Olney, IL

Olney is a small city in southeastern Illinois and the county seat of Richland County, home to a population of roughly 8,000 to 9,000 residents. The town carries a quiet, traditional Midwestern character, with a compact historic downtown and tree-lined residential streets that reflect its 19th-century origins. Olney is best known across the region for its famous colony of white squirrels — albino eastern gray squirrels that have inhabited the area for generations and have become an unofficial town symbol. The city lies about 135 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri, and roughly 90 miles northwest of Evansville, Indiana, placing it in a rural corridor between those larger Midwestern hubs.

The white squirrels are the town's signature attraction and the reason many visitors plan a stop in Olney. A local ordinance protects the animals, and the colony has become something of a curiosity for travelers passing through southern Illinois. The annual White Squirrel Festival and other community events celebrate the population, and the easiest places to spot them are in the city parks and tree-shaded residential blocks of central Olney, where the pale-coated squirrels are a regular sight.

About 35 miles to the southeast, Red Hills State Park offers a quiet outdoor escape with roughly a thousand acres of forested terrain, horseback riding trails, fishing ponds, and a campground. The park is a popular destination in autumn for its foliage and is also known for hosting a small herd of fallow deer, an uncommon sight in southern Illinois.

Olney also serves as a convenient base for day trips to larger regional destinations. St. Louis, with its zoo, museums, and the Gateway Arch, is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to the west, while the college town of Carbondale and the outdoor areas of the Shawnee National Forest lie to the south, within roughly 90 miles. Eastern Illinois University, the largest school in the area, is also within easy reach, along with small historic towns such as Robinson and Lawrenceville.

Olney makes a practical and charming base for a short-term rental thanks to its central position within southeastern Illinois, its quirky and well-known white squirrel identity, and its proximity to both outdoor spaces and bigger city attractions. The town offers travelers a relaxed small-town atmosphere with a clear point of interest, while still being a manageable drive from St. Louis, Evansville, and the Shawnee Hills — a combination that gives guests both a distinctive local experience and easy day-trip options.