Hidden Springs Ranger Station

General information

The National Forest Foundation, chartered by Congress, engages Americans in community-based and national programs that promote the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System, administers private gifts of funds and land for the benefit of the National Forests. http://www.nationalforests.org/

The Forest Service manages a system of 155 national forests, 20 national grasslands, and 222 research and experimental forests, as well as other special areas, covering more than 192 million acres of public land. The Forest Service has evolved into a 30,000 employee agency that manages the national forests for a number of multiple uses, including recreation, timber, wilderness, minerals, water, grazing, fish, and wildlife.

Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, the Shawnee National Forest is one of 155 national forests nationwide. As the only national forest in Illinois, the Shawnee offers numerous avenues for connecting with the natural world through its 280,000 acres of varied landscape. Whether your interests lie more in outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking or camping, or include learning about the unique natural and cultural heritage of southern Illinois, the fields, forests and streams of the Shawnee welcome you.

Within the Shawnee National Forest you will find a myriad of unique opportunities to connect with the natural world, including the following:
• Seven Congressionally-designated Wilderness Areas (over 10% of the Forest)
• Six candidate Wild and Scenic Rivers
• Four National Natural Landmarks
• Four heritage resource sites on the National Register of Historic Places
• 10 Research Natural Areas
• 58 ecological areas
• 2 geological areas
• 14 botanical areas
• 80 other designated Natural Areas considered important for botanical, ecological, geological or zoological reasons

The Shawnee National Forest is also the single largest publicly owned body of land in the state of Illinois.

To discover more about the Shawnee National Forest, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee and follow Shawnee on Twitter at http://twitter.com/shawneenf and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/shawneenatlforest. National information about the U.S. Forest Service can be found at: http://www.fs.fed.us.