Hey FAOL folks,

my first post here, and I come looking for information. I'm about to graduate from Penn State (great area for fly fishing), and I've been offered a job in suburban Chicago. I wanted to find out some things about living there, and also what kind of outdoor activities there are within reasonable driving distance. I don't expect I'll be able to drive 15 minutes and find impeccable national trout waters, but are there places within an hour? two hours? three or four?

I have done fly fishing for bass for some time, and have been introduced to fly fishing for trout courtesy of the Penn State classes. Recently just started tying my own flies too. It's all so much fun

Are there places to go hiking and camping?
Are there streams and rivers for fly fishing?
What about fishing on lakes or the great lakes? Do you need a boat for it? Could you fish from a kayak?

Or is it just hopeless to be an outdoorsy person and try to live in suburban Chicago?