Great River Trail Spring 2010

I would love to hike the AT, but will have to settle for the GRT, The Great River Trail that extends from Savanna, Il., down south toward the Quad Cities. So find some of my thoughts about the hike, and also about other great places to hike in NW Illinois.

We started the hike the beginning of March 2010, and started out in Savanna, Il. If you go to Sullivan Foods, just west of there you will see a train car which holds a train museum, cross the rail road tracks, and right to your left you will see the beginning of the trail. I have read that it starts at Palisades State Park. This is north of this area, if you did start there, you would have to follow a very old trail along highway 64 heading south towards Savanna, when that ends, you will need to walk along the road a little ways, then get down by the Mississippi River just past the Sabula Bridge, you will see a boat ramp, follow along the river, behind stores until you get to the train museum. From Palisades, I would say that would be 4 - 5 miles.

The trail is flat and paved, it would be fine for the handicapped. You will see more walkers close to Savanna, Il., you will see more bicycles closer to Thomson, Il., but thats getting ahead of the hike. From Savanna, my goal was Spring Lake, I made that pretty easily, about 2 - 3 miles. In the spring and summer, you will see many turtles on the west side of the trail. Once you cross over Plum River, (there is a bridge) you can sneak through the grassy/bushy area to your right or west, and hop onto the Spring Lake Trails, it follows right along side the paved one, but is gravel, and easier on your feet and knees, at least for me it is. If you want the hike longer and it's a beautiful day, the Spring Lake Trails go around in a huge square between the paved GRT and the river, another 2 - 3 miles could be added on. This is a wildlife refuge, and you will see tons of geese, pelicans, ducks and birds, depending on the time of year.