Backpacking Shawnee National Forest: Panther Den
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2019
- 1 year ago, I visited Shawnee National Forest for the first time. Needless to say, I knew I would be back. Joe originally had plans to thru-hike the River to River Trail, which unfortunately ended up getting cancelled, but I had plans to meet him in Shawnee and give him a resupply. But we still had a free weekend to go hiking, and with storms in the forecast, we knew where we wanted to be.
The Panther Den Loop is about a 5 mile loop, with a portion of it spent on the R2R Trail. With a maze of rock formations and bluffs, it is truly a hidden gem in the woods. And furthermore, after rain storms pass through the area, you can be sure to find some of the best waterfalls around.
We spent one night in Panther Den (plus one night camping elsewhere on the night before driving down from Chicago) and had the best time there. Let me know what you think!
Be sure to subscribe to not only my channel for more content, but also Joe's as well!
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I’m really bummed only seeing 379 followers for you bro. This may have never intended to be much of a channel, but I literally turn your videos on for peace & ease to fall asleep. You’re a good guy. I live in Kentucky close to the Shawnee forest. 🤙🏻🤙🏻
Dude! Thanks man, that means a lot! Yeah this channel really morphed into just a means for my buddies and i to go back and relive the trips. It's always a riot when we get our whole hiking group together. But I'm glad you're enjoying them. Kentucky is cool, jealous that you're a bit closer to the shawnee than me. I still get down there a lot tho, that place is pretty wild.
Brings back memories spent many days at Panther den back in the 70s when I was a student at SIU Carbondale, one of my favorite places in Shawnee national Forest
Nice video! One of my favorite spots in the Shawnee, and usually not overly crowded.
Yeah there's usually people whenever I go but mainly day hikers, I don't often see campers there!
@@EscapingTheCity that's how we found your channel, we were just talking Sunday how cool it would be to camp there.
Panther Den is so cool. You could spend a full day just exploring and scrambling around, through, over and under so many sweet rock formations. I have seen Boy Scouts rappelling there before. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure!
Dude, I'm so glad you took my recommendation & thanks for the 'Shout Out'!! Panther Den Wilderness is just simply an amazing place! With all the cool things you saw there on the canyon base, there are all kinds of great views from on top too! As well as other things you have to just - Get Your Goat On & Explore! I so wanted to get out there while you were down, but other life matters were pressing. FYI, I was able to get some great waterfall footage on an outing I recently completed what I call my SNF Jackson Trifecta. Where I visited Jackson Hole, Jackson Falls, & Jackson Hollow for my birthday weekend. Working on that video now, well, after I finish this comment... Had a great time & once you see it, you'll be wanting to be coming back down.
So, I 100% agree that we need to do an outing together some time! Perhaps that will be the time!
Absolutely man!!! Next time I plan to head down there I'll let you know in advance. It's tough for me because it's so far. But I'll deff keep you in the loop if free time comes up. Interested in the Trifecta!! Will for sure check it out when it's uploaded!
The forest looks beautiful. The cave looks awesome. Looks like tons of fun. Love your campsite. The waterfall was beautiful. Really cool video 👍
Nice 1 guys looked a great time out
Can't wait. Only 62 days now till I'm back there
Jealous! My schedule has been so crazy I doubt I'll get much time off this year for hiking unfortunately. Are you thru hiking the R2R?
@Escaping The City We will be hiking just part of it. I'm driving from Northern Wisconsin, it's kind of a long drive for me.
@@cgremoval nice! Where in Wisconsin? I usually get up to the Chippewa flowage once or twice a year to visit some friends and fish. I'm in Chicago so that's a 5 hour drive for me, and it's also a 5 hour drive to the Shawnee, so I'm doing the math here and you do have a long drive! Lol
Enjoyed your video
Hope to see more in this area. Great video guys, thanks! Subbed and liked 👍
Thanks!! Might be heading there this week if the weather cooperates!
Nice video , guys . I just did a day hike in Panther Den last week and it was really nice seeing your video today . Plan on getting back out there to do some exploring . Be safe ! :-)
Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed it! That place is truly a gem.
Forest Glen preserve is 7 miles from my house lol great video
Glad you liked it! Yeah Forest Glen is definitely a hidden gem in Illinois.
How many arrow heads did you find? Think of the Indian children playing hide and seek. On cold snowy days setting under those big rocks making arrow heads
I would love to see the inside of Lilly's cave. Your not that far from panther den
Did you bring a bear bag or bear container with you? I understand there isn’t bears in this area. But other animals, just curious.
I just keep my food in a dry bag, no need to worry about bears around here. Raccoons and mice on the other hand can get into your food tho. I usually hang my food bag in the trees just to keep it away from the little critters, because they will chew their way into your food.
You can disperse camp in Forest Glen?
No, there are designated sites there which we camped at. Each one in that specific campground has a picnic table and fire ring per each site.
There are camp grounds on the East and West sides of the park. We camped in the East camp ground that night. It's more secluded, gives an awesome backcountry feel and is nice and close to Chicago.
@@EscapingTheCity There's Forest Glen, which is close to Chicago; about 40 minutes from me. There's also Forest Glen Preserve, which is 3+ hours away.
@@rhendricksonn which forest glen are you talking about? Haha! There's a forest glen in central illinois, probably the one you mentioned is 3 hours away. That's the one we were at.
@@EscapingTheCity The one close to Champaign. Got it.