A Walk on THE Snake Road! Cottonmouth Migration in Southern Illinois 

That is living hell for me.

Welcome to the neighborhood! I live against these bluffs and have had regular visits with these creatures along with copperheads, rattlesnakes, large snapping turtles, coyotes, bobcats, cougars, bears, and more. We are always aware of the wildlife that may surprise us at any time. Rural life is certainly not boring, it is amazing! Thanks for highlighting us here in Southern Illinois.

I had no idea that Cottonmouth was that far north. I just learned something

Theres a place I'll never go! As a lifelong Illinois resident I've never heard of it and will RUN if I ever happen upon it!

I never thought of Illinois being a hotspot for cottonmouths. You sure wouldn't want to shelter under that bluff at night.

couldnt pay me enuff to walk that road,lol

This is literally my worst nightmare.

Why YT put this in my feed, I have no clue. This is absolutely terrifying and my worst nightmare. 😂

I live 2 hours from this hell hole. I'm not sure it's far enough!

My God; that is quite literally what I think the pathway to hell looks like.

Shorts and sneakers in cottonmouth-infested trails with plenty of leaf litter for them to hide in... I'm glad I'm on this side of the screen.

I'm gonna cry dude, I wanna meet you so bad and I come here all the time! Lol for real though I'm glad you got a chance to check the place out, it's my favorite place on earth to date! Edit: that so crazy you were talking to my buddy and his grandpa! You must've been there right before I got there as it turns out, that's crazy lol.

Learned something new. I always thought cottonmouth’s were a southern snake.

As a southern Illinoisan, glad you enjoyed your trip here!

Living in Southern Virginia, I had no idea there are cottonmouths in Illinois.

What an incredible space. Thankfully it’s protected and the snakes get to live their lives in peace. ❤

I better not have a nightmare after watching this.

I'm thinking 2024 is a return trip for the Smetlogik crew. Can't miss Mike's 30 yr celebration. Mike and Justin are both good people.

Never knew there were Cottonmouth in Illinois! just thought they were far south gulf snakes!

It was so awesome to meet you man! 16:16

Nice video! I went to snake road recently and got the chance to see nkfherping, and all of the amazing wildlife!

Was just there two weeks ago. 12 Cottenmouths, 1 Northern Watersnake, 1 Yellow Bellied Watersnakes, 2 Rough Green Snakes. Sorry I missed you

A beautiful piece of earth that we should keep. A stark contrast to what is happening in the world. Luckily, something like this happens and you can share it with us. Best wishes from Düsseldorf Germany.

Living in Wisconsin almost everyone thinks Illinois is the home of the flat landers 😂...... But ive been all over southern Illinois and have seen those cliff formations and also some in southern Indiana and it was beautiful

This looks like an Epic life journey!

It was my distinct pleasure to meet you at LaRue on October 6th. I was the guy who called your name after we passed and was a bit flabbergasted that it was actually you. As a life long Herper, I absolutely love Snake Road. I am fortunate to live about 125 miles from there, so I spend 15-20 days a year there in both the Spring and Fall. Thanks for taking a few minutes to talk to me and letting me fanboy a bit. I suggest a trip in the Spring as well. The Amphibians seem much more present in the Spring and their diversity is just as impressive as the Snakes.

Really cool episode Noah! What an amazing habitat! I'm glad people respect and value it. Nice that you got to meet some viewers too

I've been going twice a year for the past 5 years and I love going. The community of herpers and other naturalists that make the trip from all over always blows me away. It truly is a special place.

Yay, he went to snake road! So cool you got out with Mike Pingleton, just listened to his snake talk episode with Cris Jenkins!

What an amazing place.Its great to know people respect this place and that so many herpers keep it safe. Definitely on my bucket list.

I'm so happy to be able to watch all of your videos from A to Z. 22:11

Perfect place......not to go!

Two,words I will never put together “Beautiful Snake!” And I would never be found in a cave with a snake of any kind! Interesting but creepy video!

Cool place Noah! I have never heard of this place, but I would love to visit! I am so glad you had a good time and it was really great learning about it. Have a great weekend!!! 😄💙🐬🐍🐊🫶🏼

That's the things my nightmares are made of! I'll leave Snake Road to the herp experts!

What an incredible place! Thank you for taking us there. I love snakes from a certain distance, so your video is perfect for me. I probably wouldn't even enter this snake road for $1,000 as a gift, too much respect for the silky-smooth mouth of this species... 🙂Greetings from Germany, where we only have two species of venomous snakes, vipera berus and vipera aspis. I've never seen one in the wild; they are very rare and shy.

I dont mind at all seeing all these Cottonmouths. They're very sassy snakes. I love that sharp angle they have at the end of their heads. They might be common, but they're still beautiful. Some had some fairly bright patterns too.

Truly incredible place! I made my first trip out there last October. Absolutely beautiful scenery, plenty of snakes and everyone there is really nice and shares a passion for wildlife. I've now spent 6 days on the road (2 last October, 2 in April and 2 more this October, just a couple of days after you left). Looking forward to the spring migration!

I love your videos I'm making my own soon!!!

I applied for a job on the Shawnee NF about a year ago, and I remember this was one of the first things I discovered when I was researching the area. Very cool to see the spot on video. Thanks.

Wow good lookin' chicken of the woods!

Nice video and good job with the editing. I have been looking for a video like this for years. The reason why is because a friend of mine showed me a picture on his phone one day of cotton mouths "migrating" across a 4 wheeler trail. This was in N MS. It was springtime and the snakes were moving from higher ground back down to the Yocona River bottom. It was unreal how many snakes were in that photo and most of them were huge. I would say there was at least 12 in the picture. I have told people that story and they act like they don't believe me or say "I don't think snakes migrate". This video proves that they do exactly that. Anyway my friend said it really shook them up seeing that many cotton mouths in one place and they didn't want to run over any, so they turned around and went back. I have a great deal of respect for snakes and I'm glad to see your research and videos. Thanks for posting!

Love it. So great to meet up and hang out. You're awesome, you both are.

We went out to snake road 2 weeks after you and got ≈75 snakes 7 species. Too bad we missed you 😢.

i have traveled fr michigan x 2 to enjoy the wonders of snake road. it is magical

Your close enough to my area, reelfoot lake it’s in the very northwest corner of Tennessee you should herp that area it’s all swamp and absolutely loaded. I’m from the obion county side of reelfoot.

Wow I didn't think cotton mouth came this far north.

I just got bit by a copperhead 3 weeks ago 10/10 dont recommend 😂

Very awesome! Thanks guys.

Snakes be snakin

It will never cease to amaze me how people KNOWINGLY venture into such a dangerous location and nonchalantly walk around in shorts, bare legged and flemsy walk shoes where you in a hour you come across a dozen things that could strike your unprotected skin and kill you.

very beautiful habitat! Thanks for sharing!

Really enjoyable video. Thanks for sharing.

So I literally missed seeing you guys by a single day...I left the area that rainy morning (found a box turtle a few miles south of the area on the way out though), was wandering about the couple days before. A bit surreal recognizing the exact spots you're at for once...

Went on very memorable field trips there as a student at SIU, and took my wife on our first date there years later. Live in Maine now, a state with few snakes, and no cotton mouths, and have enjoyed telling people about it. Hope to return some day, thanks!

Neat! Heard a lot about it from a coworker when I was working in Carbondale last summer, but never went out there.

Great episode!

Noah, you outdid yourself. I was planning on making a trip there next year. That place is awesome.

This was so wholesome ❤

Wow very cool place!

Snake Road: Everyone looks down for snake. Snake falls out of tree on shoulders instead.

Awesome video, I have family in Illinois and will be asking to make the drive next time I visit. I live in the low-country of SC probably pretty close to you and I haven't seen a cottonmouth or copperhead in years. Although I don't primarily herp I hunt turkey, ducks, and deer and still have not seen much lately. Believe it or not it's probably been 10 years since I have seen a copperhead or cottonmouth in the wild even when I am in the woods 2-3 days a week for multiple hours at a time (other than a beautiful copperhead I admired in horticulture class about 5 years ago). My typical finds are eastern king snakes, Eastern ribbon snakes, black racers, banded water snakes, ring necks, and the occasional rough green snake every couple years falling out of trees on me. I have even tried flipping structures recently to no avail. I have never seen any rattlers in the wild so those are on my list, mud snakes, corns, hognose, brown snakes, and corals I have never seen either. I know one of these days I will stumble upon some in the forests I hunt and explore. Until then I will keep searching and enjoying the bird life around me. Happy herping and keep up with the fun content!

