Clean, standard Hampton Inn. Nothing that stands out too much. Plenty of parking. Limited breakfast selection right now because of covid restrictions on buffet style foods, but “High Octane Coffee” is right next door and they have great breakfast sandwiches.
When getting off the highway pay attention to the turn off for this hotel. The signage location isn’t super clear so we missed to turn to get to the hotel parking lot and had to turn around to redirect.
Pretty area to see some of Chicago’s buildings and stretch your legs. The sidewalks and water are both really clean/no trash and the paths are pretty wide that you can comfortably pass other people. It’s cool to see both in the daylight and at night since they light it up. Gorgeous photo opportunities as you are walking along.
Check out Chicago Brewhouse while you are there for some good food and drinks (indoor or outdoor dining). There are lots of restaurants with seating on the river, but some only offer outdoor seating so pay attention to that if it starts raining.
It reminds me a lot of a bigger version of the Providence River in Rhode Island.
Must stop if you are in the area!
We are doing a road trip from New England to the PNW and are trying to hit lots of national parks along the way. My husband thought that we had a heavy driving day yesterday and was surprised when I told him we had a national park stop!
We only had a couple hours to stop and explore, but after talking to the people in the visitors center and the rangers, we decided to go to Brandywine Falls, and then do most of the loop at the Ledges to see some of the rock formations. Note that the bat caves on the Ledges trail are currently closed.
The entire park is gorgeous and I was surprised that it was totally free and open to the public (we bought our America the Beautiful pass, park passports, some souvenirs there to support the park regardless). We spent a little more time there than expected but it was well worth getting to Chicago later in the day (about 6 hours between the NP and Chicago).
This park is definitely on our “must revisit” list to spend at least a couple days at and explore more of the trails and hikes. We were told by someone local we bumped into on the trail that Blue Hens Falls was a must see, but they are doing construction and the trailhead parking lot is closed, so just expect a little bit more of a walk to get to the trailhead and plan accordingly.
As far as covid restrictions go, you are still required to mask up inside federal buildings (the visitor center and bathroom), and when speaking to the rangers at their tent. You don’t have to mask up on the actual trails or outside on the overlooks though.