I took the photo above, with the 3 cyclists in the distance, as I was passing through a forest preserve in the northern part of Harms Woods north of Golf Road.
There was a nice looking stone/brick pavilion on the east side of the NB trail as I passed through the forest preserve. I try to keep track of where these locations are for future breaks or shelter from the rain. There is nothing like a good sturdy roof if you get caught in a downpour out on the trail (obviously not needed on this ride though).
The 2 paths (paved and crushed stone path (on the left)) are right next to each other at this point too. Just off to the left is Harms Road once again.
This is a rider coming up to the tall bridge that crosses over busy Lake Avenue (aka Euclid Ave (this is on the south side of Lake/Euclid Ave.). There is a forest preserve entrance and parking area at Lake Ave too.
I parked at the forest preserve off of Lake Avenue and headed south for the photos of this trail that I took later in the fall (photo pages #7 and #8 that I linked to below). This is a good central location for this trail.
Help! I'm in Bike Trail Jail! OK, seriously, this is overlooking Lake Ave from the North Branch Trail bridge.
This is how the bridge over Lake Ave looks as you cross. This may not be that exciting to look at in a photo but I really appreciate anytime that you have bridges or underpasses that pass over or under the major highways that you need to cross on a bike trail. It would be nice if there were a few more of these on the southern part of this trail (although I know that is not always possible).
This is a nice, fairly open stretch of the NBT between Lake and Willow roads. This is very close to where the North Branch River and Skokie River meet. The NBT will follow the Skokie River just past this point.
The NBT passes by what used to be New Trier West H. S. off to the left in the photo above. I believe that New Trier (east) now uses this building for their freshman class and other activities.
Here's the photo tour of the North Branch Trail from Devon Avenue in Chicago to the northern end of the trail, at Dundee Road and then into the Chicago Botanic Gardens, from July, 2012.
North Branch Trail Photo Page 1 - Devon to Oakton and Caldwell
North Branch Trail Photo Page 2 - Miami Woods to Dempster
North Branch Trail Photo Page 3 - Dempster to Harms Road
North Branch Trail Photo Page 4 - Golf Road to Edens Exp. < you are here
North Branch Trail Photo Page 5 - Edens Exp to Skokie Lagoons
North Branch Trail Photo Page 6 - Skokie Lagoons and Botanic Gardens
Here are some Fall Photos of the North Branch Trail from Lake Street in Glenview to south to just past Touhy Ave near Park Ridge (from October 10, 2012):
The NBT Fall Photos 7 - Lake St. to Miami Woods
The NBT Fall Photos 8 - Miami Woods and backHere's the GPS Map of the ride above.