Mile 96.2: Willow Springs (CT)
First visit: Dec. 20, 2022 Public trail? Yes Private land? No Distance walked: 4 miles
The Centennial Trail begins across the river from Columbia Woods, a Cook County Forest Preserve and canoe launch at Willow Springs Rd. It presently runs for 12.25 miles, most of it between the Des Plaines River and the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Cook, DuPage and Will Counties, before it ends at Romeo Rd. in Romeoville. Named in 1989 for the 100-year anniversary of its owner, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), it is the longest trail on the river after the Des Plaines River Trail, which runs for almost 60 miles through Lake and Cook Counties further north. There are plans for it to eventually link to the Chicago Portage Site in Lyons, and to grow to 26 miles total following the Illinois & Michigan Canal. That shouldn’t be too hard to do, seeing as the Centennial Trail ends across the street from the I&M Canal Trail. The MWRD, which also owns Centennial Hill and Columbia Woods, “dedicated” this land for public access, and leases it to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.
I must say that I never walked the entire 12.25 miles in one outing, mainly because that would be a 24.5-mile out-and-back hike, and to quote Mick Jagger, I just don’t have that much jam. But I did combine sections with other hikes – such as the day I walked a section of the Veterans Memorial Trail along I-355 before it joined with the Centennial Trail.
Having already explored what I call Desolation Boulevard, which ends where the Centennial Trail begins, I was familiar with the hybridized character of the river down here, which has become wide, straight and deep, in many ways emulating the two canals to its south. Though not much more than thin strips down here, the riverbanks are nevertheless lush and wild, as is the strip of land between the Centennial Trail and the San Ship Canal. Because of their proximity to one another, and pockets of low-lying land in between, a metal mesh fence has been erected to prevent invasive fish from making the swim from the Des Plaines to the San Ship during times of flooding. To learn more about this defense strategy, called the Des Plaines River Barrier, visit my Canal Confluence page. To hear what trail users think, read on.
Columbia Woods sits across the street from a BNSF train yard and alongside railroad tracks, which isn’t uncommon for Forest Preserves along the river. Commercial transportation routes tend to follow one another, with roads and rail routes often following waterways, which means they’re often following Indian trails as well (read more about that here). This practice dates back to the 1600s here in the Chicago area, at least as as far as written history is concerned. Columbia Woods in fact hosts an annual historic reenactment event called A River Thru History: The Des Plaines Valley Rendezvous, featuring fur trappers and settlers who lived off the river the same way as the Native Americans they ultimately displaced. And it’s also the best place to park if you want to walk the Centennial Trail from its beginning.
This turned out to be one of my favorite preserves along the river, both because of its natural beauty and because you can walk on both sides of the river here. As the southernmost Cook County Forest Preserve on the river, I couldn’t help but compare the river here to Potawatomi Woods in Northbrook, the county’s northernmost Forest Preserve. Contrary to my expectations, the river down here seems clearer, less obstructed and faster flowing, no doubt due to its straightened course (some maps call this the Des Plaines River Diversion Channel) and all the added wastewater, which you can read more about here. It’s not surprising that this is a popular canoe and fishing location, though Potawatomi is too. This was the first area where I saw people fly fishing, which would be harder to do in the narrower confines up north.
The fish fence
Across the river the Centennial Trail starts with a human fence barrier that intersects with the fish fence barrier. The human fence blocks access to an MWRD solids management area adjacent to the trailhead, while the fish fence is meant to stop invasive fish from getting into the San Ship from the Des Plaines during times of flooding.
Many trail users I’ve spoken to express skepticism about the effectiveness of the fence, and lament the two years it took to build, which shut down trail access from 2013-2015. They note the ability of fry and eggs to get through the fence, and that local fishermen catch carp minnows in the river and use them for bait in the canal. Having now walked the entirety of the river and spent a lot of time in this canal area, the fence seems no greater folly than the electrified grids on the San Ship Canal. I can hear my mom saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which is hard to argue from a position of stewardship, but I admit I share a bit of the skepticism. I know our record versus nature is historically abysmal, but the reality is that short of closing the San Ship and sealing its Lake Michigan mouth, which is about as likely as flying pigs, these are the best defenses we have. They’ll surely be breached, and the flying carp will get into the Great Lakes – their DNA is already there, which implies they are too – but perhaps we’re buying enough time to come up with an even better plan.
