I stumbled onto a sign for the Kankakee River State Park while driving on Saturday and was immediately hoping to give it a “run” on Sunday.  The park is in Bourbonnais, IL but truly in the middle of nowhere along IL Route 102, west of Bourbonnais & Manteno.  I drove south on Route 45 and then followed the signs when I got to the Manteno intersection.  The park runs parallel to Route 102 and there are multiple entrances.  I just picked one and parked.

5314 West Rt. 102, Bourbonnais, IL

The main bike trail begins at Davis Creek, and travels for 10.5 miles west.  Roundtrip, that’s 21 miles of amazing paved trail!  There were several dirt off spurs which would also allow for additional adventure but I’m a “follow the paved trail” kind of girl so I just stuck to the main path and it was super easy.  No chance of getting lost.  Win!

I drug my trusty running partner off the couch to go exploring with me!  Meet Libby.  She is a weimaraner, runner extraordinaire and overall best friend.  She’s covered a lot of miles with me over the years and has helped me up some nasty hills too.  🙂

We saw lots of amazing sites, a few runners, a couple bikers, some squirrels, a quail and a branch even fell on the trail directly in front of us one time.  If a girl screams in the woods and nobody hears…..

The trail was marked extremely well, so if you like to run “naked” without your technology, this is a good spot with well maintained, visible mile markers every half mile.   There was never a question as to where I was or how far I had traveled.  Nice touch!

There were also a lot of cool bridges.  Finding old bridges in different styles is one of my favorite things about running a new trail so the Kankakee River State Park trail was a major win for me!

The water was always close to the trail.  You could see it peeking between the trees, thru the openings, and while crossing those old beautiful bridges.

There were a few hills which were identified with “steep hill” signs:

Overall, this was a great trail and it was very well maintained.  I absolutely loved every section that I ran.  I started just before the mile 5 marker and ran almost to the end before returning to my car.  It was beautiful!  There were bathrooms in several areas.  Lots of access roads with parking/camping/picnic areas.  Kankakee River State Park would be perfect for families, runners/bikers, moms with jogging strollers and FurMoms who need to run/walk the dogs.  If you have the jogging stroller and/or a biking tot beware of those steep hill sections.  Also note that this trail is in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.  There were several camping areas which I ran thru but in between camp sites, it was pretty desolate.  The river bordered one side of the trail and at times I could see Route 102 on the other.  The majority of the time, however, the trial is just engulfed by forest preserve.  If you like peace and quiet, this is YOUR trail.  If you like to run in a bit more populated area, you might not be comfortable here.

Regardless of what you prefer, get out the door and enjoy these last few days of fall.  Winter is coming and then we can talk about breaking new trails in the snow!

** Happy Trail Running ** Amanda – TooTallFritz * amanda@tootallfritz.com