Moraine View State Recreation Area — Timber Ridge

With fully developed facilities for picnicking, camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, boating, horseback riding and hunting, the 1,687-acre Moraine View State Recreation Area, with its 158-acre lake, is a beautiful, convenient and accessible locale for relaxation and recreation. When the glaciers of the last Ice Age moved through central Illinois 15,000 years ago, they pushed massive amounts of rock and earth before them, leaving in their wake long and expansive ridges that ripple across the landscape. These irregular crests are called moraines, and on their gentle swells and their broad valleys are scattered groves of white oak, red oak, black walnut, maple, hickory, ash and elm. One of the four largest of these moraines in Illinois, the Bloomington Moraine stretches across the state from Elgin to the Illinois River at Peoria east to Saybrook. In the middle of this sprawling feature, Moraine View State Recreation Area just minutes east of Bloomington/Normal off I-74 provides an ideal opportunity to enjoy both the tranquil natural beauty of Midwestern woodland and refreshing outdoor activity.