This great park
lies right in the midst of the western suburbs of
On this
particular day I had at first set out to kayak the
There seem to be 3 main color coded trails out here, each about 4 miles long. The Yellow Trail generally leads along the riverbank while the blue path meanders a lot more and is further inland. A third, the White Trail, then runs even further inland and branches off from the blue on the western end before cutting directly back to the river. In doing so it bisects both the yellow and blue trails. I followed the yellow out and a combination of the blue and white on the way back.
Among the first
things I noticed starting out were the lush shades of green as I got closer to
the river, and there were also some little spur paths which led right down to
the water. Speaking of which, the bridges I crossed that went over the
I should also
mention that some of the paths out
here are multi-use while others are meant for hiking only. Of the people I
saw today most were either bikers or joggers. I recall seeing
8 of the former and 3 of the latter in the 4 hours I was here.
Anyway, one of the bikers I met told me that I had been really close to a river put-in
such as I'd been searching for. There was one right in the park!
He also mentioned an outfitter that offered canoe and kayak rentals further up the
river.
Anyway, before
I’d even had time to fully acclimate to my surroundings I was put on notice as
to how much the scenery was going to vary today. I passed through a short
section which had been cut right through the forest and it
appeared to extend all the way down to the river. In fact, it looked like
it might still be farmed. I’d pass by some more
areas like this later in the day.
Re-entering the woods, I came across a great spot at which there was a nice park bench set up by the river.
…and check out this beetle I nearly stepped on – it was huge!
As I continued
to meander along I just kind of immersed myself in things as I lost all track
of time taking pictures of the river. There are just so many
pleasant scenes out here! Soon I came to a somewhat confusing
point at which it looked like you could go about 5 different directions!
I kept as far right as possible knowing that the river was in that
direction, soon finding that the trail ended at what looked like a road they
were in the process of building.
Anyway, I went
back to the last intersection and this time followed the blue path which kept going a little further before it
ended at yet a different road. This road, in turn, ended at the river
which was now directly to my left. Here I found
my boat ramp! The
I turned and walked the other direction on the road to see what I could see… Not much. I was walking almost directly along Walnut Grove Road, a pretty main thoroughfare here. I stopped at a point which looked like a kind of dirt bike track and headed back to the trails, getting back on the Blue Trail with the intention of following it back to the car. As I began I barely missed stepping on this toad…
I’m constantly amazed by the incredible intricacy of little plants! Life sure does form some awesome patterns!
As I mentioned I had been content to just take the Blue Trail all the way back, yet when I intersected the White Trail I decided that I just had to check it out because a sign here indicated that it would pass through the Lucious Burch, Jr. Natural Area. Maybe the path would connect back up with the Blue Trail and maybe not, but I couldn’t resist. This particular area was supposed to be open only to hikers and it first led me through some of the densest area yet along a little ridge top. Later, I found myself skirting alongside a little lake. I’ll tell ya… Lakes, rivers, farmland… There sure is quite a bit out here!
Passing the
lake, I came to another trail intersection where the path cut directly north to south. This
White Trail will actually lead you right to the river if you follow it to the
right, but I first went north (left) a
little way to check it out. In doing so I almost immediately
came to a point where there was another wide open area of farmland on either
side of me and 2 more trails – one leading east and one west. Figuring that this could get a bit confusing
I headed back the other way! I’d get some more nice farmland views
soon…
When I met up with the Green Trail which went over one of those metal bridges I talked about, I turned left onto it and soon the forest took on a completely different feel. At one point I even seemed to go right into what looked like a green cave!
In yet another location I got some more of those great farmland views I was talking about earlier. This trail goes directly along the back line of one of these and it’s almost as if you’re walking through it.
All of this provided for a nice grand finale to the hike and I was soon right back where I’d started. This was an odd feeling today. I wouldn’t say that it was anticlimactic exactly, but it seemingly brought to a simple conclusion something which had seemed to be quite a bit more complicated. Perhaps it was that, or perhaps it was just a kind of disappointment that a pleasant experience was over.
What a great park I might have missed if I had gone paddling today!
DIRECTIONS:
This park is in
the northwest sector of the