Franklin Creek State Natural Area: Mill Springs Day Use Area to Dysart's Pond (Blog Hike #1087)

Trails: Mill Springs and Pioneer Pass Trails
Hike Location: Franklin Creek State Natural Area
Geographic Location: southwest of Rochelle, IL (41.85430, -89.34852)
Length: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: October 2025
Overview: An out-and-back, mostly easy but with a couple of steep areas, passing Mill Pond, Mill Spring, and Dysart's Pond.
Park Information: https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/park.franklincreek.html
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming date TBD)

Directions to the trailhead: From Rochelle, take SR 38 west 16 miles to State Street in the town of Franklin Grove.  Turn right on State St., then in 0.1 miles turn left on Old Mill Road.  Drive Old Mill Rd. west 2.6 miles to the signed park entrance on the left.  Turn left to enter the park, and park in the small gravel lot near the restroom building and picnic shelters.

The hike: Established in 1982 as Illinois' 24th state nature preserve, Franklin Creek State Natural Area protects 882 acres of lowland and upland forest along scenic Franklin Creek.  In addition to forested natural areas, the park also features a dose of history.  An abandoned quarry sits in the eastern part of the park, and the 1847 Franklin Creek Grist Mill, once the largest grist mill in Lee County, today serves as the park's visitor center and gift shop.

Franklin Creek Grist Mill

            True to a natural area, the park is light on amenities: only an archery range and some reservable picnic shelters lure visitors.  What the park lacks in amenities it makes up for in trails.  The park's 4.5 miles of hiking trails and 6 miles of bridle trails are accessed from 2 main trailheads, one on the east side of the natural area and the other on the west side of the natural area.  This hike starts at the Mill Springs Day Use Area, which is the western access.  This out-and-back visits Mill Spring and Mill Pond and passes both riverside and ridgetop scenery en route to Dysart's Pond, a large serene pool in Franklin Creek near the center of the natural area.

Trailhead at Mill Springs Day Use Area

            From the picnic shelter at the Mill Springs Day Use Area, pick up the concrete ADA-accessible Mill Springs Trail as it heads south with Franklin Creek on your left.  Lots of honeysuckle crowds the understory of this mixed broadleaf forest, and this park really shows its youth in this area.  Ignore the short spur trail that leads right to Mill Pond; we will explore that trail on our way back.

Mill Spring

            At 0.3 miles, the concrete trail ends at a picnic shelter beside Mill Spring.  Water comes up among the rocks at the base of the hillside before cascading down some more rocks into Franklin Creek.  Mill Spring is quite robust: I came here on a near 90-degree morning during the driest time of year, and it was still emitting a strong flow of water.

Hiking along Franklin Creek

            The concrete Mill Springs Trail ends at its namesake spring.  Continue upstream by crossing the outflow of Mill Spring; this will require a rock hop or stepping through a few inches of water.  You are now on the singletrack dirt Pioneer Pass Trail.  Trails at this park are unmarked, but numbered posts mark key points and intersection.  Mill Spring is post #1.

Steep ascent

            The trail climbs to top a steep bluff before descending back to creek level via some wooden steps.  The next climb takes you all the way to the ridgetop, and it starts with the steepest grade of the hike.  Some wooden waterbars used to aid this ascent, but some trees that fell years ago still block the waterbars, forcing hikers to take a steeper route directly up the dirt hillside.  Remember that this hike is an out-and-back, so don't go up something if you are not sure you can get back down.

Hiking along the ridgetop

            At 0.65 miles, you reach the ridgetop, where you will stay for the next 0.4 miles.  The ridgetop is drier and receives more sun than the creekside areas, and I saw many yellow jackets on this part of the hike.  Ignore side trails that exit right.  A couple of shallow ravines are crossed via wooden footbridges.  These bridges were shaky on my visit, but they got me across without incident.

Footbridge over ravine

            1.05 miles into the hike, you descend back to Franklin Creek via a long set of wooden steps.  The ridge is about 100 feet higher than the creek, and you will have to go up and down the ridge twice on this hike.  At 1.2 miles, you reach the bottom of the hill, post #14, and the spur trail to Dysart's Pond.  Turn left and quickly arrive at Dysart's Pond.  Dysart's Pond is a calm area in Franklin Creek with a vertical rock bluff on the far side.  The pond occupies a serene setting, and its location in the middle of the natural area accessible only by this trail ensures a decent amount of solitude.

Dysart's Pond

            The Pioneer Pass Trail continues east, and the next two destinations are an old quarry and a deep rock shelter known as Whipple Cave.  Reaching either of those destinations requires fording Franklin Creek, so come prepared for wet feet if you wish to go further east.  I turned around at Dysart's Pond and retraced my steps to the Mill Springs Day Use Area.

Mill Pond

            To add some variety to my return route, I took the short spur to Mill Pond on my way back.  Mill Pond is a large algae-covered man-made pond; it once provided water for the grist mill that now serves as the park's visitor center.  A small picnic shelter here encourages you to pause, admire the pond, and think about this area's history before returning to the trailhead to complete the hike.