By Noel Brennan

LASALLE COUNTY, Ill. (CBS) -- Fall colors are starting to pop all over the city, but it's worth a trip outside Chicago to get a really spectacular view.

Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago, has been called a hidden gem for fall colors.

CBS2's Noel Brennan took a hike with a photographer who couldn't get enough of the view.

"It feels very refreshing and real and a time to just disconnect from the craziness of everyday life and just go back and explore," said Matthew Klein.

A photographer looks for variety, and fall is the season to find it.

"I'm going to go 24 to 70 [millimeters], but we'll probably try out 10 to 18 [millimeters], too," he added

Klein is inclined to say Starved Rock State Park is the place to capture it.

"Fall in Midwest, I think Starved Rock is one of the greatest places," he said.

He added, "Everything's always different when you come out here. Nothing's ever the same. You know, we really are in nature with these big sandstone walls and deep canyons and such."

Klein grew up hiking and photographing the trails, and he may never tire of them.

"There's something different about it," he said. "Whether it's the leaf, the season, the temperature, the rain, and it adds to it, and it makes it really cool to capture."

It's easy to forget he's just two hours away from Chicago.

"It's cool to just be tucked back in nature," he said. "You just feel kinda secluded."

The fall colors are just days away from peaking, but even on a cloudy day, they're already popping.

"It's always cool to see. It's always magical," Klein said of Starved Rock.

Variety is the constant that will always bring a photographer back.

"Definitely," Klein said. "There's just so many compositions and things to shoot.

"This is so cool. I really love this place."