Illinois Snow? Flex on the Outdoors and Go Snowmobiling!

When I was growing up in Southern Illinois, I knew classmates that lived in the more rural areas who would get out and tear through the snow in snowmobiles. This seemed fantastic to me, as the extent of outdoor snow activity in my neighborhood would consist of building a huge snow fort from the mountain of piled up snow that the plow would shove together at the end of the cul-de-sac, an occasional snowball fight, and copious amounts of shoveling.

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The snowmobile angle to a suburban kid like me seemed exotic, a cold version of roaring around in an ATV, or an on land version of a Jet Ski. My classmates (as I understood it) just snowmobiled around their farm property, but there are locations in Illinois that are made for snowmobiling, and they're located in Western Illinois, near Colchester and Oquawka.

Argyle Lake State Park Entrance

Big River State Forest in Henderson County, just north of Oquawka, Illinois, along the Mississippi River has 30 miles of marked trails to explore. Then, just north of Colchester, Illinois is Argyle Lake State Park in McDonough County features miles of trails looping around the lake, providing hours of fun. Faster than sledding, skiing and snowboarding, snowmobiling around Illinois could be for you. This winter hasn't been overly snowy, but we're not even halfway through the season. When the fluff arrives, make it count.