Trigg's Ozark Tours at Shawnee National Forest

Today's Shawnee National Forest visitors would not recognize 1930s southern Illinois. Hills and hollows were void of trees, the rivers and creeks choked with eroded topsoil. The need for a national forest was so great that a small group of men from southeastern Illinois vowed to make it happen. Much of the responsibility for promotion fell on newspaper publisher L.O. Trigg. Beginning in 1931, the annual Trails, Tours, and Detours excursion demonstrated the great potential for outdoor recreation