Nice to see a snake road video from you 👍 I'm from IL, been there probably 50-75 times

First time I see the Snake Road live on video. Probably a must visit, even just due to its good reputation. Curiously, no cottonmouth tried to display at all.

I love the markings on those baby Cottons..

KOOL. THANX 4 SHARING

I grew up on the edge of Shawnee Forest (near Goreville) and never realized how snake rich the area was. Great video!

This is so cool Noah! I've been there many times. Such an amazing place to visit and see amazing herps. You're on my home turf and it's awesome to see... Keep up your superb content!

These snake hunters are more well spoken then others I’ve met hehe

I love the outdoors but snakes have been my biggest fear. I can watch your videos because I know I am not in the same place as the snakes. I am better about the non venomous snake but I am still terrified of the venomous. With that being said I hope you have enjoyed your time in Southern Illinois! I hope you got to see more of the beautiful Shawnee National Forest! If you go to the Garden of the Gods, you will see copperheads in that area.

What a beautiful area!

Cottonmouths in Ill, who woulda thought..

Great video. I’m happy to sit comfortably in my home and watch. I’m trying to get over my fear of snakes and walking among them might not do it!

I remember hearing about Snake Road from the old Herping With Dylan days back when I was first getting into herping and it’s cool to now see Noah walk it too.

That’s an awesome place!

Very cool vid and I really enjoyed it. I like the shots of the area, the swamp and bluffs and of course, all the snake sightings. For a novice like me, some of the cotton mouths looked somewhat like copperheads. In my area, the moccasins are always dark-colored, mostly black. It's easy to understand why " location location location" is such a big issue! The interviews were good, not too long but just enough to be interesting. It's a well done episode! You did a good job!

Well interesting place and I'm glad you and many others are enjoying it. I definitely don't understand the snake attraction but, enjoy it and stay safe.

This looks like a wonderful place to take the wife and kids out for a walk in nature to enjoy the beautiful flora and fauna.

Heartwarming to see families and friends sharing their lifelong joy of herping … snake lovers united !

My most interesting things there were a May 7th trip where I didn't see a single cottonmouth. Mostly rough greens. Another trip I saw a guy collecting morels and other mushrooms. Had a buddy that got over 200 cottonmouths one day in October. I've never had an exceptional visit there.

Glad you enjoy southern Illinois. We have a pretty special place. I've met a lot of lifelong friends on snake road.

Great video.

Love Snake Rd! Love Agkistrodon contortrix!

Great video

This is so very interesting!!

Great video....super interesting

Nice werk, I live in CO and had the opportunity to catch the migration in full force . Grand Slammed it. One timber handful of copper heads and like 30 moccasins. Tried to find morels but couldn't get my eyes in the game due all the snakes moving around.. thanks

cool video. cool spot.

What a cool shot at 7:15.

Great shot of the millipede taking a poo. 👍 lol

Saw similar thing in the Ouchita Mountains of Oklahoma but with Copperheads. Hundreds of them in one place up on top of the mountains.

Dope ass spot man! Reminded me of Ozarks in Arkansas

I’m glad to see Kaitlin- managed to survive both those attacks -

Man that is a lot of snakes i live in east TN now but lived in S IL a few years as a young boy near Vieanna in Tunnel Hill and we saw a lot of snakes there as well. I have heard of that location but seeing this video wow seeing it is crazy thanks for putting it up!

Wow I'm sorry I hate all snakes but there is kn pretty snakes 😮

such a cool place wish I lived closer

This is so cool! I have to tell my son about this!

Northern most point for Cypress trees is the Pokomoke River in Maryland. Another great episode brotha!!

Snake road is awesome I would love to go there one with my wife and look at the awesome Snakes

New to Kansas here, absolutely petrified of ALL snakes, earthworms too! Copperheads keep me inside and no idea if cottonmouths here too