Location: Shawnee National Forest, Pope County, Illinois
Water Source: Burden Creek
Drop: 40 feet
Directions: Going north on Rt. 145 just inside the Delwood city limits, turn left (west) on the gravel road to Bell Smith Springs. Continue for 4.5 miles to the parking area on the right for Burden Falls Wilderness. The water flowed over the road just before the parking lot. The trail to the top of the main falls goes downstream to the left.
Notes: I visited Burden Falls on April 17, 2003. As I traveled north on Rt. 145, there was a gravel road about 3 miles south of Delwood to the west to Bell Smith Springs. I took this road, but it did not lead to the falls. The correct road was 3.1 miles farther north, just inside the Delwood city limits.
The smaller falls shown in the bottom row above are visible from the parking are. I took the trail to the left of the creek a short distance to the top of the bigger falls; however, I couldn't get a very good view of it. I could see people below at the foot of the falls, so I continued along the trail to see if there was a way down. There was another falls there that appeared to be mainly water running down the hill in several places due to the heavy rain the previous night. I continued along the trail, but it appeared the trail ended with no way down into the canyon. I returned to the parking area and went down to the creek between the set of falls near the parking area and the larger falls shown above. There were rocks across the creek that were easy to cross. I continued along the right side of the creek a short distance to where I could take the photo on top above. People there were getting down to the foot of the falls in that area, but I decided not to try it. I was traveling alone and didn't want to take any chances, and I was satisfied with the photo I took from where I was.
Burden Falls is a seasonal waterfall. There was a heavy rain in the area the night before I was there, so the water was flowing well.
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Page last updated 19 Apr 2003.
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