Reviews of Buffalo Rock State Park (Park)

Billion

Nice spot for vacations with family and friends. Nice play ground for children

Andrea Foley

This is an ok trail. It is all prairie and on a hot summer day is no fun to walk. The prettiest part of this place is the drive in. Very beautiful. If you want a little walk with kids that maybe in a stroller good option. The I&M canal trail is just down the road. Totally recommend. Good for a walk, bike or baby stroller.

Matthew McCormick

Come and see why Illinois isn't just the flat boring state it's made out to be. Gorges, waterfalls, and caves litter this unique area.

Amaia Siwinski

Always beautiful and the Buffloe are a great attraction as well ! Beautiful scenes and trails

Abel Angeles

Home of a pair of American Bisons... Great creatures.... And a little find...

Daniel Kiernoziak

Great hiking trail with great views of the Illinois river. There are two buffalos at the park!

MJ

This is a quaint little place for a quick hike or some views. The paths are not very well marked but if you look you will find them. Bathrooms weren't too shabby, which I was surprised for a place like this.

Daniel Herbert

Nice place to visit for a picnic and enjoy the secnic views.

Melinda Rhodes

Another one of Illinois hidden gems!

Rebecca DeJerld

Small amount of trails to walk. The main attraction are the poor bored Buffalo. If you haven't seen Buffalo before, this is a place to go to see two.

Noreen Arnston

Okay if you want a nice quiet walk on the trail but it's not very pretty

Kim Radtke

Great place to have a picnic. Lots of shade, benches. Buffalo near by.

Scott Fish

Love the buffalo.

Julien Acosta

Bonafide beaut

Roxanne Olson

Great fun. Nice park!

Karin Kubacki

Because of Illinois budget cuts, all the trails are closed and barricaded. Besides a picnic spot, there's nothing available here. It looks like a beautiful park. We can only hope it will reopen.

Dan Traina

Good time! This park has some nice gravel walkways which is better than some of the other parks when we've had lots of rain

Adam Henderson

Outstanding place to get out and enjoy a walk

Doreen Daniel

They have real buffalo. Just be careful with their horns, if you are brave enough to try to pet them through the fence.

TheMadHatter

Prettiest park, with wonderful veiws

Michael Dean

small park but a nice place to visit

Jurgen I

Nice,underrated state park.Has a tendency to be closed in winter when there's bad weather,so check the website before you go.

Charlie Ford

Beautiful, and the grounds are well cared for. Vending and facilities are not. The machines won't take money.

John Doe

Lot rent of $6 per day from a homeless disabled man does not go toward maintaining such areas overgrown with poisonous plants and flooded over so bad a stroller was destroyed along side my shoes from trying to walk the path to the camp site... No reason they can drive up and down that trail all the time but not drop gravel to rebuild what they compacted and im not allowed to drive down to my camp site despite being handicapped

Karen Ziska

Great get away for the day!

pete cosgrove

It's a very nice state park. It's not as good as starved rock though, but worth stopping at.

Deana Southwood

go!

Toni Weiss

Lovely views, very clean, peaceful, an Bison! Looking forward to camping here next season!

quinjap59

This place have a buffalo's in Illinois nice

Anna name

This state park has a few beautiful hikes with wide paths filled with seasonal flowers, great views of the River and two beautiful, peaceful, Bison. I especially loved the way they stay together and acknowledged us.

Cari Vidosh

Absolutely beautiful! You can feel the history of the land as soon as you pull in!

Jo Momma

Small park nice trail. Well maintained. They have a couple of buffalo that were neat to see. Great view of the river.

Prayer Warriors Brother Felix

Great time with the family. Plenty of picnic tables, grills, pavilion with a fire place. Playground for kids. Very quiet. Was the perfect 4th of July Park to spend with my family. Glory be to God.

Rick Avelar

Love the place where you can enjoy been outdoors and see buffalo's right next to you. The place it's just great for time of relaxation.

Yung Goon

One of the best places I’ve been to around here to just let free.Going off the trail is definitely where all the fun is though

Lou Stastny

Nice place to visit. Clean and not crowded.

T.M. McKee

This is an old park with a wide overlook of the river. Large family gatherings ,lots of people. Gun fire. Loud and intense!!! I thought I was back in Nam. Bam Bam Bam!!! I swear I heard automatic machine gun fire. One good thing,all that noise has cut down on visitors. Except for the big family schindigs. The animal effigies are a joke. You can walk right by them and not see anything but little overgrown hills. If you climb or ride a mountain bike up on one ,close to the river; you get an excellent panoramic view. Their idea of forest management is to pull down the trees they don't like with a wench and leave them. Looks like a tree graveyard. Dead trees all over the place.

Lisa Westerman

Nice place for a family picnic if other parks are crowded. Trails are not worthy of walking, but bicycle riding would be perfect!

