Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa EntranceĮagle Ridge Resort comprises over 200 homes and villas, 80 hotel guest rooms, the 3,500 square-foot Stonedrift Spa, and 63 holes of the best resort golf in the state, along with tennis, swimming, marina, fishing, equestrian center, several dining options, the aforementioned ski slopes, and nearby attractions including ziplining and craft cocktails. It is also the location of the first, and largest, true golf resort in the state, Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa. (The only other area in the otherwise flattest state in America that was not scraped flat by ice is the very southern tip.) As such, the Galena territory is the only place in Illinois where you’ll find downhill ski slopes. The topography of this “driftless zone” is characterized by bluffs, hills, valleys, and exposed rock outcroppings, due to the fact that it escaped glaciation during the last ice age. The surprisingly rich history of Galena is not the only thing that makes this northwestern-most corner of Illinois unique. Multiple options exist for Galena “ghost tours” for tourists who have an urge to try to meet some of the city’s past residents. Clues to the rich, industrious, and boisterous past remain on historical markers and signs throughout town. The Galena River, once the lifeblood of the town, silted up in the early 1900s due to lead-mining activities, and now is largely contained by a bulwark of levies and, on occasion, massive steel flood gates at the entrance to the postcard-perfect downtown. Along with Grant’s home, there’s a Civil War encampment, the oldest wood-structure home in Illinois, and several historic mansions offering tours.
The ironwork balcony that both stood upon during their historic orations still looks out over Galena’s main street.
Grant had a home here (which is now a museum), and the DeSoto House Hotel, the largest hotel in “the West” when it opened in 1855, was the site of famous speeches by both Stephen A. Galena was a bustling riverboat and lead mining city, with 14,000 inhabitants, famous for its related, often scandalous, industries: alcohol (Red Stripe Beer actually originated in Galena), tobacco, “hospitality,” and politics. In the early to mid-1800s, Galena, Ill., was the most prosperous and important city in “the West” – much more so than a quiet lakeshore trading post 170 miles to the east named Chicago.
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