STATE AND NATIONAL PARKS: HISTORIC SITES ABUNDANT IN REGION

You don't have to travel hundreds of miles to enjoy the year-round beauty of the outdoors. It can be found nearby in state and national parks, forests and other recreational facilities in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky and Tennessee.

Within a 100-mile radius of Cape Girardeau is a cornucopia of year-round outdoor recreational sites for people of all ages. They are designed for a week or longer visit, or just a weekend family getaway.

In Southeast Missouri, The Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Historic Preservation manages a number of beautiful state parks and historic sites. Most have camping facilities and day-use areas for picnics, family reunions and other activities.

Herschel Price, park superintendent at Trail of Tears State Park north of Cape Girardeau, said the park hosted two family reunions last weekend and had its usual numbers of weekend campers, picnickers, and swimmers.

"There are all sorts of things you can do in our state parks," said Price. "Most of them have camping facilities and day-use areas for picnics, outings, and games.

"Each park is unique in itself. In addition to the recreational facilities, we are trying to preserve for future generations cultural and natural history aspects of that park. You really don't have to travel very far from Cape to have a good family vacation."

In addition to Trail of Tears, other popular state parks that attract large numbers of visitors each year are Sam A. Baker along the St. Francis River east of Piedmont and St. Joe near Elvins, which features unique horseback riding trails and the all-terrain vehicle and motorcycle riding areas. Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park and Elephant Rocks, both in Iron County, are also popular attractions, especially during the summer.

Many conservation areas

The Missouri Department of Conservation operates many state forests and wildlife and outdoor recreational areas in Southeast Missouri. One, Millstream Gardens State Forest west of Fredericktown, was acquired by the state in the 1980s.

Other DOC sites offer hunting and fishing. Some have camping facilities; others have nature trails and day-use picnic areas.

For those interested in Missouri history, there is Bollinger Mill Historic Site at Burfordville and the Felix Valle Home in Ste. Genevieve. Actually, the entire Ste. Genevieve downtown area is one large historically-preserved site.

Missouri's First State Capital Historic Site in the historic downtown area of St. Charles is also worth visiting.

For Civil War buffs, Fort Davidson Historic Site and the new visitors center at Pilot Knob provide a look at Missouri's Civil War past.

The Missouri Mines State Historical Site at Park Hills (formerly Flat River) offers an insight into the history of lead mining.

In addition to state parks and forests, the federal government has many recreational facilities in the Clark and Mark Twain national forests of southern Missouri.

Other federally managed recreational areas include Mingo Wildlife Refuge and Visitors Center, the Lake Wappapello recreational area operated by the Corps of Engineers, and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways area, which includes the Current, Jacks Fork and Eleven Point rivers. Within the riverways region are a number of recreational areas, including Big Springs, Round Springs, Alley Springs and Mill parks.

Shawnee Forest offers beauty

In Illinois is the Shawnee National Forest, which stretches eastward across the southern tip of Illinois to the Ohio River.

Within and adjoining Shawnee National Forest are many state and federal parks, lakes and forests with recreational facilitates for campers, swimmers, hikers, bikers, climbers, hunters and fishermen, or just plain loafing.

Tom Hagerty, spokesman for the Shawnee National Forest at Harrisburg, said Southern Illinois offers a varied menu for just about any type of outdoor activity.

"Quite often a visitor to the forest will begin with one activity in mind and end up enjoying many others that they were not aware of as they drive through the area," said Hagerty. "There are just so many places to go and things to do in the Shawnee National Forest."

One of the more scenic areas of the forest is the LaRue-Pine Hills Recreational Area between Big Muddy River and Wolf Lake in northern Union County. The scenic drive along the high bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River bottoms has several stops where visitors can enjoy panoramic vistas. In the fall the drive is ablaze with colors.

Within the forest are a number of state and national recreational facilities, including Trail of Tears State Forest east of Wolf Lake, Giant City State Park near Makanda, Cave-in-Rock State Park and the Cave-in-Rock ferry boat that crosses the Ohio River from Cave-in-Rock to Kentucky, Garden of the Gods Recreation Area in Hardin County, Fort Massac State Park near the historic fort, and Horseshoe Lake State Park in Alexander County.

Southern Illinois also has large and small lakes for fishing or boating. They include Crab Orchard Lake, Rend Lake, Lake Murphysboro, Kincaid Lake, Little Grassy Lake, Devil's Kitchen Lake, and Mermet Lake and Wildlife Area near Metropolis.

Many historic sites

Historic sites in Southern Illinois include the Magnolia Manor and Old Custom House in Cairo and Fort Defiance at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers south of Cairo, Fort de Chartres near Prairie du Rocher, the French Colonial District of Prairie du Rocher, Fort Kaskaskia and the Pierre Menard Home near Ellis Grove.

Other local historic sites include the Thebes Courthouse and the Kornthal Lutheran Church south of Jonesboro.

Cindy Benefield, director of the Southernmost Illinois Tourism Bureau at Ullin, said it's easy to see that Southern Illinois offers something for everyone. The bureau serves the counties of Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski and Union.

Benefield said: "Whether it's canoeing amongst our cypress and tupelo swamps along the Cache River, horseback riding through the Shawnee National Forest, or relaxing along one of our lakes, there's plenty to do without driving very far. In one day a visitor to our region can look on the mighty Mississippi River, then travel across the southern edge of Illinois to the Ohio River."

Within easy driving distance from Cape Girardeau is the historic Columbus-Belmont State Park at Columbus, Ky., 20 miles south of Cairo. It offers a spectacular view of the Mississippi River.

The Tennessee Valley Authority's Land Between the Lakes complex is another gold mine of activities. Not to be missed is a stop at The Home Place at Golden Pond, which features a restored, fully-operational homestead as it would have appeared in the mid-1800s.

Other attractions include the navigation lock and dam at huge Kentucky and Barkley lakes, the Kentucky State Park and Village complex on the west side of the lakes, and a large number of privately operated resorts and recreational facilities along the edge of the lakes.

In west Tennessee Reelfoot Lake offers hunting, fishing, camping and swimming. In the winter, bald eagles nest around the lake. Also in west Tennessee are the historic Civil War forts of Fort Donelson and Fort Henry at the southern edge of Barkley and Kentucky lakes.