Sterling and Rock Falls Twin City Activities

Sterling and Rock Falls has many activities for tourists involving water ways, parks, and camping. Divided by only the Rock River, Sterling comprises the northern land above the river, and Rock Falls comprises the southern lands bellow the river. Most people that visit the twin cities and some people that live in the twin cities do not realize that when they cross either of the two twin city bridges that they are crossing into another city.

Lawrence Park is one of the greatest attractions in the twin cities. The park is located on an island that is on the Rock River, and the island is located in-between the twin cities and accessible by the Avenue G bridge. The park has a pool in the center of the island that is open in the summer with daily or even yearly passes, and it offers free parking all around the pool. One end of Lawrence Park has a large unmarked field, and during gym class in High School classes would often cross the bridge, play flag football on the island on the field, and cross the bridge again before the next class. Overall, the entire island can be used for fishing all around the boarders of Lawrence park.

Centennial Park in Rock Falls is the largest park that the city of Rock Falls has to offer. The park is directly behind main street Rock Falls businesses, and it stretches for about the length of three or four city blocks with about a city block or more in width. The park has several ponds, several park shelters, a softball field, two children's play parks, paddle boats, empty fields, a one room school house, a old train caboose, a cheek, and lots of parking and a road system all throughout. One time I flew a kite in the park with a huge role of meat string, and as I was flying the kite my father left for several hours as he tried to make a kite string spool using some wood and a file, and when my father came back he found that the kite was so high in the air that it could not even be seen.

The Hennepin Canal is located behind Centennial Park, and it starts in Rock Falls on the Rock River. The canal is about 155 miles long, has a bicycle path traveling beside much of it, was made in 1890 with the labor of one of my relatives, and it connects the Illinois River, Rock River, and the Mississippi River. The Hennepin Canal is still able to be used by boats today in theory, but the barges of today would not fit down the canal, and thus it is no longer economical for commercial use. The greatest benefit of the Canal is the beauty of the trees and nature on either side of the canal.

The Upper Dam of Rock Falls is located at the very start of the Hennepin Canal on the Rock River, and it produces electricity for the city. Parking is available at the top of the dam, and boat launches exist at the dam. When I was a young child, I saw the Upper Dam being constructed, and my father picked me off the ground and held me over a rail so that I could look down into the river bed to see a work sight that was being worked at as temporary walls held back the river.

The pedestrian bridge connects Rock Falls and Sterling, and it is built on top of the Upper Dam. A person could walk from the Hennepin Canal trail to the pedestrian bridge simply by crossing a street. The pedestrian bridge is designed to continue on the trail of the Hennepin Canal, and it has a park on both sides of the pedestrian bridge.

The Lower Dam in Rock Falls is a very good place for fishing. When the water is low, fishermen walk out onto the Rock River and fish while standing in the River itself. The dam is like a waterfall that is several feet high, and many people feel that it is very beautiful. Parking is readily available at the lower dam, and railing exists along the concrete retaining walls of the river that allow a person to lower themselves to the height of just above the river without having to get into it (this allows for deep river fishing without having to even cast a line.

Oppold Marina is a park in Sterling on the Rock River that has a large pond shaped in a U that goes along the entire park. Oppold Marina has parking all throughout, boat docks for Rock River boating, paddle boats, duck hunting, fishing, a small business that sometimes is open in the summer, and a swampland wilderness aria. My family often travels through the Marina every Sunday before church, and it is rather unfortunate that this is the main attraction for my family given that the park is only about the size of a city block.

Seward Park is a small riverside park in Rock Falls that has a small playground aria beside the roadway, and then a person could drive downward about thirty feet to fish at the river edge. The playground is on a high hill whereas the riverside is a large vertical decent downward, and the city on that part of town is very high from river level. Sometimes eagles fly around the park, and sometimes they will roost in trees at the park above the river.

Ruffit Park in Rock Falls is a travel trailer and RV park open to the public, and it is more like an open field by a creek than it is a full camping facility. Ruffit is named for the actual living conditions that a person would experience at the park itself. One of my best friends from junior high school that never quite advanced from junior high school lived at Ruffit park in a school bus with a few other people on a semi-permanent basis, and the park thus gives visitors the opportunity to interact with local culture of the common Rock Falls citizens.

Crystal Lake in Rock Falls is perhaps the best kept secret in the entire community, and if it was just up to me, then I would want to continue to keep it a secret. The lake is beautiful to small town people, but most people would quickly identify that it is very very small. The lake has many other attractions, and it has lake activities as well for the family. I have driven by Crystal Lake many times, and never once have I felt included to visit it. The lake would be best for a family that wants some private time together beside a busy highway.