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Summer slowdown at the state parks? · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Summer slowdown at the state parks Written by Tom Collins.
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  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. Remember all the severe weather alerts
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  Speaker 1: we had in June, all those tornado watches reached would
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  Speaker 1: be tourists in the Chicago area too. The summer season
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  Speaker 1: got off to a roaring start at Starved Rock and
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  Speaker 1: Matthiessen State Parks, both of which enjoyed strong May attendance
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  Speaker 1: and big Memorial Day weekend crowds. It wasn't a shock
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  Speaker 1: gas prices were expected to spur day trippers from Chicago.
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  Speaker 1: The shock came when the June totals were collected. Not
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  Speaker 1: only did Starved Rock have a week June nearly a
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  Speaker 1: quarter below average, but there were just nine hundred seventy
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  Speaker 1: eight three hundred and thirty six year to date visitors
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  Speaker 1: through June thirtieth. Starved Rock usually has a million visitors
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  Speaker 1: in the books by July first. The park has missed
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  Speaker 1: that mark just twice in the past fifteen years, once
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  Speaker 1: because of the pandemic and once because of storm damage
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  Speaker 1: and trail closures. The numbers came as quite a surprise
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  Speaker 1: to me as well, said Matthew Klein, president of the
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  Speaker 1: Starved Rock Foundation, especially for a region that relies so
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  Speaker 1: heavily on tourism. But Klein and Site superintendent Monty Bernardoni
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  Speaker 1: put on their thinking caps and have a few theories
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  Speaker 1: for why tourism abruptly turned downward. Mother nature bears most
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  Speaker 1: of the blame. But Klein and site superintendent Monty Bernardoni
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  Speaker 1: put on their thinking caps and have a few theories
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  Speaker 1: for why tourism abruptly turned downward. Mother nature bears most
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  Speaker 1: of the blame. Erratic we other Even if June had
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  Speaker 1: been mild and balmy, it instead was very warm and humid.
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  Speaker 1: The advisories from the National Weather Service did no favors
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  Speaker 1: to the parks. Northern Illinois as a whole was subject
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  Speaker 1: to near weekly severe weather alerts, and Streeter residents can
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  Speaker 1: testify to their accuracy. The city was pounded by a
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  Speaker 1: June eleventh tornado, and there were near misses across the
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  Speaker 1: rest of Illinois Valley. Little wonder that Chicago area residents
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  Speaker 1: didn't make a bee line for the parks. Blistering heat
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  Speaker 1: indicies didn't help. The heat played a big part in
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  Speaker 1: June attendance Bernardoni said, and I don't think everyone was
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  Speaker 1: comfortable enough to go into the heat and humidity. Weather
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  Speaker 1: likely impacted park attendants. Klein agreed there were many rainy
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  Speaker 1: days and a few trail and parking lot closures. Due
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  Speaker 1: to flooding trail closures, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
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  Speaker 1: has launched a massive trail improvement project at Starved Rock.
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  Speaker 1: Klein and Bernardoni both agreed the improvements were sorely needed.
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  Speaker 1: Years of record attendants damaged the infrastructure. The advisories to
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  Speaker 1: park visitors proved to be a double edged sword. Many
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  Speaker 1: visitors assumed the bulk of trails were off limits. Not so,
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  Speaker 1: Bernardoni said, who estimated just thirty percent of the trails
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  Speaker 1: were closed. The far majority of trails at Starved Rock
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  Speaker 1: are currently opened for hiking. Clin agreed. I visited Ottawa
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  Speaker 1: Canyon two weeks ago on a sunny Sunday afternoon to
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  Speaker 1: photograph the waterfall after a heavy rainfall, and I was
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  Speaker 1: the only visitor for nearly two hours. Indeed, the June
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  Speaker 1: totals suggest trail closures apparently dissuaded visitors from even getting
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  Speaker 1: in the car. Starved Rock attendance was twenty four percent
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  Speaker 1: below the June average. Maybe people just decided they're just
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  Speaker 1: not going to come, Bernardoni said, we're not trying to
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  Speaker 1: limit people coming, We're just trying to better the park.
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  Speaker 1: Unintentional it may have been, but trail closures had a
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  Speaker 1: spillover effect on Mathiesen two. Last year, a whopping seventy
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  Speaker 1: five thousand visitors jammed the park in June. Last month,
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  Speaker 1: it was just fifty one thousand. No long weekends. Bernardoni
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  Speaker 1: predicted that when gas crested four dollars a gallon suburban,
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  Speaker 1: visitors would forego long distance trips and jam Starverock. The
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  Speaker 1: May totals backed him up. Starverock attendants was ten percent
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  Speaker 1: above average, while Mathiesen set him but Bernardoni said travelers
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  Speaker 1: still need a defined window to hit the road. In
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  Speaker 1: that context, June fell off in part because of a
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  Speaker 1: lack of federal holidays and three day weekends. Spontaneous travel was,
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  Speaker 1: as mentioned, dampened by weather and trail closures. Klein said
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  Speaker 1: the messaging needs to be tweaked to ensure visitors are
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  Speaker 1: fully informed and not inadvertently discouraged from hitting the road.
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  Speaker 1: Summer remains one of the best times of year to
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  Speaker 1: explore Starvrock Country. He said, as a region, we must
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  Speaker 1: continue sharing that message, highlighting what is open for visitors
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  Speaker 1: and giving tourists new reasons to experience all our parks
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  Speaker 1: and communities have to offer