Prairie Trail Route 31 Intersection
Past and Present
(click on any photo to enlarge)
For those of you who have ridden the Fox River and Prairie Trails in the past (before 2014) this intersection will look familiar. The photo above is the Prairie Trail at Route 31 in Algonquin in 2003 so even the cars look older.
I don't remember what the building was on the other side of Route 31 but I do remember the parking lot there and even parked there in the past for some of my rides on this trail.
To Continue north on the Prairie Trail, You would cross 31 then go to the right and then left after the row of trees on the other side of the road.
This photo shows where you go left on the other side of 31 to continue on the Prairie Trail north. Just before the old Prairie Trail Bike Shop. This is just a big open area now with a sign that says that they are going to build some kind of housing here.
OK, so the photo above is the NEW Prairie Trail / Route 31 intersection after the new express bypass was built. The new part of the trail is now on the east side of Route 31 (express) so you turn right here which is looking straight ahead in this photo.
If you click on the photo above you can see the larger view of the photo, unultered. If you click on the link below I've included some additional information about the trails on top of the photo:
Click (here) for the New PT Route 31 Intersection with Additional Info
This photo is looking the other way across the NEW intersection where the gas station is.
In the past (the photo is from 2003) this is what you would see after you crossed route 31 and turned back on to the Prairie Trail north, The building in the upper right is the old Prairie Trail Bike Shop.
When you continue on the NEW Prairie Trail you pass underneath Route 31 through the tunnel in the photo above. The trail then winds around, goes up a hill and continues north.
The trail is all new and in great shape in this area now. There are also a lot more roller bladers on the trail in this area now which makes sense since the surface is so smooth now..
Prairie Trail Route 31 Intersection, Past and Present - < You are here
Prairie Trail in Algonquin, 2015
There is some additional information on these trails and quite a few photos on the pages below. Some of these are from 2003 so they are almost "historical" at this point. There have been changes over the years although the parts that just go through the woods and by the river really don't change much.
The McHenry County Prairie Trail, 2003
2015 Photos © Copyright Rob Chapman