The southwest suburban communities have fallen in love with an abandoned railroad. The 21.7 mile long trail touches many southern suburban towns and two counties. While it’s many flat miles make it ideal for endurance biking and distance running; good scenery is hard to find.
Near Joliet-on the trail’s west end- you pick up some deep woods and terrain roll much different then the rest of the trail itself.
While parking at the west trailhead is in a urban neighborhood it seems safe enough. To cover the miles of the “Plank” a bike is highly recommended.
Besides the Illinois “oddity” of elevated highways above you
the west end has some interesting features just right off the trail. A Little League field stuck in a time warp.
A bridge over busy 355
A football field where the bike trail is up above the action
A really great outdoor exercise area…
Will County has convenient street markers at the trail crossings. Gougar Road is the one we are looking for even if we have to come back to it.
A short ride north on Gougar brings us to the stunning Bird Haven Greenhouse in Pilcher Park
The grounds are stunning as well and attract the community for photos.
The large park dates back into the 1920’s and shows it. A feature of parks of that era is asphalt roads (usually loops) throughout the park. Occasionally the politics of the outside world intrude on your walk.
Pilcher Park’s trails criss cross and sometimes run parallel with the roads
Pilcher is all about some really great old growth forest on some gentle rolling hills. The most terrain differential is Hickory Creek which forms the south border of the Park. Unfortunately the scenic Creek is crammed up against one of those asphalt roads and you can see houses poking over the trees in places. People have been dealing with the Creek for a long time…
A good strategy for seeing the Park is to head for the quaint log cabin style nature center which is almost dead center in the preserve. Be careful of the hours, the place is still in a Covid ”limbo”. When I was there they had a home made sign saying that they had changed the hours “again” for a really early 2pm closing time.
At least some of the volunteers have put some energy into the grounds. There seemed to be some sort of art in nature exhibit going on when I was there.
Pilcher would be alright place to spend a few hours especially if your with people apathetic about the outdoor thing. I was more interested in the undeveloped forest preserve land just to the east of the busy park. It took me several lengthy tries to figure out “what the name of the game was”. No easy Creek access (a large ministry for the handicapped occupies the side streets immediately east of Pilcher) but a straight shot down Francis Road-a couple blocks- and your at a decaying parking lot; Joliet Park District’s Higinbotham Woods was the site of a old French Fort.
The complex plaques tell you about the construction of the Fort and it’s location. A little research and I found out why the park is so isolated. It seems the parking lot had become a ronde view point for homosexual pickups. The gays are gone but the boulders and the plaques remain.
Despite the directions I couldn’t find the Fort’s foundations either. Little matter, the land to the north and west of the lot is rugged and scenic. A trail follows the rim of a ravine that winds it’s way deep into the woods.
Enjoy the walk then retrace your steps.
Hike Chicagoland 