Name: Lindsay DuBois

Date: April 5, 2013

Destination: Devil's Kitchen Lake, Makanda, IL

Latitude: 37.6259^o N

Longitude: 89.0926^o W

Round Trip: 25 Miles

Total Miles: 3641.9 miles

Ben Franklin and I meet up with my good friend to go hiking! It was such a beautiful day, we could not just stay indoors. Southern Illinois has so many amazing hiking places. We could not decide where to go! Finally, we set out towards Devil's Kitchen Lake.

Devil's Kitchen Lake is in Union county. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built Crab Orchard, Devil's Kitchen, and Little Grassy Lake during the Great Depression to stabilize water supply and provide recreation. It has a maximum depth of 90 feet and 24 miles of shoreline. It is one of the deepest lakes in Illinois! The lake covers 810 square acres. Fish in the lake include bluegill, carp, channel catfish, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, white crappie, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch. We saw a fisherman looking for a tasty treat on the river!

We tried finding a path, but the one we wanted was closed. Instead, we just decided to explore! Little did I know, but Ben is an expert tree climber!

We hiked to the edge of the lake and sat on the rocky shoreline. It was very peaceful. Ben was sad when it was time to go home, but we were all hungry. We spent about 40 minutes driving round trip and hiked for two hours. Ben told me he would love to do more hiking around Southern Illinois!