Four of Pere Marquette's hiking trails (Goat Cliff, Ridge, Ravine and Hickory) terminate at McAdams Peak. A stone shelter constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps sits atop the peak.
"The Illini Indians once inhabited these hills and the river valley. In 1892, 100 Indian skeletons were removed from this vicinity by Professor William McAdams for the Smithsonian Institute. He also obtained artifacts which are now (1934) exhibited at the Centennial Building, Springfield and at the Monticello Seminary. Forty years later (1932) his son John D. McAdams, of Alton, was instrumental in acquiring this property for a state park."
From the marker at McAdams Peak erected by the State of Illinois in 1934.
