Pere Marquette Named Among Top 10 'Hidden Gem' State Parks

GRAFTON - Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton has recently been named among the top 10 “Hidden Gem State Parks” in the U.S.

A guide published by HomeToGo ranks Pere Marquette at #6 among a list of other “hidden gem” destinations which are as follows:

1. Cheraw State Park - South Carolina
2. Rock Cut State Park - Illinois
3. Caledonia State Park - Pennsylvania
4. Montauk State Park - Missouri
5. Talimena State Park - Oklahoma
6. Pere Marquette State Park - Illinois
7. Black Rock Mountain State Park - Georgia
8. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park - California
9. Grandfather Mountain State Park - North Carolina
10. Cape Lookout State Park - Oregon

Each park listed is considered a “hidden gem” based on low online search volumes for vacation rental stays with a check-in date between Aug. 1, 2024 - July 31, 2025. Despite appearing in less of these searches, each of these locations boasts high scores in categories of popularity, size, trails, wildlife and natural beauty.

The “Wildlife Score” represents the number of observed species in each park, while the “Trail Score” was determined by the total number of trails in each state park; Pere Marquette features eight different color-coded hiking trails.

Pere Marquette wasn’t the only Illinois state park to break the Top 10, as Winnebago County’s Rock Cut State Park took the #2 spot overall. The full list is available here.

More like this: