Starved Rock State Park Doesn’t Want You To Visit This Fall

A popular Illinois state park is discouraging visitors from coming this fall and winter, reports WQAD.

Starved Rock in Utica, is popular with tourists because of its miles of canyons and scenic waterfalls. But after a busy summer full of a record number of visitors, the park would prefer a slow October.

President of the Starved Rock Foundation Pam Grivetti says 97,000 people visited the park on Labor Day weekend alone. The sandstone the park is made up of is eroding away like never before.

"The park is literally being destroyed by too much foot traffic," Grivetti said. "If we were a national park, which we aren't, we would have ranked 11th in the national park attendance system."

Visitor popularity has increased since the park's waterfalls have gone viral on social media over the last few years. Grivetti says people come to take waterfall selfies without understanding the historical importance of the park.

Grivetti has written a letter to Illinois lawmakers urging the Department of Natural Resources to charge an admission fee to help pay for maintenance and a Conservation Police Force to patrol the park.