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June 17, 2005
Hennepin Canal Trail, Central Illinois
My husband and I have had great success in finding ways to do some exploring on our bicycle as we travel to visit family and friends. This past weekend we were in Davenport, Iowa, for a lovely family visit and also happened to discover a great piece of history.
The Hennepin Canal was designed to link barge traffic between the Illinois River and the Rock River which flows into the Mississippi at Rock Island, Illinois. But by the time construction was completed in 1907, seventeen years after building began and thirty-six years after Congress authorized survey funding, the Canal had "missed the boat" in terms of commerce innovation since by then the rail system was well established and a cheaper way to ship goods. By the 1930s, the Canal was mainly used by recreational boats.
Luckily for us, one person's expensive commercial disappointment is another person's fabulously beautiful and serene biking, hiking, and horseback-riding trail. The entire 155 miles from Bureau Junction/Hennepin in the East to Colona in the West is now the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park.
We biked from the western end at Colona to Geneseo and back, about 24 miles round trip. For much of the way you are riding on the old towpath right next to the canal. It reminded us both of an old European tree-lined boulevard. I'd only seen canals in BBC television mysteries like Inspector Morse, never in person, so it was a totally new experience for me. We saw lots of birds and sunbathing turtles, plus a few people fishing and some scouts out for a hike. But for the most part we were quite alone. Many of the original locks are still there and some have been refurbished. Here's an old lift bridge the trail crosses over near one of the locks.
The biking was good and quite easy since it's very level. One thing we found odd was the recommendation to use mountain bikes instead of road bikes on the trail because of the surface. But the surface was quite good for our part -- a tar base layer with small rocks a crushed rocks on top. The was a short dirt section of 100 yards or so through a wildlife preservation area, but the dirt was very firm so no problem there. There were nice toilet facilities at major access points along the way and information for finding food and other services in the larger towns we passed.
Check out this best website for the trail to see more pictures, maps, elevation charts, and more.
Happy trails!
Posted by rigd0003 at June 17, 2005 11:51 AM | Cycling | Me | Travel
Comments
Howdy!
I am drinking a couple of beers and relaxing with my lady friend on a Friday night here in beautiful Iowa City and I stumbled upon your blog. I was led to your site by doing some internet searching on the transiowa (I was one of the 9 finishers) which you wrote about a while back. I read your piece on that and then came here and saw that you have ridden part of the Hennepin Canal! On a beautiful night two years ago a friend and I rode the entire canal out and back under a full moon. It was a great ride! It was mostly quiet out and we got to experience moonrise, set and sunrise from the saddle. We saw lots of fisher-folk out angling in the middle of the night and it was all in all a great experience. It is funny that my lack of sleep surrounding my Hennepin Canal ride is one of the reasons I thougth I could ride and finish the transiowa. Anyhow, best of luck to you in all your future endeavors!
gpickle
Posted by: Anonymous at June 17, 2005 10:15 PM
I just read your writeup on the Hennepin Canal Parkway. I first biked the canal in 1996 when the trail conditions were "primative" at best, being only mowed grass, about twice a year. The State of Illinois undertook a major upgrading of the trail in 2000 and finished in 2003 to what it is today with crushed stone and/or blacktop or concrete. The recommendation for mountain bikes is from the pre-improvement days when there were sections that you had to get off the bike and walk because of trail conditions. I am glad you enjoyed the trail which is now part of the "Grand Illinois Trail".
You may want to try the Illinois and Michigan Canal trail, just to the east of the Hennepin. It goes between Peru, IL and Lockport, IL. It is a much older canal and the lock chambers are made of cut stone. There is only one restored lock, #14 in Peru, but the trail is improved. It is more scenic in most places and goes through some larger towns. You can see the Illinois River at several vistas.
Posted by: John White at September 12, 2005 1:50 AM