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The Great Western Bike Trail from St. Charles to Sycamore, Illinois
The Great Western Bike Trail - Trail head on dean Street in St. Charles. |
Bridge over Hidden Oak Drive |
Bridge in Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve |
The Great Western Trail is in North Central Illinois and runs 18 miles from St. Charles to Sycamore. It is a Rails to Trails trail originally part of the Great Western Rail Line and built by the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad in 1886. The trail is flat and you roll through the countryside past numerous small streams and wetlands. Continuous wild shrubs include Dogwood, Blackberry, and Hazelnut and merge with a few remaining patches of native prairie.
The trail parallels route 64 (North Ave) almost the whole way. This was an enjoyable trail if not the most exciting I'd ever been on. Monarch butterflies flutter around your head as your tires crunch over berries. You get a good sense of Illinois prairie and flat farmland. I was surprised that the 1st half of the trail was mostly shade covered, however the last half was mostly open farmland.
The trailhead is in St. Charles, Il on Dean Street just west of Randall Rd.
Article and pictures by Dale Kiffel Cycling Enthusiast.
Here's a photo tour of the Great Western Bike Trail from St. Charles, Illinois to Sycamore Illinois.
(click on any of the bike trail photos to enlarge)
The trail starts off going downhill on pavement. The first thought is that this is going
to be a breeze, but quickly levels out.
The pack mule sits in front of a bridge which leads from one canopy of trees into another.
Bridge over Hidden Oak Drive.
This picture was taken at about the 3 mi mark from a bridge just outside Wasco. This is near the intersection of Rte 64 and Burlington Rd. There is a small shopping center on the the Southwest corner of this intersection in which there is a Dairy Queen. Nothing beats ice cream after a long ride on a hot day.
This picture was taken at about the 3 mi mark from a bridge just outside Wasco.
There are about 3 miles of paved path in this tree covered section of the trail.
This marshy area seems to have survived this drought year fairly well.
This part of Illinois has a lot of flat open fields.
At about mile 11.5, this bridge heads back into the brush.
Horse Farm.
There is something quaint about this old ramshackle garage.
Norm works on a Ford Probe as his customer patiently waits.
Acres and acres of corn just outside Sycamore.
The trailhead to the Great Western Trail in Sycamore, IL.
If you follow the bike route after the trail head, you'll cross Route 64 and lead you to
the Sycamore Community Park Sports Complex. This a very large complex with many softball
and soccer fields. It was eerie as it was almost completely deserted.
This trail passes over the 2nd bridge near some more baseball fields. That is where I
turned around. The trail continued on and I assume it heads into town, but I was really
looking forward to lunch by now.
This is where I took a break for lunch. I was hungry and thirsty at this point and the sandwich, ice water, and apple I had in my case tasted great.
After lunch, I began to make my journey home. I passed a happy go lucky fellow with a
big 'ol farmdog. He waved and seemed to be very friendly. As I passed, I recognized the
scent of a combustible herb and immediately realized why he seemed so happy. The rest of
the trip back was fairly uneventful. When I finally hit the shade covered paved section
about about 6 miles into it, it was welcome relief. I contemplated hitting the Dairy Queen
in Wasco, but decided to continue on.
When I reached the trail head in St. Charles, I still had some gas in the tank, so to
speak, so I decided to check out the Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve across the street. It was
only a mile or so long, but passed through a nice little park and came out by the trail
that runs along Randall Road.
Bridge in Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve.
Long pedestrian bridge along Randal Road.
The Ride is the Destination