Spring Nature Spots Around Carbondale

As the seasons change and the temperature rises, more and more of your time is going to be spent outdoors. However, sometimes finding a good spot to hike or even just hang out outdoors can be a difficult task. Today, however, we will be looking at several spots around Carbondale, such as the Marberry Arboretum, Giant City State Park, Inspiration Point, Chautauqua Bottoms, and Cove Hollow where you can do just that.

Starting with the Marberry Arboretum, located at the corner of S. Wall and W. Pleasant Hill, is a good spot to go hiking with friends if you aren’t planning on traveling some back roads. Although the parking lot is full of potholes and puddles, the trail itself is still doing well, including a bamboo forest, a pond, and open field and plenty of trails. The trail is best if you don’t want to travel far, and want to hang with friends.

Giant City State Park itself is a large territory full of many hiking paths. You will arrive there just by following Giant City Rd south from the school, heading straight until you arrive at the visitor center. The paths are well-kept, clean, and contain many areas such as cliffs, woods, caves, etc. However, the paths here are much more dangerous than anything you’ll find nearby, so the trails should not be navigated in rainy/wet conditions.

Coming in as one of the more extreme spots on this list, Inspiration Point is a 500-foot cliff trail south of Murphy. It’s a long drive away, however the views from the top of the trail are worth it. The trail continues away from the cliff, and contains a long loop through a valley within the mountain, where the environment seems to change entirely. A very good trail to experience for yourself, I would highly recommend it.

Chautauqua Bottoms is a pretty basic and easy trail located at the bottom of the hill on Chautauqua Street, that goes through the woods and exits near Parish School. The trail runs by some creeks, a few open spots, and some creeks and ponds along the way. Not the most exciting trail, but very good if you don’t plan on travelling far from town to hike.

Cove Hollow is a cliff-side hiking path, winding down to a cove near cedar lake. Located on the far side of Cedar Lake, it’s not the shortest drive to arrive there. The cove opens to a large cave-like structure, with a waterfall in the center. Occasionally, there are a few dogs owned by the residents of the house at the top of the hill. They love to hike with anyone whose passing through the trail, sticking by your side, and running up back to the house once you loop back to the parking lot. The trail is a very fun spot to hike, and deserves the highest recommendation of any on this list.