The River To River Trail

Lusk Creek Wilderness Area

Mark's River To River Trail Adventure, Illinois

The trail is located primarily in the Shawnee National Forest. A good amount of the trail is on dirt and gravel roads, and open to vehicle taffic. The trail runs from Battery Rock on the Ohio River to the Devil’s Backbone Park on the Mississippi River and across four wilderness areas and two Illinois State Parks. Mountain bikes are not allowed in the wilderness areas. The trail is estimate to be 160 miles long. I decide to hike and mountain bike this trail in June to prepared for my August Colorado Trail trip. The ground was to soft to bike, so I decide to backpack as much as possible. I would rode my bike to a trailhead, then hide the bike in the woods, and then backpack back to my vehicle. I did this several times and have 90 miles done when the temperature soar to the upper 90's and became unbearable. Also the trail became so muddy after several rainstorm I decide to stop. After I came back from the Colorado Trail trip I decide to finish the River to River Trail. I head back to Illinois the last week of November. The weather was unusually warm and dry for this time of year, which made for great mountain biking. In all, I backpacked roughly 60 % of the trail and mountain biked 40 % of the trail. I travel most sections in a eastward direction towards the Ohio River. Below are some pictures I like and a list of the best sections.

Best Hikes - these are the areas I like the best on this trail

• Garden of the Gods
• One Horse Gap
• Lusk Creek Wilderness Area
• Hayes Creek Canyon
• Bell Smith Springs Recreation Area (not on the trail)
• Panther Den Wilderness

Reference: River to River Trail Guide by River-to-River Trail Society

Trail Mileages

Garden of the Gods

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This web site was design by Mark Ziegler, December 1998