Des Plaines River – Lake County, IL

The Des Plaines River Trail and Greenway protects land along more than 76 percent of the river in Lake County, providing wildlife habitat, natural flood protection and outdoor recreation opportunities.

The gravel trail spans nearly the entire length of Lake County for 31.4 miles as it winds through 12 forest preserves. It is open for hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, and snowmobiling (between Russell Road and Wadsworth Road only).

The trail follows the river’s edge from Russell Road in Wadsworth south to Lake Cook Road where it connects to the Cook County Forest Preserve trail system. Bridges and underpasses from Wadsworth Road south make it possible to travel without crossing any major roads.

We are set to hike 9.5 miles along the Des Plaines River in Lake County. We are starting at the Old School Forest Preserve in Libertyville. We will walk North, along the Des Plaines River, to Independence Grove. The hike is a straight line, there and back, passing through Riverside Park, Wilmot Woods Forest Preserve and along Minear Lake.

Riverside Park is a beautiful prairie area. Getting here from the Old School Forest Preserve was a challenge for us. We didn’t really look at the maps and instead we just started walking. Thankfully this was a beautiful day and the small detour just got us warmed up.

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We don’t often stop to look at houses and neighborhoods, but this seems like a great neighborhood. If anyone is from the Libertyville area, please share any experiences you might have had on Camelot Lane. As we leave the area, we meet up with a biker who will inadvertently appear in several more of our videos.

The bridge over the Des Plaines River and under the under the train tracks keeps us entranced for a few minutes. We are both in great moods and excited to be outside today. The trail splits and we run into our biking friend again.

Shortly after the train tracks, we reach the first big pool of water in Wilmot Woods. As it turns out, this is where all the good looking ducks hangout. Take a look at the video use the 360° options to find the ducks.

Dad and I have some fun along Minear Lake in Libertyville, IL. This section of trail is secluded as the Des Plaines River is East of the path and Minear Lake is on the West side of the path.

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A few times during our hikes we see a strange fruit that looks like a brain. Commonly called Osage-orange or hedge apple, this medium-sized tree has a short trunk and rounded crown with large globular fruit. The fruits are large (4 to 6 inch diameter) ball-like structures. They are yellow green in color and have a surface pattern that resembles that of a brain. The wood was once used as fence posts throughout the Midwest accounting to information we found at the Morton Arboretum website. Wikipedia says this fruit only grows in Texas but I tend to trust the primary source of the Morton Arboretum. I don’t think this fruit is edible for humans.

On the West side of the Des Plaines River and next to Independence Grove, we find ourselves walking along another prairie area. We both really like this part of the trail and as some of our next videos show, we get inspired to create content.

The first part of this video is a random discussion along the trail about Fat-tire biking. As we enter Independence Grove over a bridge we switch to fishing talk.

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If you find yourself in the Northwestern area of the Chicago suburbs, head over to Independence Grove Forest Preserve. We sit and eat lunch while taking in the water views. Use the 360° controls and take a look around.

We could not resist using the time-lapse feature while we had our lunch. The sun was shining and this is a great way to get a feel for the area while using the 360° video features.

This video is an economic discussion about the value of green space in developed areas. Question one: are local governments that remove green space upstream responsible for flooding that occurs downstream? Question two: is the lifetime value (20-30 years) of preserving green space in a developed area worth more to the homeowners of that area as scarce green space and flood control or as local income from property taxes?

Our hike ended up being a little over 10 miles. The hike was great and we highly recommend it.

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