The trail will take you to an asphalt path that leads to Milwaukee Ave. From there, just stay on the grass along the east side of Milwaukee Ave and go South past the Par King mini golf and turn left (east) into the parking lot of the Cubby Bear restaurant. You can expect occasional mudholes on this section even when conditions are moderately dry. and let me know if you find them. The Route 22 crossing (Half Day Road) is a surface crossing and actually requires crossing two busy roads. The race was founded in 1957 by Ralph Frese , and is the second oldest continual canoe race in the United States. Be sure to check water conditions with the Forest Preserves of Cook County before departing since even a moderate rain could make the waterways dangerous. The Des Plaines River Trail in Lake County is a well maintained and well traveled trail that runs the length of Lake County along the Des Plaines River. The gravel trail continues south to Golf Road where the trail heads east along Golf Road to the intersection where you can cross using the lights. The trail width varies and at times is actually narrow enough to be considered singletrack (though it's not exactly the kind of prime singletrack that draws the interest of mountainbikers). The trail has paved sections, improved unpaved sections and sections where is essentially a footpath. Cook County has also prioritized improving the Central portion of the River Trail. The next six miles are a frequently changing mix of woodlands and prairie areas. The Des Plaines River Trail is a multi-use trail. Further south, the trail leads to a set of railroad tracks. Biking Cook County's Des Plaines River Trail A page on an independent website that has some good info on the Cook County portion of the Des Plaines River Trail. The route of I remember riding a portion of the trail north of Gurnee once several days after heavy rains had ended and found miles of flooded trail with long sections greater than a foot deep and some short sections up to about 4 feet deep. Heading south out of Independence Grove, you'll start with some open prairie areas then encounter alternating sections of prairie and woodlands. This is sooooo much better than the old way. click here to download my Higher Resolution PDF version of Lake County Des Plaines River Trail Map. The purpose of the Des Plaines River Watershed-Based Plan is to reduce the impacts of water pollution and flood damage; and restore watershed lakes, streams and wetlands to healthy condition. Old School Forest Preserve and Wright Woods Forest Preserve have additional trails connecting with the DPR trail that you can try (there are maps posted at the intersection with DPR). The Des Plaines River trail encompasses a lot of space, serving as one of the longest trails in the Chicago area. The Des Plaines River Trail does have posts with arrows (Marked DPR) designating the appropriate trail to follow. It’s open for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding and The area south of Route 22 is a heavily developed area of condos a convention center/resort and golf course, and there is only a little over a mile of trail here before the trail ends at West Riverside Road (see below). Access to the trail in Cook County is available at the numerous Forest Preserves that line trail. Pay attention to these because the most obvious trail is not always the correct one. The trail then continues another 20+ miles south through Cook County to Maywood. My estimation is that at about 3.5 ft on the gauge, you would start seeing water on these lower crossings and above 4.0 ft, you should expect that some of these crossings will start to become impassible. The trail gives unparalleled access to the Des Plaines River. Once across Golf Road you're back onto natural surfaced trail heading through the Big Bend Lake Forest Preserve. You can take either Ballard Road or Rand Road, but neither of these is very bicycle friendly. The Major Taylor Trail runs from Dan Ryan Woods south to Whistler Woods and includes paved segments, off-street paved segments managed by the Chicago Park District, and on-street segments. The water had started to clear up and I was able to see fish swimming on the trail along side my bike as well as crawfish crawling under the water. The original map page I linked to is gone, and I couldn't find a new page for them on the site. Then follow Campground road all the way down to Algonquin Road. In early fall of last year, over $1 million in funding was secured to execute an engineering study along this Central section Des Plaines River Trail from A section of the Des Plaines River Trail in the Cook County Forest Preserve west of Maine South High School in Park Ridge. About half way down the park road (about even with the canoe launch) the trail continues off of the south side of the road (pay close attention as the trail is easy to miss). Des Plaines River Canoe & Kayak Marathon is CANCELLED. You'll come off the trail onto the park road and head east, crossing Milwaukee Ave and continuing on Winkelman Road looking for the trail on the north (left) side of the road. The Cal-Sag Trail will eventually stretch 26 miles from Sag Quarries in Lemont to the Burnham Greenway near the Indiana border. Des Plaines Park District Visit the Des Plaines Park District website , or call 847.391.5700 for more information about their recreational programs, facilities, and services including: Mystic Waters family aquatic center with water slides, lazy river, leisure pool, and drop slides The trail gives unparalleled access to the Des Plaines River. The Des Plaines River is the site of the Des Plaines River Canoe & Kayak Marathon. The Lake County Forest Preserve system and Cook County Forest Preserve System own a significant portion of the land along the trail, which combined, with frequent naturally occurring flooding of the Des Plaines River, keeps development along the trail to a minimum despite the growing communities in this area. We began this hike just south of Route 22, which led us south through the recently completed trail section and beyond to the southern border of the county. I don't