GIANT CITY: S. ILLINOIS STATE PARK, A VISITOR'S TREASURE-TROVE

The Giant City Nature Trail winds through towering rock formations and shows off an abundance of wild plants.

Deer are a common sight for visitors to Giant City State Park. The park is off Highway 51 south of Carbondale near the town of Makanda.

Alto Pass off Highway 127 makes a nice stop along the way. The town has wineries, antiques and a hiking trail along bluffs overlooking the valleys of Southern Illinois.

About 40 miles northeast of Cape Girardeau is a visitor's treasure-trove. A perfect weekend drive will take you through the verdant farmlands and orchards of Southern Illinois to your final destination of Giant City State Park

The trip will take you through the picturesque village of Alto Pass for lunch, where you can enjoy a picnic lunch centered around a "flyin' pig" sandwich and perhaps a chat with Roger Wiseman, owner of Pop's Market and Hardware, while he whips up the $1.95 creation.

Wiseman, who recently celebrated the small market's two-year anniversary, said he sees about 250 customers a day, including tourists, migrant workers and construction workers.

He also sees hikers coming through on the Quetil Trail and some making the trip to Giant City.

Picnic areas are abundant on the way. One in the center of Alto Pass also offers a playground for children. Up old Highway 51 towards Makanda is Cliff View Park picnic area, offering a spectacular view in all seasons.

Fortified with lunch, hikers should be ready to take on some the trails in the park. Depending on skill levels, the park offers everything from short, one-hour trails to the rugged 16-mile Red Cedar trail for dedicated hikers.

The name "Giant City" is derived from an area in the park where giant rock formations create walls so perfect they seemed, to early settlers, almost man-made. The sections appeared to form the streets of a giant city.

Biologists, geologists and Sunday drivers all have found the park fascinating.

Scientists discovered rock shelters worn into the sides of cliffs reveal evidence of human habitation in the region from as early as 10,000 years ago. Black ceilings from their fires are still visible.

On one trail, the remains of a Native American stone fort still exist.

Giant City encompasses 3,694 acres of countryside and the 110-acre Fern Rocks Nature Preserve.

An 82-foot, 100,000-gallon water tower with a 50-foot observation deck provides panoramic views.

If you want to stretch your Sunday drive into a full-blown vacation, Giant City offers plenty to do.

Campgrounds are available, as well as rental cabins.

Boat fishing and launching ramps are offered for access to Little Grassy Lake, which yields bass bluegill and crappie.

The park also offers picturesque hiking and horse trails. Giant City Stables is a complete horseback riding facility.

The Giant City Lodge, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the early 1930s of sandstone and white oak timber, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The lodge's all-you-can-eat family style chicken dinner is available all week and exclusively on Sundays. The rest of the week, the menu also includes steak, ribs, chops, prime rib, fish and seafood.

Dress is casual, but reservations are recommended on weekend evenings.