any that do have will be clearly posted.

I haven't noticed any trails saying you had to stay on the path. Rend does have a well maintained trail for bicycles, horses, and walking. As for hiking though, I don't think anyone's going to arrest you for getting off the path. There is one hiking trail near Valmeyer (near the Mississippi River) where they say to stay on the paths for your own safety because there are a lot of sink holes.

I'm sure some other folks on here will answer the rest of your questions.

Probably part of why it is all so confusing is the combination of federal, state and county public land - including state parks, refuges, natural areas, nature preserves, ecological areas, fish and wildlife areas, state parks and conservation areas - every one is a tad different. Having a kiddo who lives in San Diego and his girlfriend is Cali native I completely understand - she was amazed when she visited here...
" You mean this is all free?" " Where are you going - you can't get off that trail..." LOL

1. How much is a Crab Orchard Refuge permit? Does the permit cover fishing, hiking, camping etc...or are there seperate permits?
Crab is USFWS The easiest way to solve the fee issue there is to just get a duck stamp - there are still fees for camping; this link should help :) There are "restricted" (read no access) areas at Crab - they are clearly marked though.
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/craborchard/VisitorServices.html

2. Are most of your state parks or public land free to use and free parking(besides Crab Orchard and the parking at Carlyle)?

Yes most parks are free- Prairie Wildlife near Peoria charges a fee, but in southern IL you can still access pretty much any state managed ground ground for free.

3. Do most have an opening and closing time or are majority open 247?
That varies from site to site - some lock the gates at specific times, some say they are closed during certain hours but never lock the gates.. the best bet is to look up each site you plan to visit. For instance - Baldwin Lake Power plant area locks the gates - Pyramid State Park does not. (Other than the refuge piece during waterfowl season)

4. Are the campgrounds free? Can you set up camp anywhere throught the park?
Dispersed camping is allowed in the Shawnee, and in some Fish and Wildlife Areas i.e. along the rivers for the most part; State Parks you are limited to campgrounds
here's a link that outlines IL fees

http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/programs/camping/index.htm#Fees

5. Are the trails there "must stay on the path" trails or can you wander anywhere?

Unless the area is marked restricted generally you are not limited to the path - there are a few Natural areas, Ecological Areas and Nature Preserves such as Piney Creek and Storks Woods that request that you stay on the paths to prevent any damage. The areas that that request that will be clearly marked at the entrances though. Be aware that you will be here during hunting season, so be aware when you get off the trail if it is an area that allows hunting - some folks get pretty testy if you wander through under their tree stand or blind..

Hope that helps a bit :)

for Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge you can buy day passes as well.

Thank you so much everyone, has cleared up quite a bit of things for me. My last few questions this time I promise! On the first link that you gave me Gretchen, it says that a refuge annual allows access to Crab Orchard NWR, but the Federal Duck stamp allows access to any national wildlife refuge. So, does the refuge annual give you access to little grassy and devil's kitchen or just to Crab Orchard? Or is that the Fed duck stamp that gives you access to all of them? I read the hours for fishing but could not find anything about just hiking so I assume that is allowed 24/7 at Crab? Also, on Shawnee's and Pyramid's site I can't find any times or fees so I'm also guessing they do not have any either?

Ok I'm done, thank you everyone for putting up with my questions.

I'd point out that the closer you get to Chicago, the more regulation there is, probably simply because there are more people using the parks. Starved Rock, for example, does require users to stay on marked trails; however, that rule is not enforced for deer season.
I don't know, but I would assume the same thing happens as you approach the St. Louis area--more people = more rules.

Old Time Banjo Little Grassy & Devil's Kitchen are both a part of Crab Orchard Refuge so your permit for Crab is good for them as well. Here is link to fishing regs at all three lakes and the other ponds they have: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/CrabOrchard/fishing.html

Thank Murdy, I guess the more people=more restrictions makes sense. So there's quite a difference in the parks between NO IL and SO IL?

Thanks HarryD, was quite helpful. Laid out everything pretty straightforward and simple.

Last time I checked, it was possible to set camp anywhere in Shawnee as long as it was a certain distance from any established camp sites... may want to investigate that issue further. We have done the river to river trail system with horses and found that some 'privately owned' sites will try and charge you to camp on SNF land.... don't fall for it!