Grand Illinois Trail
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Day 1: Left Naperville, IL at Noon on Saturday. The first day would involve a lot of urban, street riding along designated bike trails not necessarily congruent to my desired objectives. This was due to the restricted availability of crossings for I-355 and I-55. I started east through DuPage River Park and then Greene Valley Forest preserve. Later, I would travel through Wood Ridge and Black Partridge Woods, leading me to the Des Plaines River. After crossing the river between Lemont and Romeo, I started westward on the Centennial Trail.
I&M CANAL TRAIL
In Romeo, I would join the I&M Canal Trail. Initially, the trail was gravel through open prairie, punctuated by the occasional industrial infrastructure typical of this channel. In Lockport, the trail went through much more woodland. The trail was maintained better and even included a restored lock. The trail stopped in Joliet and then required me to travel on city streets to get through town. After crossing over the Des Plaines River again, I needed to travel on IL-6 for a few miles. There wasn't much shoulder on this busy road. These road sections would become the main challenge and worry of this trip. Once off IL-6 I would have the remainder of the day on the I&M Canal Trail. I crossed I-55 again before Channahon, and would reach McKinley Woods by 3pm. I passed William G. Stratton State Park and arrived at Gebhard Woods State Park by 4pm. There was a nice tent camping area in the back of the park with an ample amount of firewood for an evening fire.
Day 2: This day was almost entirely on the I&M Canal Trail. I passed through Seneca, Marseilles, and Ottawa. The terrain was very consistent throughout. Between the towns, the trail was often to gravel ruts' with the wide, dried-out former canal channel to my right. Sometimes this was cut grass or sparse woodland that grew in. A light rain started in the morning and gained strength in the afternoon. I was traveling with my rain gear, but clearly wasn't dry underneath. In Ottawa, I determined I would obtain a motel room to dry off for the night. I reserved a room in LaSalle about 3 miles north of the trail. The hot shower, ability to dry off my gear, and have a warm meal in a local bar was delightful.
Day 3: Much of this day would involve getting through towns to join the Hennepin Canal Trail. The day started out with rain as I travelled through LaSalle and Peru. After Peru, I would have another treacherous ride on IL-6 with cars traveling 45+mph while I rode to Spring Valley. Once in Spring Valley, I had side streets and then a long gravel road that paralleled the railroad through Marquette and ended in DePue. After leaving Peru, I needed to travel on IL-29 to Bureau Junction. Although this was an open road, I encountered barely any traffic.
HENNEPIN CANAL TRAIL
The Hennepin Canal Trail was an improvement of the I&M Canal Trail. Instead of two gravel ruts', the Hennepin Canal Trail had a smooth graded and compacted gravel trail. One side of the trail was often pleasantly wooded, and the canal side was regularly filled with water. Every few miles, you passed former locks built by the Army Corps of Engineers. I passed Tiskilwa and had lunch south of Wyanet. In the afternoon, I stopped at the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park. The main office had numerous historical artifacts of the period and I wish I had more time to read, understand, and explore the information. Around 4-5pm, I arrived in Annawan. As there was a big storm coming overnight, I stayed the second night in a hotel.
Day 4: This would be an epic day. The day would be characterized by a lot more consistent rainfall than was predicted. While I didn't anticipate rain in the morning, the rain gear was quickly donned. I passed Atkinson and Geneseo, and saw the increased trail maintenance, with many paved sections and benches. The trail finished in Colona with heavy rainfall, which was the last thing I wanted. I crossed the IL-84 bridge over the Rock River. Next, I rode on city streets in Carbon Cliff, Barstow, and Babcock. Finally, I reached East Moline and was terrified when a large Pit Bull literally flew out of an open apartment door toward me. If not for the chain that stopped him, I don't know what would have happened.
GREAT RIVER TRAIL
In Empire Park, I reached the Great River Trail. The park seemed a little run down and it was raining. So, I continued on. Earlier, I thought about camping at Illiniwek Forest Preserve on the Mississippi River. It was closed, but looked excellent. However, since it was only 1pm I continued. I originally planned to camp at Camp Hauberg, a private campground. But when I saw the location at 2pm, I didn't want to camp there. Because it was raining, I had no sheltered areas and the location was highly deserted with many campers standing eerily idle. In the rain, I resolved to continue to Thomson. With the rain lessening, I drove through Cordova, Albany, and then Fulton. Around 4pm, I arrived at the Thomson Causeway Recreation Area. The water near the restroom was still running, and I filled by water bottles. The Potters North Campground was closed, so I went to Picnic Shelter at the south of the park. I got there just in time as the sky unloaded. This deluge was followed by a spectacular sunset. I made dinner in the shelter and camped along the shore during an extremely windy night.
Day 5: I made breakfast early in the morning and left the picnic shelter shortly after first light. Soon after leaving the recreation area, the trail started to largely disappear. At first, signage was displayed on farm roads and sparse city streets. However, by Savanna the route involved skirting IL-84 along the river, which was extremely treacherous. Quickly, I made the decision to route through Mississippi Palisades State Park. This decision required me to ascend this hill country from the riverside, and once in the hills, I would go up and down throughout the day. Once through the state park, I traveled the country roads through Massback and Derinda. Pleasantly, I didn't encounter very much traffic at all. My main obstacle would be the repeated ascents and descents, and cold wind. By Noon, I reached Hanover and stopped for lunch at the town's veteran's memorial. After lunch, I continued up and down on Blackjack Road for two hours until I reached Galena.