Mile 92.7: I-55 corridor
First visit: Dec. 31, 2022 Public trail? Some Private land? Some Distance walked: 2.3 miles
Only someone on some kind of irrational and possibly insane mission to walk the Des Plaines River from every conceivable access point would try to walk the river in this section I call Desolation Boulevard – the title of the seminal 1974 LP by The Sweet, which produced the hit song “Fox on the Run”, whose title would also be apt here. Running from the Chicago Portage site to Willow Springs Rd., this part of the river is smack in the I-55 intermodal corridor, and is desolate by almost every measure, especially as public walking goes. But I of course tried anyway, and the surprise to me is that I was able to walk more than two miles of river there – three if you count a section of Lawndale Ave. I walked the day I visited the Chicago Portage site – and it wasn’t without some rewards.
Starting after the Chicago Portage site and coinciding with the so-called “new channel” of the river – the part that was moved and straightened to accommodate the I&M Canal and then the Sanitary and Ship Canal – Desolation Boulevard is a roughly six-mile stretch of river that is mostly inaccessible to the public, and, except for a small preserve in Hodgkins, isn’t designed for walkers. There are plenty of other no-go zones further downriver, and as I’ve pointed out elsewhere in this travelogue, even the Des Plaines River Trail takes hikers far from the river in some areas. But a heavy concentration of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) works and transit yards dominates both riverbanks here, and the surviving strips of greenery offer only the smallest opportunities to go off trail. But there are some.
In this stretch the river runs through the towns of McCook, Summit, Justice and Hodgkins, each of which has a strictly business relationship with the river. Though the Santa Fe Prairie Nature Preserve is located in Hodgkins, and is the sole oasis in this mostly charmless stretch of river, it’s a gift of the railroad, and would otherwise probably be a FedEx terminal. Fittingly, walkers and other recreational users are frequently in the company of intermodal semitrailers and smelly trash haulers chugging up and down River Rd., even inside the preserve.
Having said that, River Rd. itself (one of 29 River Road variants along the Des Plaines), and even the gravel-topped berm in front of Lawndale Ave., make for decent walking, and are in better shape than some of the trails I walked. But they pass through some of the busiest and most starkly industrial areas you’ll encounter, and serve to underscore the transition of the Des Plaines from urban to working river.
Try a little off-trail detour
Ah, but if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind going off trail – to the extent anything down here can be called a trail – there are small pockets of near-solitude spoiled more by the presence of I-55 across the river than by the River Rd. traffic rumbling just past your shoulder. Assuming, of course, that you can also ignore the pungent aromas of the nearby waste management and recycling facilities.
Desolation Boulevard coincides, as I said, with the river’s “new channel”, which moved and straightened the river’s course when it was constructed in the mid-1800s. You can see the start of this channel by going off trail at the Chicago Portage site, or by walking the gravel-topped berm in front of Lawndale Ave. in Summit. I did both. But aside from its historic significance, this isn’t an especially scenic area, nor does it feel like much of a wildlife refuge. And it isn’t very satisfying as a place for a good, soul-enriching hike.
The southeast riverbank after the 1st Ave./I-55 interchange is entirely given to the MWRD and is decidedly not open to foot traffic, or any traffic that isn’t authorized. This area includes the massive McCook Reservoir, which unfortunately isn’t accessible and is barely visible to the public (other than virtual tours, which are fascinating). But across the way, on the northwest bank, walkers can follow the river west from an MWRD facility entrance and walk more than two miles to the Santa Fe Prairie Preserve. If you’re just out for a little light cardio, it’s easy enough to walk River Rd. here, even despite the ever-present semi and garbage truck traffic.
But it’s also possible to get down to the riverbank, provided the water is low enough, and walk all the way to the I-55 bridge. I tried this unsuccessfully in January and March, when it was too mucky, but had better luck on a hot and dry day in June. And while the stench of the nearby recycling facilities was much more potent in the hot weather, I saw a lot more wildlife than I expected, including a large gaggle of geese congregated near the MWRD site, along with herons and egrets. I also saw the remnants of a large clam, and though it was scattered among some unsightly trash, I felt encouraged to see it. The presence of clams and mussels reflect the quality of the water, and this clam’s size suggests it had lived contentedly in the Des Plaines for years before something finally had it for lunch.
The riverbank further south, between the Stevenson overpass and the Santa Fe Prairie Preserve, is not very good for walking, but the paved road is, and that’s how I got to the preserve, which is the last time you can see the river on foot until Willow Springs Rd.
Santa Fe Prairie Nature Preserve
The Sante Fe preserve is an anomaly here, and not just because it sits amidst the grime and clamor of industry. The land was donated by BNSF (so at least we didn’t pay to buy it from them), and is described as one of the few remaining parcels of untouched prairie in northeastern Illinois – a feat attributed at least partly to its inclusion in the railroad’s generous right-of-way entitlements. Besides riverside picnic clearings, with their views of the berm bordering the MWRD’s Lawndale Avenue Solids Management Area (LASMA), there is a Santa Fe caboose here that is sometimes open to the public, as well as a prairie viewing stand and a short prairie trail.
A small exhibit here pays tribute to Robert Betz and Floyd Swink, whose work to restore Illinois prairies began here in 1959. Such is the appeal of this virgin piece of prairie that an enthusiastic band of volunteers “adopted” it and helps keep it hospitable, both to nature and to visitors. I talk about prairie land, and other natural features of the Des Plaines watershed, in the Mettawa section of this website, but virtually everywhere else along the river it is restored habitat. This small parcel of land is remarkable in that it has never been touched by development; no cheap trick given the extent of development in the area.
A short trail with scattered picnic spots runs to the Route 45 overpass, where the BNSF abruptly reasserts its private land rights, and hikers can’t officially get near the river again until Willow Springs Rd., another mile-and-a-half south. A half-hearted attempt at going off trail can get you near what’s called The Mile Long Bridge on I-294, but I’m pretty sure it would be considered trespassing, and in any case it’s a lousy area for a walk. Better to drive the mile-and-a-half to Columbia Woods and get on the Centennial Trail there.