have a car and I'd be making the trek from Lakeview, will probably do one way via L. When you’re surrounded by 70,000 acres of wild and wonderful, there’s no better place to feel free. Bikes are not allowed on these trails so make sure you stay on the DPRT. For information on additional sections of the DPRT in Cook County, use the links below: Des Plaines Trail at Cook County Forest Preserve District. There are lights at this busy intersection with push buttons to get a "walk" light, but it can be a long wait and the drivers here don't seem to respect your walk signal. Because of the natural surfaced sections of trail, this trail is better ridden with a mountain bike though it is possible to ride it with a road bike provided conditions are dry and firm. They basically took farmland and turned it back into wetlands. The trail surface varies from natural surfaced (dirt) to gravel/crushed stone to some paved sections. The Forest Preserve Foundation supports the mission and goals of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. 1 Woods Forest Preserve where there is additional trail access. The goal of this group is to have a place to update on trail conditions, promote the use of the DPRT and to help new comers navigate the trail system. This mile-long paved loop connects to the Major Taylor Trail. Every few years we get some heavy flooding in the area and long sections of the trail can become flooded. 8,812 were here. Starting at Big Bend Lake, head south on the Yellow Unpaved Trail for about a mile, where you’ll come across a short paved section through the City of Des Plaines. Users of the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) will be happy to hear that there are some exciting opportunities and improvements coming to the trail. The northern part of the Des Plaines River Trail, which stretches from Wisconsin to Cook County and runs for 31.4 miles and passes through 12 forest … Des Plaines River is closed off to any kind of motor boating making it perfect to test your rowing skills. From the trail you'll occasionally see stuff sticking up out of the wetlands that ain't exactly natural. During non-flood times, the 12-food wide trail closes a crucial gap in the roughly 50-mile Des Plaines River Trail and the greater Grand Illinois Trail. There is a fork in the trail here, take the right trail to continue on across Ballard Road and on to Rand Road where the trail ends (see next section for connector to southern section of trail in Cook County). The scenic Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway in Lake County has been designated as a National Recreation Trail. There are couple more miles of the Lake County portion of the Des Plaines River trail further south. Be sure to check water conditions with the Forest Preserves of Cook County before departing since even a moderate rain could make the waterways dangerous.. Plank Road Meadow in Riverside is the place to head if you want to access the Des Plaines River by canoe or Kayak. No matter where you live in Lake County, you have a forest preserve within about a 10-minute drive of your home. From what I observed, the lowest crossing is at Route 60, with the Route 120 crossing and Grand Ave crossing coming in as close seconds. Another benefit of a trail that follows a river is the lack of crossroads. If heading Northbound, just do the reverse, however you need to make sure you catch the new paved pathway on the left (west) side of Campground Road just before you go under the Railroad Tracks (otherwise you will end up on Highway 14). The Lake County Forest Preserve and Cook County Forest Preserve systems own a significant portion of the land along the river which contributes to its wild feel. The Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) is a 31.4 mile (41 miles planned) hiking and paddling trail leading from the Wisconsin/Illinois border all the way through Lake County and almost to Chicago. The Des Plaines River Trail is a scenic multi-use trail that meanders its way along the Des Plaines River, with 28+ miles of continuous trail in Lake County, Illinois and additional sections of trail (not continuous) in Cook County It used to be two separate maps (one for north cook county and one for south). Des Plaines River is closed off to any kind of motor boating making it perfect to test your rowing skills. Beck Lake is located in the Cook County Forest preserves bordered by Des Plaines, IL and Glenview, IL. Complete and detailed guide of the Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway from the Old School Preserve to Lake-Cook Road. There are many additional trails (not shown on map) that intersect with the Des Plaines River Trail. The unpaved Des Plaines Trail follows its namesake river through more than a dozen forest preserves, allowing visitors to enjoy casual strolls, full-day adventures and anything in between. Once on the paved pathway, things get a whole lot easier (route is shown with Yellow dashed line). Head West on Winkelman road to Milwaukee Ave and go straight across Milwaukee Ave onto the park road the leads into Allison Woods Forest Preserve. In 2020 the trail was named a National Recreation Trail! Again, these are estimations so you should allow for some variance, but these notes have worked pretty well for me in predicting flooding of these critical road crossings. This page was last modified on 17 July 2011, at 17:04. After the water subsided, I came back and rode more of the trail and found several places further down the trail where large logs had floated in from the surrounding wooded areas and blocked the trail. Cross Algonquin Road and you will see the trail just to the East of the Park Road. The Des Plaines River Trail is a major, regional trail running for approximately 55 miles, north-south in Lake and Cook counties. A significant portion of the land along the trail is protected public lands in the form of numerous Forest Preserves, city parks, and other protected lands, but it's actually the natural wide flood plain along the Des Plaines River that has helped to prevent development of this corridor that runs through the quickly