The Chainlink

Hennepin Canal Trail

I'm sure most of you are aware of it, but for those who aren't, the Hennepin Canal Parkway has approximately 155 miles of trail in Bureau, Henry, Rock Island and Whiteside Counties.   The canal was the first to use locks constructed of concrete, which pioneered the technique for lock construction on the Panama Canal, and the first to use Marshall Gate locks.  The main canal connects the Rock River near where it flows into the Mississippi with the Illinois River.  Water in the main canal flows both east and west from the middle, and is fed by the Rock River at Rock Falls, approximately 25 miles north.  This north/south section, known as the Feeder Canal, was meant only to supply water, not for barge traffic.  The canal was closed to barge traffic in 1951.

 

I live in the general area, and work parts of the trail into my rides, usually at least once a week.  Seldom see any cyclists on the central sections of the park, within 20 miles of the visitor center where I normally ride.  The place needs more use.  I was talking to a ranger a couple of weeks ago, and he was telling me about some of the maintenence issues that exist.  The staff has been cut by 2/3, from 21 down to 7.  Blago had the place nearly shut down at one point, which meant not only no maintenance, but anyone caught "trespassing" would be subject to fines.

 

The only way the place will be properly funded is if useage increases, and people voice their support for funding it.

 

The bike path surface varies from some short paved sections, to oil and chip, to fine limestone.  I've ridden the limestone on a normal road bike, and it is actually quite smooth and fast.  Horses can roughen the surface quite a bit if they're on it when it's wet, so CX or MTB bikes are probably a better choice.  Also be careful in the few spots near the locks that have a grade, the limestone washes loose and can be tricky if you're doing 20 mph when you hit it.  Last year I rode the whole length of the main canal, and there were some washed out places where you had to carry the bike across.  I don't know if they've been repaired or not.  You can't ride far without seeing some wildlife, geese, ducks, blue heron, deer and wild turkeys are common.

 

I'm posting this as an invitation/plea for people to come out and use the Park.  It's a 2 hour drive from Chicago to the visitor center just south of I-80 exit 45.  The visitor center is near the center of the main canal, and a couple of miles east of the Feeder junction.  You can also ride Amtrak to Princeton and bring your bike along for $15 extra.   You can easily ride the road to the path (about 6 miles), and see the Captain Swift covered bridge on the way.  The mid 19th century Red Covered Bridge can be seen with a detour of a few miles.

 

I'd be happy to assist anyone that would like to visit with local information or some company on your ride.  Pics are from a ride I did last September.

 

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Permalink Reply by mark stetson on October 13, 2013 at 11:46am

Thanks for the comments.  I'm glad you had a good trip.  There's lots of room for improvement on the Hennepin, but it's only going to happen if usage increases.

It's not too hard to find food close to the trail, but you have to plan ahead as the small town stores close early.   Annawan and Tiskilwa grocery stores are within a mile of the trail, Geneseo and Sheffield are about 3 miles from it. 

It's not too bad riding from Bureau Junction to Spring Valley, but from SV to the I & M it's not much fun.  I sometimes cross the river on the I-180 bridge.  I consider riding the south side of the river to Utica more pleasant and safer than riding through Spring Valley/Peru/LaSalle, even though it's probably illegal to ride on I-180. 

 

Permalink Reply by Paul on October 15, 2013 at 6:48pm


Bob Kastigar said:

In my travels I've found that bike trails that follow railroads go pretty much directly through towns along the way, but bike trails that follow canals are mostly a mile or so outside of towns.

I think it depends on who got there first.  In Hennepin's case it was the railroads.  But two cases that I can think of where it was the other way around - Eire and C&O - the towns are directly on the canal.

Also, I believe the Hennepin was designed as a short cut between the Missississippi and Illinois Rivers.  So it would be cheaper to avoid the center of towns.

