Decided to check this place out. Didnt realize but I passed the turn off. I thought my GPS was wrong. Ended up turning around. Was no "nice" entrance or entrance with anything on main road that says there was a park. Totally disgusted that I used my gas to drove this far find nothing.
Went to Fort Defiance State Park and the condition was horrible. Weeds everywhere, the campground is overgrown and destroyed, no play equipment. The road is in terrible shape and there are no picnic tables or restrooms at the park. Alcohol bottles and broken glass were everywhere. I guess it is to far from Chicago to matter to the state of Illinois.
Just visited this morning 8/7/14 and witnessed lots of mowing by DNR and beginning to clean up landscape! A friendly DNR man said they just gained ownership/control a week ago after many months of negotiations w/City of Cairo. We were able to both climb the observation platform and walk the narrow path to the southernmost point of IL and could have touched confluence of Ohio & Mississippi Rivers. Expect better days ahead with the rest of the site! Felt safe w/DNR workers present.Also we arrived here after driving by way of Wickliffe KY. It is just east over US 60 bridge and down/south on US 51. There is another nice view of the rivers there at Jefferson Memorial Cross.
....that it is run down. I stopped here on my way back from Cape Girardeau. I just wanted to get a glimpse of where the Ohio and Mississippi merge. The day I stopped, it appeared to be "closed" (for lack of a better word), but the gate was open so I drove on in and had a look around. The view was beautiful, and inspiring if you take in the history of it all. The park has so much potential, but is really in poor shape. Still, I would recommend a stop if it's not too far out of your way just to take in the view. With proper care, this could be a really special park.
I am a huge fan of roadside attractions, and have visited many. BUT.....Sadly, this "State park" is little more than a barren wasteland. I wandered around a bit at the southern tip of the property and I saw no memorial or reference to the original Fort Defiance, its history, or story. Metropolis has Fort Massac State Park...MUCH BETTER!. This park has unfortunately deteriorated into wilderness. This park is uniquely situated at the southern-most point of Illinois, overlooking the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. A really cool place to be and see, if it wasn't completely neglected!!!! It is a shame this "park" is just an overgrown wasteland. This place looked nowhere as clean as google earth shows. Skip it.An elevated concrete lookout platform is near the southern point of the park, however it is dirty and neglected. there is no trimming of the grass(weeds) or other undergrowth. In another portion of the property, I noted there were camping electrical hookups available once-upon-a-time, but that area was completely decomposing, overgrown, and unkept as well. I mourn the loss of a park where people used to come here to gather, camp, fish, and generally enjoy a "park". Skip the thought of even stopping in town. Cairo, Illinois, is a small, poor town; well past its prime. Many crumbling & abandoned buildings were observed along the main road into town. All the businesses that remain in town were noted to have burglar bars on all the windows and doors.... a sure sign of a bad "neighborhood". I noted the remains of the industrial portion of town, sadly decaying for the last 30 years. It reminds me of Gary Indiana. I'm not trying to be funny or offensive- I just get a bad feeling down in my bones as I drove thru town looking for something upbeat and cool to redeem this place. I found nothing.
Regardless of Cairo and the condition of the park, there is something soulful about this site. Two mighty rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi conjoin at this spot, marking the coastline of the Midwest. Staring out onto the confluence that ties the Midwest to the East, it is momentarily difficult to tell which river is which. You feel a bit everywhere at once. Contented fishermen sit along the sandbars. The sun hangs low. As if the place couldn't get any better, while I was there, I uncovered an Excalibur-like driftwood walking stick with a curved handle that fit like a glove to my hand. I think everyone should come here if they have the opportunity.
My wife and I, both in our 60's, drove from western North Carolina to get a glimpse of the Mississippi River and the surrounding areas on October 18, 2014. This was our first time, and probably only time, to see this historic river and the lands beside it. We were disappointed that the park was closed, and no notices concerning the park's closure was posted in any of the internet guides that I looked at. From what I could see from the locked,park gate, there was absolutely no work being done to the park at all, only a sign that it was closed for maintenance. This was to be one of the highlights of our trip.We had been at the Jefferson Cross site in Wickcliffe, Kentucky, only about 30 minutes before, and this was a completely different experience. A beautiful park, carefully maintained, with beautiful views and historical information markers. The only shortcoming I noticed for the Cross park is that there are no restroom facilities there
I enjoyed our walk to the very end of Illinois, closed, as it was, to vehicle traffic due to flooding. The floods had receded, though, and we could tell that it would make a great location for festivals or family reunions, and there would be ample camping if it were being maintained, which it doesn't appear to be. There's a couple of plaques annotating the site's history, and a neat raised platform in the shape of a paddleboat from which to see the confluence. I'm glad we stopped, we got to nerd out a little bit, but I totally understand what the other reviewers are saying about how unnerving the place seems to be.I wouldn't go out of my way to go there, or to go back, but since we had decided to drive through Cairo anyway, it made sense to stop.
We went to Ft Defiance because we enjoy visiting Civil War sites and the fact that it was the joining point of two rivers. Wanted my grand child to be able to put their feet in both rivers. This area is in poor shape. We could drive along the road and park. We were the only people there, but there was plenty of evidence that people go fishing in this area.The grass has grown up,particularly in the area where it looks like RVs and campsites were. There is a nice plaque describing the fact that Lewis and Clark camped there for 5 days, but if I hadn't walk to the front of the sculpture I would never had seen it. We did get down to the Mississppi, but there is a lot of flood debris in the way.On the way out we did stop and read the signs in the parking lot at what is suppose to be a rest stop/museum. Did not stop at museum.I would visit again for the scenic aspect of it, but would make sure there a couple of other people with me.
This is a beautiful area, and it is really neat to see the confluence of the two mighty rivers. This area also has a rich history. Unfortunately, the city of Cairo doesn't have the money to maintain the park properly and the people who visit it apparently don't care if they litter all over it. I still stop here when I am in the area though