| NATIONAL PARKS QUICKLINKS |
Also on Backpacker.com
Related Topics
Backpacker Magazine – June 2005
Ultimate Summer Escapes: The Best Dayhikes and Backpacking Trips Near You
Coming soon to your city: far-out adventures that are shockingly close to home.
-
Tags:
- Feature stories |
- California |
- Paddling |
- Florida |
- Everglades |
- New york |
- Illinois |
- Washington |
- Mount rainier |
- Texas |
Weekend
The Illinois and Michigan Canal Bike-camping meets Midwestern charm on this historic path.
A 61-mile crushed-limestone trail links quaint canal towns and passes through four parks along this once-vital waterway. Multiple access points let you slice and dice the route to fit any schedule, but for the best overnight trip, ride the whole thing at a leisurely pace and camp at one of the walk-in only tent sites at Gebhard Woods State Park (a little more or little less than halfway, depending on which end you start at). This being Illinois, the towpath is pancake flat, so it's possible to blitz the trail in a day, but then you'd miss out on exploring the historic locks and quiet forests en route.
Get There Use I-55 and I-80 to reach numerous acess points along the path; get details at the Web site below.
Get Info Canal Corridor Association, (815) 588-1100; www.canalcor.org
Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter
Reader Rating:
-
Editors' Choice 2013
412 trail-tested products
Boost Your Apps
Add powerful tools and exclusive maps to your BACKPACKER apps through our partnership with Trimble Outdoors.
Carry the Best Maps
With BACKPACKER PRO Maps, get life-list destinations and local trips on adventure-ready waterproof myTopo paper.
FREE Rocky Mountain Trip Planner
Sign up for a free Rocky Mountain National Park trip planning kit from our sister site MyRockyMountainPark.com.
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat BetterThe Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only.
Canadian subscriptions |
International subscriptions
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
READERS COMMENTS
if u come to texas now bring your own ice
Ummm...sea turtles?
DC's "Central Park" is Rock Creek Park. Head in there and you'll forget you're in the big city!
ADD A COMMENT