The Chainlink

Camping By Bike, Oak Park to Burnidge Forest Preserve: Paul Wolff Campground

A couple of us are going on this trip tomorrow and spend the night at the campground "primitive" sites. I am working up a route, and am sure of most of the way. Here is what I have so far - any input is appreciated.

Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) to 

Great Western Trail back to IPP to

Fox River Trail to 

Highland Ave (??) in Elgin

Both Map My Ride and Google maps are keeping me from going all along the Fox River in Elgin on the Fox River Trail. On Street-view I see construction, but on satellite it looks like you could go under those river bridges. Does anyone know this are and know if I can get from National Street to Highland and then over the River to continue west? And is Highland OK to bike on continuing west? Google said to take Big Timber, but street view showed it as a four lane, fast road.

We will be documenting along the way, so check out our Instagram feed or our Facebook page for updates. 

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Only thing I see as a problem is the FRT to Highland Ave. No real safe way to do it, also a bitch of a short steep climb once across 31.

You can try continuing north on the FRT to the bike bridge under the tollway, cross the river there, and take the trail to the left. That will cross under 31 and dump you out into the Tyler Creek FP. Exit the FP and head up the hill on Davis Rd(Only exit).

At the end of Davis, (wave at 1415, that's where I work) Turn left on Mclean.

Turn right at first light, then the first left(Sheffield).

Left on Lyle

Right on Big Timber(4 lane at this spot but not much traffic on weekends)

Cross Randall(aka, Kane County Speedway) Big Timber drops down to 2 lanes here.

Burnridge FP a couple miles ahead on left, just past Tyrrell Rd. (side paths available along Big Timber in a few places.

Adds a few miles but keeps you from getting squashed.

I have no idea beyond Elgin, but your route getting there shouldn't cause any problems. There may be some construction near Stearns (which is passible) but you avoid that anyways, by going north right after Dunham.

Elgin itself had a detour a month ago when I went through, but the city streets on the east side of the river were an easy enough ride. The detour itself wasn't well marked but the streets are intuitive enough that this isn't a problem in practice. Strange city, when I last entered it I was greeted by an encampment of maybe 8-10 homeless. Then someone yelled at me near the center of the city (suggesting that cycling wasn't manly, I guess). Great town ( to avoid LOL). 

I'm not sure what river-bridges you were considering going under? I don't think that there are any bridges like that in Elgin. 

All of the major roads across the river in Elgin proper look a bit fast to me, Mike's advice seems to be right on the money, although I haven't taken that exact path myself. 

So, how did this work out?

Thanks for the route info. We ended up deciding to go on the highland ave route for simplicity. The river trail was closed for a few blocks so we had to take the city streets. But there is a ramp from the river trail right up to highland - although it does look like they recently ground off the bike markings on highland near the river.

Only issue we ran into were these things they have out there called "hills". I don't know why they put them there, but on single speeds pulling cargo trailers it was not a pleasant surprise at the end of the trip. 

We took the same route going back to take advantage of the effects of gravity on our loaded bike and tired legs. 

It was a fantastic trip and I would highly suggest it for a moderate level of cycling ability and camping prowess. The forrest park blue line is a great jumping on point to get on the trails which made up 90% of the trip.


Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles said:

So, how did this work out?

Glad it worked out for you.

As far as the "hills" go, I am all too familiar with them. Until this past June, when I boogered up my knee, I commuted to my job in Elgin from East Dundee for eight years using the FRT. I can say I went uphill both ways and not be bullshitting.

You would have enjoyed the downhill run to the FRT on Davis/Tyler Creek Trail. If I'm not mistaken, it's a 2 mile roll with little traffic, plus a 1/4 mile climb in the middle to keep you honest.

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