Garden of the Gods Country,
Plan Your Trip Today!
Get Your Free Visitor's Guide
Visit Saline County
Explore the Shawnee National Forest and enjoy the largest, most diverse natural treasure in Illinois. Major highways head to southern Illinois where you will find some of the most beautiful scenery in the midwest.

Relax and drive one of three National Scenic Byways and revel in its beauty and wildlife, especially during the fall color season. Go birding, horseback riding, hunting or fishing. Enjoy photography, hiking, bicycling, picnicking, and swimming. Try boating, canoeing, camping, mushroom hunting, berry picking, and more. Delight in the abundance of wildlife.
Get Your Free Visitor's Guide Read more
Visit Saline County : The Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest and a whole lot more. CLICK HERE to like us on Facebook to stay up to date with all of the local events, see great pictures, enter contests and more.
 
Saline's Top 5
With so many things to see and do in Saline County it’s hard to pick just five. Set out on your own adventure and discover your top five things to do while you’re here. Visit Saline County : the Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest and a whole lot more! 
Read more

  • 1 | Garden of the Gods

    Garden of the Gods is one of the most photographed locations in the midwest, featuring magnificent rock formations overlooking hills and valleys in the Garden of the Gods Wilderness area. It is located in the eastern portion of the Shawnee National Forest, a 277,000 acre treasure owned by the U.S. Government.

  • 2 | Shawnee National Forest

    In contrast to the gently rolling farm lands to the north, the more than 280,000 acres of the Shawnee National Forest lie in the rough, unglaciated areas of Southern Illinois known as the Ozark and Shawnee Hills. This area between the Mississippi and Ohio River boasts an unusual combination of five natural ecological divisions. Seldom anywhere else will you find such diverse combination of vegetation, wildlife, and recreation opportunities.

  • 3 | Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum

    Located on the south edge of Harrisburg, you will find an entire pioneer village. It represents a village depicting the era of 1800 - 1840. Within the settlement is a blockhouse, a Quaker church, a post office, a saddlebag cabin and a very unique barn with a threshing floor, a school and a jail.

  • 4 | Tunnel Hill Bicycle Trail

    Tunnel Hill State Trail is a gem of a route, with 23 trestle bridges (including one that is 450 feet long), several ghost towns, a beautiful park, a comfortable trailhead in Vienna Station and, of course, its namesake tunnel—an impressive corridor that once measured 800-feet-long until a collapse in 1929 shortened it by some 300 feet.

  • 5 | Glen O Jones Lake

    Located in the Saline County State Fish & Wildlife Area, five miles southeast of Equality in Southeastern Illinois. This beautiful 105 acre lake has a maximum depth of 35 feet and a shoreline of 2.7 miles. Facilities include picnicking with tables, play area for children, drinking water and fireplaces scattered around the lake.