growing suburban area northwest of Chicago. The Thorn Creek Trail System's nearly 20 miles of paved and unpaved trails connect multiple forest preserves, winding past lakes, wetlands and woodlands. After crossing into Cook County, you'll immediately notice the trail changes from the wide crushed stone surface that runs the length of Lake County into a narrower natural surfaced trail. The Des Plaines River Trail is a 60-mile long trail system located in Lake and Cook Counties in Northeast Illinois. You can click here Independence Grove Forest Preserve is large forest preserve with a very large developed park area with plenty of parking and restroom facilities. Along the water trail, it changes its character (and legal classification) from a prairie stream to a large urban river, and then to a major industrial waterway. The Des Plaines River Trail in Cook County is not as developed as it is in Lake County. Des Plaines River Trail The Des Plaines River Trail runs alongside the Des Plaines River for just over 56 miles, protecting watershed habitat and forestland through much of Lake and Cook Counties. One of six educational centers in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois. You can also download the official Lake County map from Lake County Forest Preserve - Des Plaines River Trail site. In addition, I have broken the map into two main sections and one minor section and included them below to provide a little higher resolution viewing and printing from directly from this page screen. The Des Plaines River Trail is a scenic multi-use trail that meanders its way along the Des Plaines River, with 28+ miles of continuous trail in Lake County, Illinois and additional sections of trail (not continuous) in Cook County. MacArthur Woods Forest Preserve does not have additional trails but the DPR trail goes right through a very dense wooded area (possibly the most scenic section of the trail) of MacArthur Woods. Canoe or Kayak. The timing of traffic here can get really frustrating as it sometimes takes a long time to get a break in the traffic. Cook County Trails We’ll start the trail at the southern end, closest to Chicago in River Grove. If you're interested you can get more info at http://www.lcfpd.org/preserves/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.view&object_id=217&type=P. Because of the natural surfaced sections of trail, this trail is better ridden with a mountain bike though it is possible to ride it with a road bike provided conditions are dry and firm. The trail’s northern terminus is near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. The route spans from the Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve just south of the border with Wisconsin to the Jerome Huppert Woods on W. North Avenue in the community of River … There are signs on the trails that tell you if the underpass is closed, but unfortunately these signs are generally located just before the crossing so they don't do you a hell of a lot of good. Explore this interactive map of the Forest Preserves of Cook County—nearly 70,000 acres of woodlands, prairies, savannas and wetlands in & around Chicago To find a trail near you, try the interactive web map. Preserve closures, Construction Projects and Controlled Burn Alerts » Surface: Unpaved (with a short Paved segment) Terrain: Mostly Flat. Trail uses include hiking/walking, bicycling, equestrian, and even winter cross country skiing and snowmobiling. The Des Plaines River Trail is a major, regional trail running for approximately 55 miles, north-south in Lake and Cook counties. The underpass consists of a 12-foot wide by 10-foot high box culvert running underneath Miner Street to serve as trail tunnel and to provide additional flow conveyance during times of high water. In early fall of last year, over $1 million in funding was secured to execute an engineering study along this Central section Des Plaines River Trail from Touhy Avenue to North Avenue. In 2020 the path As the name suggests, it follows the path of the Des Plaines River, taking full advantage of the many forest preserves along the route. The Tinley Creek Trail System’s three paved loops take visitors over gently rolling hills, through prairies and forests, and alongside wetlands and ravines. Sand Ridge Nature Center offers four walking trails that pass through a number of habitats including prairies, oak savannas and woodlands on ancient beaches and sand dunes, marshes and ponds. If you're not familiar with sharing a trail with horses, you need to understand that a bicycle coming up behind a horse can scare the hell out of them so slow down and make sure they know you are approaching. Large paved loop circling Busse Reservoir with shorter trail segments fanning out from the loop. Hours Forest preserves are open every day from sunrise to sunset. A rather unique experience. It occurred to me that this could also be useful in trying to determine if the underpasses are flooded so I started to take some notes on this. There are some gaps in the system, but if you’re willing to take some surface roads, the trail will take you from River Grove in the near western suburbs all the way to the Wisconsin border. Centennial Trail The Centennial Trail is a 13-mile multi-county off-road trail which will start in Cook County near the Chicago Portage site along the Des Plaines River in Lyons. These sections that run under the roads are often just a little higher than the normal river levels and are highly prone to flooding. I pretty much do the same going back the other way, however, if you don't know where the trail starts on Rand Road, you may have a hard time finding it (just ride through the ditch then ride along the tree line until you see the trail). Potawatomi Woods Forest Preserve located off of Dundee Road is the northernmost trail access point in Cook County. Des Plaines River Trail Improvements - Overview Map ; Des Plaines River Trail Improvements - Interpretive Signage *The Des Plaines River Trail is under the jurisdiction of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC). 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