Allerton Park & Retreat Center, Illinois, United States

5Shawn S 5:00 PM Aug 15, 2021

Great Family Reunion
We held our family reunion at the Allerton Retreat Center over the weekend. I cannot say enough good things about how comfortable it is. The Center provided for our game playing, song singing and fun loving group. We had access to the whole main floor of the mansion and our rooms were very comfortable, clean and we had so much room to spread out. SO much better than a hotel conference room and about the same price. In addition, the grounds of Allerton Park are extensive. We had a scavenger hunt provided by the Center and all participants had a great time looking for the answers in the formal gardens. It's a great place to take a walk alone or as a group. But above all, the staff and crew at the Retreat Center were so friendly, accommodating and helpful. They worked with us above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks Allerton Team for a very successful and fun family reunion!

4Smythe77654 5:00 PM Mar 30, 2007

Lovely in central Illinois.
Allerton Park is a lovely place for a day trip in central IL. Statues are located in the woods, so you can take a hike and see much great outdoor art; a novel experience for certain. Hiking maps are available at the main tourist info house, as are bathrooms. No restaurants on site, so you will want to bring picnic food or stop in the town of Monticello (apprx 5 miles from the park) and pick up some food (The Brown Bag is a Monticello mainstay for take out food for years, but is very highly overrated in my experience; it serves mundane sandwiches that would be reasonable to bring to the park, however). The main conference house, Robert Allerton's mansion, is only open on special occasions and for events, so you can only walk around it. The grounds are nicely manicured, and if you wish to hike this flat park, it would take approximately three or four hours to see the entire park, usually from well-trodden trails. No major bodies of water (other than the pond outside Allerton's house), but a calm and serere feel. Large fields reasonable for kite flying. A zen experience can be had in the Foo Dogs garden, and a pretty renovation of the arena-like sunken garden is underway. The sunseeker Indian statue at the end of the park is the centerpiece, and the large round drive and grass around the monolithic statue is a superb place for reading a book in the summer sun. Enjoy drive to the park by mapquesting Monticello,IL.