This place is fantastic! Highly recommend. Cute, quiet, eco-friendly and a breakfast to die for…read more This was an awesome home base for a four-day hiking trip. Friendly staff, would 100% stay again!

After hearing about Exploring Illinois on Chicago Channel 5 news, I was curious about an Eco lodge…read moredownstate Illinois. After doing some googling, I came across Makanda Inn, in Makanda, Illinois. The website was great! It gave me a lot of insight to the lodge and the whole area of the Shawnee National Forest! This lodge is completely eco friendly. I was looking for a place to celebrate mine and my partners' 3 year anniversary! The drive down is quite long but soo worth it! The accommodations and our room in the lodge itself was lovely! So clean and spacious. It has a stone shower floor with a large shower head. The carpet in the room is so plush and cozy. We loved everything about the Inn. The Innkeepers - Shawna and Greg were so nice and accommodating. They have a cute little bar and a beautiful outside area with a fire going at night. It is a great location so close to trails and exploring too! We highly recommend this lovely little hidden spot!

Peach season is here and that means peach smoothies are back. Grab a smoothie and get your photo…read moretaken in the zinnia field or in from the of flag barn. Dont forget to stop and check out the chickens and goats. They are celebrating 150 years of a family farm. Add this to your summer bucket list.

Great place for fresh appple, peaches, etc. Open seasonally. Check their hours before going.read more

Such an awesome place to visit. So many animals to see and pet. It's so obvious how well loved and…read moretaken care of the animals are. The owner is so friendly and great with people of all ages. From kangaroos to zebras, from zonkeys to camels, llamas to alpacas, this place has it all. The goats and sheep and chickens wander freely and are spoiled by all the guests petting them. Truly a wonderful place for families to make great memories.

Sadly, I have to give this business a one star. I looked them up and their hours stated that they…read morewere open until 5pm. We drove over an hour with a 2 year old and an infant. We got out of the car and were told they closed at 1pm and that no one was there to give us a tour, I informed the man that the hours online state they are open until five, he said okay he would look and then in the house and slammed the door. Needless to say, we won't be back.

Very nice facility and the horses are well cared for. They have an indoor arena with fans to keep…read moreyou cool. They also two outdoor arena's and trails for your riding pleasure. Fantastic facility to enjoy riding.

For all the naysayers on here and the ones who seem to think they know how the barn burned, please…read morecontact the fire department and they will tell you. Yes, there was a water heater to heat the water in the old bathroom. I got hot water out of it many times. Next, I wonder how many of you were up and making sure 50 horses were fed and watered by 6am on all these cold freezes we have had?!?! Nick and Kristine are there every morning and recheck every evening. I went on vacation for a month and came back and my horse looked better than when I left. So B4 you speak badly of someone, know there out there busting their butts to take care of your horse when you don't want to. Don't like his feed, buy your own, don't bitch about it. Go anywhere that has large facilities, you will have the same. Food offered, don't like it but your own. Stop complaining cos horse boarding stables are becoming far and few with what Sugar Creek offers.

For my friend group, this is the favorite vineyard on the Shawnee wine trail! They have a wide…read morevariety of wine and cider. There is also food for purchase (and they allow you to bring your own picnic food as well). The space is large and relaxed with seating indoors and outside (several levels behind their building). We enjoyed our tasting flights on the top covered, shaded patio. You are able to mix wine and cider in a flight. They have lots of different cider flavors and they are all gluten-free. The servers were friendly and knowledgeable. You may want to bring your growler to take cider home - they were sold out of cans on our visit.

Owl Creek has a great selection of ciders and the best sangria on the wine trail. Their food is…read morealso really good for midday snacks on the trail. Loved: both white and red sangria, chicken bacon ranch quesadilla. The quesadilla is a very large portion that could be split between two people Liked: the wine selection is okay, and some of the ciders are extremely sweet for me.

Absolutely Crushed It! Needed a meal for 30 athletes, and Brian took good care of them. It was…read moreeverything we needed and More. We will be using the Iron Saddle regularly. Thank you

I thought I should update my review since this has become my favorite place in Salem. First, it…read moreseems like things are always changing there. I think the dining room configuration has settled into the bar area, which is large, well lit and comfortable. They added a salad bar several months ago. It's a good salad bar with several side salads (like potato or pasta salad) always available. Then they added an AYCE taco bar on Tuesday night. Then they added an AYCE fried chicken on Wednesday night. I've settled in to a usual meal - chicken tenders, cowboy beans and and corn cob Bette's. I know it sounds like a meal for a 10 year old but they are all great and better than comparable items in the area. I wish I didn't like them so much so I could try other items. My wife often gets the salmon, but has got grilled cheese and soup the last couple of times and pasta before that. I have branched out into appetizers a couple of times and have enjoyed pretty much all of them. Servers are friendly, attentive and efficient. Some seem like they've been there since it opened.