I'm brand new to this forum and 12 weeks into barefoot running (spent years running in pain in shoes). I'm successfully and safely flirting with 6 mile runs. southern Illinois is a beautiful place to ditch the shoes and act like a gazelle. Loads of great hiking trails too!
You aren't alone. I'm in Quincy. I gotta drive to find good trails. There's a good group of barefooters in St. Louis if you're near there.
I'm about 2 hours southeast of St Louis. I plan on running some of the roads in Giant City State Park (nice place, big too, you should check it out online) later this week. The park is about a 15 minute drive from my house.
I'm west of all of you... way west. I live in Omaha, but born and raised in the Northwest 'Burbs of Chicago.