Meetings for up to 120 people, team-building retreats and weddings for up to 200 guests can be held at Starved Rock Lodge, a log and stone lodge inside Starved Rock State Park at Oglesby, Illinois. The lodge has over 60 rooms, log cabins in the park, a restaurant and its own catering team, so a group can meet, eat and sleep on one site.
Seminars and company events
The Starved Rock Room is the main meeting room, for up to 120 people. The sales team builds the catering around each program and offers team-building activities all year, which can make use of the trails of the state park around the lodge. The lodge is within an hour's drive of Bloomington, Rockford, Peoria and the Quad Cities, and it gives its distance from downtown Chicago as about 80 miles. The sales team arranges site visits by appointment before a booking.
Weddings and receptions
Three settings are offered for weddings. The Sunrise Shelter, 1,560 square feet, takes up to 200 guests for a ceremony under cover, with shaded seating, a covered DJ shelter, wheelchair access and parking nearby. The Canyonside Courtyard and Cabin take up to 30 guests, with the courtyard overlooking the park and the cabin as the rain option. For the reception, the Great Hall and the Starved Rock Room together take up to 200 guests, with dinner in the Great Hall and cocktails and dancing on a built-in dance floor in the Starved Rock Room. The Great Hall fireplace serves as the rain backup for ceremonies planned at the Sunrise Shelter.
Rooms and capacities
The Great Hall covers 2,225 square feet and the Starved Rock Room 2,245 square feet. Both are heated and ventilated and sit under the same roof as the lodge bedrooms, which spares guests any transfer at the end of the evening. A smaller Utica Room also appears on the site, without published details.
Accommodation
The lodge has over 60 rooms in two wings. The Historic Lodge Wing dates from the 1930s and has knotty pine paneling. The Hotel Wing was added in the 1980s and has a more contemporary style, with king and double queen rooms. Log cabins in the park, including the Pioneer Cabins near the courtyard, add more beds. All rooms and cabins have a mini fridge and a microwave.
Catering
Catering is handled by the lodge, as a formal dinner or as a buffet, from a soup and salad lunch to a full-course dinner, with snacks and hors d'oeuvres for receptions. Midwestern dishes such as the house fried chicken appear on the menus, and desserts include an ice cream sundae bar made with house-made ice cream. Guests can also use the Lodge Restaurant, the Back Door Lounge, the Veranda and a café.
History and setting
Illinois opened Starved Rock State Park to the public in 1911. The Civilian Conservation Corps began building the lodge and 16 cabins in 1933, to designs by Joseph F. Booten, and the lodge opened in 1939. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1985. The Great Hall is built around a two-sided limestone fireplace, the largest in Illinois.
Getting there
The address is One Lodge Lane, Oglesby, Illinois 61348, inside the state park. Most groups arrive by road from Chicago or from the cities of central Illinois.
