Red Hills State Park in Lawrence County, Illinois, combines a river-country landscape with a mid-twentieth-century reservoir centered on Red Hills Lake. The area was once part of the Vincennes Tract, ceded to the United States in 1795 after General Anthony Wayne’s defeat of the Western Confederacy, and later crossed by Old Cahokia Trace, a main route between Vincennes and St. Louis. The modern park was created when Muddy Creek was dammed and the park opened in 1953. With hills, prairies, woods, wetlands, trails, campsites, and lake access for quiet boating and fishing, it remains a year-round recreation area.