Scott Xavier

They have clean trails. Though you don't get close to the river which is sad. You do get to see the two buffalos that give this place their name at the beginning of the trails. The restrooms are nice as well. It's worth the hike, especially if you have kids or a family.

Jeff Coats

Cool place, great view

Celeste Sullivan

Great state park My favorite

Liz Orozco

Good for seeing buffalo and going on a hike. Buffalo are seen well, what can I say? We saw what we came to see!

Dan Kuhfal

The park needs some updating. Some of the walking paths need shoring up. It would be a giant shame if it's not fixed. They have live Buffalo in the park behind a fence which makes it great for all ages

James Fox

Nice small park on river with beautiful views.

David Peterson

Beautiful fall colors, view of the river. And of course the Buffalo.

Susan Daley

So sad. This could he a beautiful place, but the scenic areas are all overgrown, the paths have some weak boards in places, and don't even get me started on the buffalo.

victor ledezma

Trails can get pretty muddy and it can go pretty deep.

Todd V

A fun place for a hike, we went to the cliff area, walked around to the right, down, along the bottom, then was able to come up the other side after going thru some heavy brush

Lukas Trece

Needs a better view to the river

Jennifer Aldrich

Beauty!! All around and FREE!! Just be respectful of nature and stay on trails

Chad Wagner

Great park love the trails

Josh Marshall

Compaired to the other state parks nearby, Buffalo Rock doesn't offer as dynamic retain, but the scenery was still quite enjoyable. It was also cool to see the buffaloes!

Dawn Emmons

Awesome place!

Wayne Reno

Easy access to the rim views of the Illinois river. Spent an enjoyable hour taking in the sites

Clay Hamm

Great place for picnicking and hiking

Barb Parisi

It's really beautiful. I would have givin it 5 stars but the constant barrage of gunshots kinda ruined the tranquility of Buffalo rock. The mounds that are shaped like a catfish and water spider are really neat to see on google maps satellite view.

brad fox

nice state park, not much there, they have 2 healthy Buffalos to look at, lots of space to picnic, a couple nice trails and overlooks.

Alexander Ruzicic

Historical artifacts out there makes an photographer feels like heaven.

Queen PeppieD

Stopped to see the Buffalo and ended up going on a hike. This place was so serene that I didn't notice I was walking until we we're halfway down the path. The grounds reminded me of when I was a kid and fields of open grass still existed. Peaceful

Megan Patten

The trail was really nice, we took a double stroller and made it most of the way with no problems. I wouldn't recommend a wheelchair, because most of the path is gravel.

Linsey Maynard

Was unaware they have Bison there. Pretty cool to see them. The trails were very simple and easy, could be a great place for a beginner or just a quick stroll outdoors.

Kevin Hamilton

Haven't been there.

Sandi Paprzyca

Love looking at buffalo was there for feeding too cool. Walked to river. Very pretty

colleen muller

Very nice. Good to see buffalo up close

Karen Seymour-Ells

Could be a beautiful place but thanks to the state of Illinois all the trails with anything to see aren’t maintained. There is brush piled up in front of the effigy mounds sculptures, and all the signage describing them is gone. Shame on the state of Illinois

Carol V

Great place to walk. Nice scenic views

Martin Nixon

Always a great time

Christian Arturo

This is always a nice place to spend the day or end your long day in the area.

Robert Isaacs

Nice clean park!

Ryan Ferris

Simple park with beautiful, high views of the Illinois River Valley. On the smaller side, but virtually unoccupied (only 1 or 2 cars) compared to Starved Rock (often filled to capacity).

Catheryn McDonald

Buffalo are well cared for.. beautiful!!

Ryan Madden

Stopped by traveling between Starved Rock & Ottawa. Admittedly, we were all hiked out, having spent the morning and early afternoon hiking 10+ miles at Starved Rock, so we didn't do a whole lot more than mosey from the parking lot to the closest river overlook. Also, the bison weren't out of their shelter, so that was a bit of a bummer, but not totally unexpected.

Drdan Kuffal

The park is great but needs some work on the trails. The Buffalo the kids like. Yeah real Buffalo

Grant Reed

It's a nice place for a party or pick up baseball/softball game, but I never really liked the trails here which is why we usually go to state parks anyway. The buffalo are always neat to check out.

Lucila Rodriguez

Great place for families

Megan Budach

Beautiful park doesn't get to crowded.

Carol Southern

Close to Starved Rock, but not as crowded. Benches along easy trails. Nice overlooks of the river. Picnic area with grills. Clean washrooms. 2 buffaloes in a pasture!

Marg Chauvin

This is a clean park with well groomed, scenic trails and two well kept bison. Unfortunately, the trails need maps, and informational markers or signage. Luckily, I had obtained a park brochure from another park.

ANTHONY MILLER

Nice park can't wait till later this spring.

