Where to climb

Girl friend and I will be travelling from Denver, CO to St. Louis, MO to Evansville, IN to Chicago, IL and back to Denver at the end of May. I was hoping we could find a place to climb after St. Louis (have to be there for a wedding, and the rest of the trip is flexible). Currently I'm looking at Jackson Falls, IL as I have been there once and know it's free camping and climbing. I would prefer to find easy trad which I know will be hard to find much of in the Midwest.

So any other suggestions that won't be too far out of our way? Free isn't a requirement but would be nice, and we will likely be driving through Iowa coming back from Chicago (could re-route if there was climbing to warrant it).

Devil's Lake state park just north of Madison, WI is a bit out of your way, but it's the best climbing you're going to find within a reasonable drive of Chicago.

mountainproject.com/v/devil…

Pretty much all single pitch trad on quartzite.

Parking is ~$15 and camping is a bit more per night.

Other folks can speak to stuff closer to St. Louis. I hear there's some decent stuff in Southern Illinois.

I hadn't thought about Devil's Lake, that could be a possibility. Three hours isn't too bad as compared to the fourteen hours from Chicago to Denver (not much difference from Devil's Lake to Denver). Jackson Falls is in Southern IL and about an hour and a half from Evansville.

If you're going to Evansville RRG isn't too much farther (4hrs). Climbing is free (except for one spot) and camping is cheep. Might not be the best time to visit the Red but well worth looking into.