Moraine Hills State Park

Moraine Hills State Park

Parks Directory of the United States / State Parks / Illinois

Location: 3 miles south of McHenry in the northeast corner of the state.
Facilities: Picnic areas with drinking water and rustic toilet facilities, picnic shelters, concession building with restrooms, multi-use trails (10 miles), fishing piers (é), boat rentals (private watercraft prohibited), interpretive center, playground, restrooms.
Activities: Boating (electric motors only), canoeing, fishing, hunting, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, wildlife viewing.
Special Features: Park derives its name from a geological formation known as a moraine, which is an accumulation of boulders, stones, and other debris deposited by a glacier. As glacial ice melted here following the Wisconsin glaciation period, it left gravel-rich deposits called kames that make up the park's wooded hills and ridges. The 48-acre Lake Defiance near the center of the park was formed when a large portion of ice broke away from the main glacier and melted. This lake, which is gradually filling in with peat from its unstable shoreline, is one of the few glacial lakes in Illinois that has remained largely undeveloped, maintaining a near-natural condition.
Address: 914 S River Rd
McHenry, IL 60051
Phone: 815-385-1624;
Web: dnr.state.il.us/Lands/Landmgt/PARKS/R2/MORHILLS.HTM
Size: 2,200 acres.

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See other parks in Illinois.