Permalink Reply by Dan Ross on September 12, 2014 at 3:19pm

Hi, thanks to all for their info & experiences with the Hennepin. I am doing a last-minute trip this weekend to ride the east and feeder branches of it, and maybe a tad more, depending how fast (or slow) I am.  I'm taking regional bus to Chicago and then Amtrak to Princeton (in time for the town festival, apparently!), and staying in Annawan, and on the second day biking up to Sterling and maybe Dixon.

I called the Hennepin Trail Park office today (9/12/2014) ask about any closures and was told of these two:

1) Far East section of the trail is closed from Lock 3 to Bridge 4 (which they said is west of Lock 6).  This appears, from my map from the Friends web site, to be from Rt 29 in Bureau Junction to approximately 2160E St (for practical purposes, County Rd 2050E, as 2160E doesn't appear to connect to Co Rd 23/Tiskilwa Bottom Rd, at least not on modern maps and satellite view :-).

I considered just skipping Bureau Junction and starting in Tiskilwa but I wanted to see the east end, so I mapped out a detour taking Euclid Ave/2050E out of Princeton, to 1300N to 2250E to 1140N to 1120N to 2300E to IL26 to 2460E into Bureau Junction; and IL26/29 to CR23/Tiskilwa Bottom Rd to 2050E to the canal to head west.  It seems a bit hilly so will see how that goes on my super-heavy hybrid.

2) Far West section from Lock 26 to I-80.  I think, from limited maps I have, this is from E 900th St to Woodruff St.  I don't expect to make it out that far on this trip.

I hope to do a slightly longer trip next time, when I don't have things boxing me in, probably train to Kewanee and then bike up to Annawan (stopping at Johnson Sauk Trail State Park) and heading west to Lock 29, and then across to Iowa, and then back up along the Mississippi to Savanna.

I also hope to do a camping trip some time--after I know the lay of the land a bit more, and bring some friends!

Permalink Reply by Dan Ross on September 12, 2014 at 3:39pm

I finally came across this link to IL DNR closures and alerts:

http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/closures/Pages/CurrentClosuresOfDNRSite...


8/28/2014

  • Hennepin Canal Closures: The area of trail from Lock 3 to Bridge 4, 5.6 miles, is posted "Closed".
    • The section from Lock 26 to I-80, 4.8 miles, continues to remain "Closed". No repairs have been completed on this portion of the trail. At Lock 27 just to the west of the Aqueduct 8, (Green River), there is a breach in the levee some 75' - 80' wide and 15' - 20' deep. Other portions of this trail segment are not completely washed out, but eroded leaving "drop offs" to the point where in some spots the trail is only 4' - 5' wide.
    • Due to the replacement of the I-80 bridge over the Hennepin Canal (just west of the Visitors Center), this section of trail is temporarily closed.
Permalink Reply by Dan Ross on September 26, 2014 at 3:49pm

I had a great ride, with the exception of discovering a broken spoke when I was about to board my train in Chicago.  There are NO bike shops in any of the towns along the canal nor in Princeton--the closest is 16 miles in Peru, Illinois.  

So I rode gingerly, from Princeton down to the canal (about 6 miles on a back road--Euclid Avenue in town), over to Bureau Junction (the closed section has a washout that requires walking your bike and some very loose gravelly spots). I picked up a Gatorade at the bar in Bureau Junction next to the old train station, and some snacks at the Red&White Market in Tiskwila (off the trail about a mile, but very cute town; the old Clark gas station/convenience store is closed but was getting a paint job).  The signage is incomplete in spots and I missed the turn for Wyanet until I was well past it. Then over to Annawan, where I stayed overnight at the Best Western (very nice, clean, updated hotel, and a substantial self-serve breakfast with make-your-own waffles, hardboiled eggs, and croissant sausage egg sandwiches).  I ate dinner "in town" (just a 6-8 block walk) at the Purple Onion diner.

