Fun Spring Break Trips that take 5 days or less:
Shawnee National Forest/Giant City State Park
The Shawnee National Forest and Giant City State Park are located in deep southern Illinois, around a 7 hour drive from the Warren Township area. The Shawnee National Forest consists of 289,000 acres of land across 9 of the southernmost counties in Illinois. There are numerous hiking trails as well as scenic waterfalls and overlooks. There is also the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail which is a tour of 11 award-winning wineries located along US Highway 51 in southern Illinois. There is also the Shawnee Bluffs Canopy Tour which consists of a 3 hour tour along 8 zip lines.
Giant City State Park is located in Makanda, Illinois around 2 miles from US Highway 51. Giant City State Park has hiking trails, fishing, rappelling, and a stable for horseback riding. There is also the Giant City Lodge which gives each table an all-you-can-eat buffet and the famous Giant City Nature Trail with sandstone bluffs formed 12,000 years ago. Lastly, the Giant City Lodge has 34 cabins on the property where you can stay.
History tour of Springfield/New Salem
Springfield is located in central Illinois, around 4 hours driving from the Warren Township area. Major attractions in Springfield include: the Illinois State Capitol, old Illinois State House, Illinois State Museum, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, and Kidzeum Museum of Health and Science. New Salem has Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic site, a village of log cabins detailing Lincoln’s life. These places are full of the rich history of Abraham Lincoln’s life and the history of Illinois. All of these places have tours available for large groups, so perfect to bring your whole family.
Galena/Jo Daviess County
Galena is a small town with around 3,000 people in the northwesternmost county in Illinois. Galena is around a 3 hour drive from the Warren Township area. Galena sits on the Galena River and is situated in the southern edge of a region called the Driftless Zone along the Mississippi River. Downtown Galena has endless historic shops, museums, and restaurants that you could spend a couple days going through. Galena also has historic highly rated bed and breakfast accommodations that are as close as up the hill from Main Street.
Another attraction near Galena is the Chestnut Mountain Resort. Chestnut Mountain is a skiing resort nestled in the bluffs along the Mississippi River. Although there’s no snow, other activities at Chestnut Mountain include golfing, disc golfing, ziplining on the Soaring Eagle, segway tours, bike riding the trails on the resort, and you can’t forget the famous 2,050 foot long Alpine slide. The alpine slide starts at the top of one of the bluffs and races all the way down to the Mississippi River. The ski lift is then used to get back up to the top of the bluff.
Lastly, another point of interest near Galena is Charles Mound. Charles Mound is the highest point in the state of Illinois at an elevation of 1,235 feet and it is located near the town of Scales Mound. Although the view from Charles Mound isn’t too spectacular besides seeing a cornfield, it would still be a nice accomplishment to say you’ve been to the highest point in the state.
Minneapolis-St Paul Metropolitan area
Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and is around a 6.5 hour drive from the Warren Township area. The Minneapolis-St Paul area has many popular tourist attractions. The main one being discussed in this article is the Mall of America. The Mall of America is the largest mall in the country consisting of 4 floors and approximately 1.1 square miles. The Mall of America gets approximately 40 million visitors per year which is around the population of California. Inside the mall there are over 25 hands-on attractions. The average stay at the mall is 3-4 hours. There are also dozens of lodging options in the vicinity of the mall for easy transportation.
Other places to go in Minneapolis are the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Mill City Museum. The Mill City Museum is built on the banks of the Mississippi River on the land that once housed the Pillsbury-A Flour Mill. The Pillsbury-A was the largest flour mill in the world for 40 years.
Lastly, a popular nature attraction in the Minneapolis-St Paul area is Minnehaha Falls. Minnehaha Falls is located in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. The park is 178 acres in size and consists of paved and unpaved walking trails, the Minnehaha Falls waterfall, and lower parts of Minnehaha Creek. The park also has views overlooking the Mississippi River.
Great Wolf Lodge
Great Wolf Lodge is a waterpark in Gurnee, Illinois. The only reason Great Wolf Lodge is on this list is because the lodge requires you to stay overnight if you visit the waterpark. Great Wolf Lodge is an 80,000 square foot indoor water park with multiple slides that are visible from Interstate 94 and Grand Avenue when traveling to the Lodge. The water at Great Wolf Lodge is kept at 84 degrees yearly so the constantly changing midwest weather does not interfere with the enjoyment of visitors.
Illinois’ largest Amish community
Arthur, Illinois is a small town in Douglas and Moultrie counties in east central Illinois. Arthur is around a 4 hour drive from the Warren Township area. The town of Arthur only has 2,200 residents but the surrounding communities have a combined Amish population of over 6,500 people. Arthur’s main street businesses and restaurants are filled with members of the Amish community. A good place to take tours would be through AMC tours which take you on a horse-drawn carriage ride to various Amish establishments and even to some Amish households for meals.