Isaac Redmond

Only had a couple of Buffaloes. Didn't walk any of the trails

Jacob Vescovi

Beautiful park, and many great walking trails. My only issue is seeing how poorly the public treats the property. Please dont litter on the trails, and please dont carve into the rocks or trees. Please go and respect nature and preserve its beauty.

Vera Wanga

No views here to capture really. Also its a hunting season in November so can hear a gun shoots a lot. Be careful walking on the hiking trail... there is nothing to see or photograph on this location.

Austin Monroe

I love this park. Great spot for walking a dog, going for a jog, or a quick easy hike. It's has absolutely beautiful views and great spots to hang out with family. I recommend for anyone looking to enjoy nature on a morning or evening.

Traci Brotherton

Big open hiking trails, beautiful view of the river

Thomas Carver

Completely different than the other parks in the area. Not much hiking to do at all. A couple decent views. The main attraction is probably the real live buffalo which I didn’t expect.

John Mills

Hand loader can not retrieve their brass in front of benches during a cease fire.

Jordan Nelson

Small park, decent hiking, but doesn't bring you that close to the river, and no camping. Has five clay sculptures of native species to Illinois River--the 'Effigy Tumli' they're called. It's worth stopping off here if you are near Starved Rock

Bryan Mitchell

Love going here on my camping trips to starved rock. Brought my Alaskan malamute with this year. She seemed upset the buffalo didnt want to play. Kind of glad they didn't lol.

jason green

Really cool park but most trails were closed due to flood damage

Mark Deavult

Small but cute park, with scenic overlooks, a play area, and real Buffalo! Please note, the Buffalo could not seem to be less impressed about visitors ... but there’re cool!

GARY RUSNAK

Great place for picnic very scenic and full facilities

Denny

The sculptures they talk about at the park are big hills that may look like something from an aerial view however from the ground it is hard to tell and most of the descriptive signs are missing to help you figure out what exactly you are looking for. Also, all the riverside trails are temporarily closed so we weren't able to use any of those. Finally the 2 small American Bison on the property were kind of disappointing because they are in a small 50 yard square fenced in area. I expected a better experience after reading other reviews!

Brian Boberg

Nice park by the river

Peter Gyarmati

A nice, tranquil park with beautiful river view and hiking trails. Facilities are adequate

Ray Pearce

Walking trails overlooking the Illinois river.

Lois Munson

I rode my bicycle from Utica on the towpath. I arrived at Buffalo Rock at 2:07 P.M. This was not my first visit to Buffalo Rock. It was the best visit though. Standing by the buffaloes' tank, one came near me and it looked like it was going to come right by me . It didnt though. It pooped and then walked away. Great shelter with fireplace, good bathrooms, cool trails with riverview and buffaloes

Tiffany Mikes

This is a cool place. They even have buffalos you can look at

David Grise

Extremely overpriced in my opinion with a very complicated rate system.

Deborah Essary

Quiet park across the river from Starved Rock but not as busy.

Michelle Block

We were looking forward to seeing the bluffs that are on many pictures on the website.... but no rocky areas/bluffs to see. I'm thinking they may have closed a few trails? There were prairie trails.... and they were nice. However our nature walk was interrupted with a lot of gunfire from a nearby outdoor shooting range. Effigies? None were marked or obvious, except on the paper map and website. This is also advertised, but there was nothing to really see. Placed that used to hold signs were blank. I know the state has financial issues, but this park needs some new signage and tlc. We enjoyed our walk, but missed seeing the bluffs. There were a few areas where we could see the river, but that was all. The drive into the park is really nice and the bathroom facilities are bigger than many parks.

Jeffrey Reeve

Great trails and such an asset to the park system

Carl Sampson

Tornado did some damage to the park and they arnt very fast to clean it up almost every trail was closed

Jeanette Pena

Nice scenery there :)

rrtsmom

Relaxing walk along the bluff.... Only down side was the construction closed my favorite trail

Keith Brest

Great place for hiking with clean grounds large covered area for get togethers. Beautifully views .

Omar Suarez

Lota of open space, multiple trails, picnic areas, huge pavilion; nice and peaceful place.

Amanda Curry

Family time hiked trailes and cooked out

Dan Senkerik

No stairs like Starved Rock has. Much easier hike.

Trevor McFadden

THIS IS NOT A CAMPGROUND. YOU CANNOT CAMP HERE. GATES LOCK AT SUNSET AND "NO CAMPING" SIGNS.

Rowena Simms

I actually saw two Buffalo. It is the first time I've seen buffalo in a park setting.

Greg Kientop

Nice state park for a hike. Sandstone bluffs overlooking the Illinois River... yes, even bison in a fenced enclosure.

Shannon Leffelman

Great place for a hike

Jackie Contreras

Love it here!

Brenda Burress

Perfect for a peaceful walk just BEAUTIFUL!

