Welcome to Lowden State Park

Welcome to Lowden State Park. . , Whether you're here to stroll, picnic, camp, or just enjoy the scenic views of the Rock River, Lowden State Park welcomes you. The park is open year-round, and offers foot trails, more than 100 campsites, and even an inexpensive cabin that can be reserved. Enjoy exploring this Illinois State Park gem., A Bohemian Retreat , In 1898, Chicago attorney Wallace Heckman and his wife invited a group of artists and writers to summer on their estate along the Rock River. The artists enjoyed the rustic location and the cool respite from the Chicago heat. They formed a lease agreement with the Heckmans, establishing what would eventually be known as the Eagle's Nest Art Colony., Over the years, the colony grew from a tent camp to a more permanent compound, including a central dining hall, two studios, and a number of cottages. Each summer, the resident artists and their families enjoyed dances, games, and outdoor recreation, and produced musical performances, lectures, plays, and elaborate pageants., A New Career for the Art Colony , Artists continued to gather at Eagle's Nest until 1942, when the last founding member died and the colony's lease expired. Shortly afterward, the State of Illinois, assisted by local residents, purchased 273 acres of land, including the Eagle's Nest colony, for a memorial to Illinois governor Frank O. Lowden (1865-1943). The park was designated in 1945., In 1951, 66 acres of Lowden State Park were transferred to Northern Illinois University at Dekalb, including the 15 acres that had been the original art colony. Today, the former art colony, known as the Lorado Taft Field Campus of NIU, is used year-round for conducting natural science classes in an outdoor setting., In 1843, long before the art colony was established, poet Margaret Fuller visited the bluffs over the Rock River. She named a spring below the bluff Ganymede Spring and wrote her poem "Ganymede, to His Eagle" white sitting under a cedar on the bluff above. The Eagle's Nest Art Colony was named for that picturesque tree. An island in the river below is known as Margaret Fuller Island., The Eagle's Nest Art Colony , When you walk the trails at Lowden State Park, you're following in the footsteps of some of Chicago's most prominent early 20th century artists. From the late 1890s to the early 1940s, these bluffs provided recreation and inspiration for a summer artists colony.