St Louis Metropolitan Area
St. Louis has dozens of popular attractions that can be visited during Spring Break. St Louis is around a 5 hour drive from the Warren Township Area, but my personal suggestion would be to lodge in Illinois and commute across the Mississippi River to see attractions. The most popular attraction that will be discussed in this article is the famous Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, MIssouri. The Gateway Arch is 630 feet tall and gives views of downtown St. Louis and receives over 2 million visitors per year. The Arch has daily tours available that take approximately an hour to complete.
More popular attractions in the STL area are the St. Louis Zoo and Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, Missouri. These 2 attractions are only 3 miles apart from each other and both feature interesting exhibits of plants and animals. Both The Zoo and Botanical Gardens also have daily tours available.
The last attraction being discussed is the Cahokia Mounds National Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois. The Cahokia Mounds consists of 72 prehistoric mounds created by the Cahokia Native American Tribe. The most popular mound in Cahokia is Monks Mound which is 1,000 feet long, 700 feet wide, and has a height of 130 feet. From the top of Monks Mound, the St. Louis skyline is visible from 7 miles away. The park also has an interpretive center with more in depth details about the Cahokia Tribe and mounds.
Wisconsin Dells Waterparks
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin is around a 3 hour drive from the Warren Township area. Wisconsin Dells is known as The Waterpark Capital of The World for a reason. Wisconsin Dells has a population of only 3,200 people and is 19 square miles in size, but the town has 20 different indoor and outdoor waterparks. That’s approximately 1 waterpark per 160 people and every 0.95 square miles. The town also gets 4 million visitors annually. That’s equivalent to 1,253 visitors per resident. The largest waterpark in Wisconsin Dells is Noah’s Ark Waterpark which is 78 acres in size and has 2 pools and 47 waterslides. The highest rated waterparks in Wisconsin Dells are Noah’s Ark Waterpark, Kalahari Indoor Waterpark, Wilderness Territory Resort, Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park, and Chula Vista Resort and Water Park. Other unique activities available in Wisconsin Dells are ziplining and horseback riding.
Door County
Door County, Wisconsin is around a 4 hour drive from the Warren Township area. Door County is a great place for families to visit in Spring as well as year round. Although there are no major attractions to visit, there are numerous scenic beaches along Lake Michigan and small towns with unique businesses and restaurants to try. Perhaps the most popular town to visit would be Sturgeon Bay, a town with around 10,000 residents that is the county seat of Door County. Door County also consists of 2 state parks, Peninsula State Park and Newport State Park. Peninsula State Park gets around 1 million visitors annually and is the 3rd largest state park in Wisconsin at 3,700 square acres. Activities include hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, camping, fishing, and golfing. Newport State Park is in the northeasternmost part of Door County and gets around 175,000 yearly visitors. Although a much smaller number than Peninsula State Park, Newport SP is still 2,300 square acres in size and has numerous campsites and 30 miles of hiking trails. Newport State Park is also recognized as 1 of the 18 Dark Sky Parks in the United States recognized by the International Dark Sky Association. Newport State Park makes for an awe-some summer trip for viewing the Milky Way Galaxy.
Another attraction to see near Newport State Park is the Door County Curvy Highway. The Curvy Highway is a stretch of Wisconsin State Route 42 near Gills Rock, Wisconsin where the road serpentines 15 times in less than a mile stretch. Some say the road has these curves because utility poles used to line the road and the road was paved around the poles. Other less educated people think it’s because Door County is surrounded by Lake Michigan which is known to have strong wind gusts and the road naturally moved. The most common assumption is that the road was designed by the landscape architect Jens Jensen because he wanted people to slow down and enjoy the natural scenery of the forest. In any case, the curvy highway is photographed and enjoyed by thousands who visit Door County in every season.
The last attraction listed in Door County is Washington Island, Wisconsin. Washington Island is 23 square miles and has a tiny population of only 708. Washington Island has no cars so visitors and residents must travel around using mopeds or snowmobiles during the winter months. Visitors get to Washington Island via a ferry that travels 4.5 miles from Northport and takes approximately 30 minutes. Lodging options on Washington Island consist only of bed and breakfast motels which are small but quaint. Another ferry from Washington Island can take visitors to Rock Island where they can visit Rock Island State Park.
If you want more Spring Break ideas for trips to take that are a day or less, check my staff profile for another article that will either soon be posted or already posted. The article will consist of 7 day trips that can be taken during Spring Break as well as any other time of the year.
