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Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on July 22, 2014 at 9:20am

B.C.

My route from Oak Park to the trailhead is further up in the discussion-- this is one of my favorite trips. From Riverside, I use Burlington or Brookfield Avenue along the BNSF tracks, and head south on East Avenue. Continue south for about three miles. East Avenue is a lower traffic four lane road (imagine Madison Street with half the traffic volume). After an underpass of I-55, the road turns to the WSW, and becomes Santa Fe Drive. This has an underpass beneath I294 and Mannheim, and winds around the UPS facility, before becoming 75th. Climb up the eighty foot hill to Willow Springs Road, turn left, and coast down the hill to Willow Springs. To reach the I & M trailhead, you still have to cross all the canals on a slightly difficult bridge. This is a known bike route, however, so most traffic has at least a familiarity with cyclists. It is 13 miles to the trailhead, and takes about an hour from Oak Park.

Santa Fe Drive and East Avenue can get a little busy at higher traffic times, but I generally prefer them to Plainfield Road. Other folks prefer to continue to use routes that roughly parallel the BNSF tracks to Willow Springs Road. Send me a PM if you would like to ride with me sometime.

Also, the first time I went south of 135th Street, I found it tricky to find where the trail restarts. Cross the canals on the north side of the 135th Street bridge, and you will find the underpass and the restart of the trail just west of the west entrance to the Citgo plant.

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Permalink Reply by Brett Miller on July 22, 2014 at 9:49am

Thanks Tim. The strava map you linked to wouldn't come up for me, but your description lists the details nicely.

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