Bigfoot Investigation at Garden of the Gods Wilderness Cemetery

Garden of the Gods has always been one of those places that gives you chills just thinking about it. Towering sandstone formations, dense forest, and miles of rugged wilderness in the Shawnee National Forest of southern Illinois. It's the kind of place where stories get told around campfires, and where locals swear they've heard things that don't match any animal they know. A recent video dropped that dives deep into this legendary area, and let me tell you, it's worth carving out some time to watch. The footage comes from REDROOM Films: Legends & Monsters, and it follows Jason Dickerson and a small crew as they link up with two seasoned southern Illinois investigators, Joe Jenkins and Jim Peters. These guys aren't newbies. Joe has lived in the area since 1974, and Jim retired down here about seven years ago after 30-plus years with the state. They've been backpacking together since second grade, and now they spend their time doing what they call "squatching" across Harden County, Saline County, and beyond. Their research area has expanded over the years, stretching as far as Springfield and Sangamon County, but their heart stays in the Garden of the Gods region. What makes Joe and Jim stand out is their methodical approach. They've narrowed their focus down to three sites, which they simply call Site One, Site Two, and Site Three. They started putting audio recorders out across the counties because, as Jim puts it, "you can't be everywhere at once." The recorders picked up consistent activity in certain spots, knocks, howls, and bipedal walking sounds, so they began camping those locations and documenting everything. Pretty much anywhere in the Shawnee National Forest with plenty of woods and a water source tends to produce stories, but these three sites are where the action keeps happening. One of the most fascinating bits from their background involves a photograph they took at Big Muddy a few years back. A primatologist named Dawn saw the image and immediately called it "the Holy Grail." She asked for a copy, sent it out to her colleagues, and the responses came back with one consistent question: "What is this?" The following year, she confirmed that most of her colleagues had identified the subject as a gorilla. Whatever was in that picture, it clearly made an impression on people who study primates for a living. The real meat of the video starts when the crew heads out to scout a third potential location. Joe snaps a branch to make some noise, then lets out a whoop. Almost immediately, they get a response. Not a coyote, something else. Jim points out he's never heard a coyote that early in the day, and the sound they heard was more like a howl than anything else. The surrounding terrain is nothing but timber in every direction, so the chances of someone messing with them are slim to none. That quick vocal response had the whole group buzzing. Things only get more interesting from there. They mention hearing voices in the woods, something Joe and Jim say happens all the time out there. They also bring up "Whistling Woods," a nickname for areas where they've picked up whistle responses on their recorders. The plan they sketch out for a future overnight investigation sounds like a dream setup: camp out, let the recorders run all night, and see what comes knocking. The location they settle on for this particular outing is an old overgrown cemetery tucked back in the wilderness. Right after arriving, the crew experiences a battery drain on their equipment. Joe and Jim aren't surprised. They say pretty much every time they spend the night out here, they get something, whether it's a knock, a whistle, or a howl. There's also a vibe to the place, as one of the crew members puts it, something that doesn't feel normal. While exploring, they come across what looks like a freshly blazed trail, complete with old party cans scattered around. Someone had even removed three or four dead trees across the path so a vehicle could get back there recently. Then they start finding tree damage. Several trees appear to have been chopped with something like a machete, and there are snare lines set up in the area. On top of all that, they spot what could be a possible footprint, human-sized, with what looks like toe impressions pushing up through the substrate. Joe is careful to say he doesn't want to be "that guy" who sees things everywhere, but he also knows that if something looks odd, you take the time to look at it. Garden of the Gods has long been a hotspot for reports across southern Illinois, and this video captures exactly why. The combination of vocal responses, possible track evidence, tree damage, battery drain, and that old cemetery setting makes for one compelling watch. Joe and Jim's years of dedication to documenting this area shine through, and the REDROOM Films crew does a solid job of letting the evidence speak for itself. If you've got any interest in Illinois Bigfoot reports, audio evidence, or just love seeing investigators put in the work in the field, do yourself a favor and check out this one. It's the kind of video that reminds you why these woods keep drawing people back.