The second day, from Annawan back east to the feeder canal and up to Rock Falls/Sterling.   The turn for the Feeder Canal I had to note on my way going the other directly (a large "E->" is carved on the pole indicating the way to go for the east branch).  Re-checking where you are now and then on a good map or a GPS or smartphone is a good idea.

I also picked up some detailed maps and mileage guides at the Visitor Center's outdoor information board by the parking lot. The Visitors Center itself is not open on weekends.  I will scan and upload the information from those guides as it is useful & interesting and apparently not available online.

My favorite sign along the way: "No Smoking - Peat Area".  Many solitary long-legged birds flying away from me--Blue Herons?

Dan Ross said:

Hi, thanks to all for their info & experiences with the Hennepin. I am doing a last-minute trip this weekend to ride the east and feeder branches of it, and maybe a tad more, depending how fast (or slow) I am.  I'm taking regional bus to Chicago and then Amtrak to Princeton (in time for the town festival, apparently!), and staying in Annawan, and on the second day biking up to Sterling and maybe Dixon.

I called the Hennepin Trail Park office today (9/12/2014) ask about any closures and was told of these two:

1) Far East section of the trail is closed from Lock 3 to Bridge 4 (which they said is west of Lock 6).  This appears, from my map from the Friends web site, to be from Rt 29 in Bureau Junction to approximately 2160E St (for practical purposes, County Rd 2050E, as 2160E doesn't appear to connect to Co Rd 23/Tiskilwa Bottom Rd, at least not on modern maps and satellite view :-).

I considered just skipping Bureau Junction and starting in Tiskilwa but I wanted to see the east end, so I mapped out a detour taking Euclid Ave/2050E out of Princeton, to 1300N to 2250E to 1140N to 1120N to 2300E to IL26 to 2460E into Bureau Junction; and IL26/29 to CR23/Tiskilwa Bottom Rd to 2050E to the canal to head west.  It seems a bit hilly so will see how that goes on my super-heavy hybrid.

2) Far West section from Lock 26 to I-80.  I think, from limited maps I have, this is from E 900th St to Woodruff St.  I don't expect to make it out that far on this trip.

I hope to do a slightly longer trip next time, when I don't have things boxing me in, probably train to Kewanee and then bike up to Annawan (stopping at Johnson Sauk Trail State Park) and heading west to Lock 29, and then across to Iowa, and then back up along the Mississippi to Savanna.

I also hope to do a camping trip some time--after I know the lay of the land a bit more, and bring some friends!

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on September 27, 2014 at 11:16am

I forgot about posting this, from 2006: a summary of the Hennepin Canal, part of my ride along the Grand Illinois Trail:

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=Sh&page_id=38024&am...

Regarding the Purple Onion Restaurant: anytime you're going past here on the trail it's worthwhile to stop and eat here.

Permalink Reply by Eli on May 4, 2015 at 6:27pm

I'm thinking about doing a 2-3 day camping trip along the Hennepin Canal Trail this week or next. Has anyone been on the trail this year? Any info on current conditions?

If anyone who has a printed canal map would be willing to scan and post it, I'd be very grateful.

I'll be taking Amtrak down from the city. It looks like the two relevant stations are Princeton and Kewanee. Is there an advantage to doing the trail in one direction vs the other?

I've camped along the I&M Canal a couple of times but it sounds like the Hennepin is significantly more remote. I'd love to hear recommendations for food/water sources from anyone who has camped along it.

I'm slightly confused by the distances. Is the main canal roughly 100 miles, with the feeder canal roughly another 50?

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on May 5, 2015 at 9:12am

Probably everything you need to know is here:

http://www.friends-hennepin-canal.org/ - see the About/Maps link. 

It's been some time since I've been on it, but it's a great ride and better than the I&M canal.  It isn't that isolated, there are small rural towns along the way, but a slight distance away from the Hennepin Canal trail itself.

Princeton would get you closer to the start of the east end of the trail at Bureau Junction.  There's the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park just east of junction with the feeder canal. 

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