Sherri Contreras

Was under construction..but they have 2 lonely buffalo out there..look like need some love

Ralph Anderson

Great park

bonnie cushman

I love this park very clean love the buffalo

gene koehler

Went for a bike ride on the canal & had lunch at Buffalo Rock. Good day

Theresa Sylvester

So pretty

Jeremy rone

Pretty cool just wish there was more than 2 buffalo there but still interesting for people that have never seen buffalo up close before

John Scheuler

Lock work being conducted.

G an

Live buffalo. They stink when it's hot out. I live near so I enjoy going up to check on them. Great river views up there. Hopefully they open up some more of the trails soon. Lots closed recently but still plenty to see. Picnic tables and grills. Big open grassy area. Great for wandering around and sunsets.

Tim Collins

Beautiful park, good trails for hike

tile tutor

The BISON were super chill. Cool shaded area for viewing. Saw no buffaloes however.

Bonnie Cushman

Love this park going back in few weeks have picnic nice trails love the buffalo

Mike Macikanycz

Nice quiet place to chill

Ryan Andes

Nice park, we walked the effigy trail and had a nice time with the dog. We were all pretty tired at the end. Bonus: there are a few Buffalo in a pen that you can see up close.

Donald Eichelberger jr

Been there many times from my childhood era to present day nice place to picnic at at a flushing restrooms kept clean and grounds also a hiking trail keep kids close by.

Melissa Blue

The signs for the effigies are missing. :(

Vickie Byrd

Loved it. It was my first time and the buffalos were amazing to see so close up

Miranda Miller

Gorgeous place. You can see buffalo. Trails are clean & kept up with.

A G Razon

Nature at it's finest ! Illinois finest nature park.

Dan Callahan

A Year after the tornado and 90 percent of the trails are still closed. ☹️

Jim Desaulniers

Nice trails for a leisurely hike. Little to no hills. A pair of buffalo are on display in a fenced enclosure.

Norma Hopkins

Nice place for a picninc

Katie Gartrell-Parsons

Nice views

Aaron Piper

Better than most think. Some pretty good trials and a good area to have a party during the day.

Lauren Riebel

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING! The buffalo are not cared for, no food water, only grass and enclosed in a small area. Green burrs and spiky weeds COVERING their heads. VERY SAD

James Franke

A bit depressing really. They have 2 North American bison penned up in a small enclosure. The informational signage is pretty much gone (vandals) and there is a local gun club well within earshot that was having some type of free-fire freak out when i was there. The bluffs are beautiful tho.

Johnny Saxour

Beautiful Scenery

Sahil Phule

Good state park. Nice hiking trails.

nandini kubal

Kind of scary.. no boards no in person help , even no one at visitors center..

Milly Ace

Beautiful place! Entrance is hidden, must slow down to see it. Camp site is across from the mountain. Must park and walk. Only $6.00 per site! Bisons are up in the mountain. Trails were closed due to recent tornados. Richard was very helpful and pleasant.

Kim Johnson

Beautiful area, not as crowded as surrounding parks

Jayson Smith

It was a fun day, plenty of shade and open area. No access to waterfront, Nice clean place, a fun day.

C. Feliciano

This place was a really cool find. The park is at the top of a hill overlooking the Illinois River. Lo and behold, they have buffalos! Note the banner makes a lot more sense. Two beautiful buffalos, a play gym for kids, nice bungalows for picnics and nice trails. Highly recommend for an easy quick hike.

Ann Robinson

Spotted a scarlet Tanager near the buffalo pen.

Katherine Turner

Peaceful

Rebecca Jean

Nice trails, especially for younger kids. Good views of the river. Has a small playground and pavilion with bathrooms and running water.

Thad Overturf

We enjoyed the trails here very much. Handicap and wheelchair accessible for the most part. The bison seemed a little worse for wear.

Wes Salmon

Great place for hiking and getting the kids outside

Mike Krominga

Dont waste you time

Margie Baker

Great place to sit outside for lunch

Micah Wallace

Its such a nice day, that we rarely get in Feb in Illinois, so we decided to take our grandson out here. Although we live close to Buffalo Park, we haven't been out here much in the last cpl yrs. We love it, though. Clean Restrooms, pavillions, (huge fireplace and some wood) grills, kids play area, trails, picnic tables, and Buffalo. Its queit here, even when there alot of ppl. There is a place to play Baseball. Trails you can walk, that lead to decks over the river. Very scenic views. Lots of huge shade trees. Beautiful all around. We love it out here so much that we had our engagement pictures taken out here back in 2010.

Toby R

Nice park to visit. A few miles of trails and a river view. Two buffalo at the park. Flowers in bloom at the moment.

Lori Keegan

Buffalo need to have fresh food and water .

Ben Wonders

Trails need cleaned up but good hike

Jacob Maskel

Great historic park