The Centennial Trail
This initial four-mile stretch of the paved Centennial Trail runs straight and flat and is one of the easiest walks on the river, aside from having to dodge cyclists. Shortly before you reach Route 83 (Kingery Hwy.) is the 60-foot tall Centennial Hill, which is actually two hills made from 1.8 million cubic yards of McCook Reservoir excavation debris. The MWRD describes them as overburden piles, and the area as a disposal site – which may be technically accurate but sounds so sterile. Planted with prairie grasses and dotted with limestone, the hill features separate hiking and biking trails that are all used aggressively by dirt and electric cyclists. From a rest spot atop its peak, you can see the Chicago skyline under the right conditions. You can also see the northward streams of both the Des Plaines River and the Sanitary and Ship Canal, the only place this is viewable aside from a few bridges.
The closeness of the Sanitary and Ship Canal becomes more evident after Route 83, but you can always hear its industry while walking the Centennial Trail, from barge traffic to earth movers to lunch whistles. The canals are permanently woven into the environment here, and along with the river and other preserve land, they seem to actually attract a healthy array of wildlife. During a walk in March of 2023 I used my phone to record the intense bird chatter, which sounds like a rain forest whenever I replay it. In June that year I helped some baby turtles get across the trail near Centennial Hill, where they seemed certain to get run over by the constant bike traffic. I’ve also heard lots of frogs and seen lots of deer, and scared a mink or an otter when I went off trail there in the winter.
Willow Springs doesn’t have much of a community presence on the river, although the old Sante Fe Speedway used to be here, in place of which now is a subdivision. It’s an interesting aside (to me, anyway) that two iconic speedways once bordered the river, though only Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove remains. Just a few hundred yards south of here, across Archer Ave. and the historic I&M Canal, is Red Gate Woods, where the world’s first nuclear reactor is buried. It isn’t a coincidence that the massive Argonne Laboratory is almost literally kitty corner from here, but we’ll talk about that during our next stop. In any case, between the fish barrier and the buried reactor, you’re forgiven if your thoughts should turn apocalyptic while touring the area.
Wildlife on the river
In the summer of 2024, a rusty-patched bumblebee was discovered in the Des Plaines River Valley near Channahon. A federally endangered species that hadn’t been seen in Will County since 1983, its discovery by a restoration specialist for the Forest Preserve District was a cause for celebration and optimism, further evidence that the river and its expansive watershed are on the rebound after decades of pollution and neglect.
While I like winter hiking because there are no crowds, no bikes and no bugs, there are also fewer wildlife sightings. It’s true I see deer fairly frequently, but I think that’s because there isn’t as much foliage to hide them. I’ve also encountered large rafts of ducks sheltering on open water, especially in some of the quieter and more densely wooded areas in Lake County. I know other warm-blooded animals are about as well, such as beaver, mink and fox, but it’s rare to see them. You might not see the hawks and crows either, but you can count on at least hearing them. Then again, on a dreary New Year’s Eve of 2023-24 I watched in awe as two bald eagles circled over the I&M Canal in Channahon, above a nesting swan the size of a Great Dane. So, it isn’t like there’s nothing to see.
But spring and summer reveal the most visible variety of wildlife along the Des Plaines River, as you might expect, regardless of where you are. Such as bombus afinis, the scientific name for that rusty-patched bumblebee. That it was found in Will County reminded me of the surprise I feel whenever I encounter wildlife in the canal and quarry areas, maybe because they don’t look very promising from a wildlife perspective. Consider the Rock Run Rookery in Joliet, a repurposed quarry with spectacular islands of cormorants, blue herons and endangered great egrets in the summer. Not too long ago that would have been the last place you’d expect to see these rare and magnificent birds.
And then there’s the Centennial Trail. For all the noisy and dirty industry that surrounds it, this area has produced some of my most surprising and memorable wildlife encounters. For instance, somewhere near the center of Centennial Hill, on a sunny and humid day in June, I once came upon a mass movement of baby turtles scrambling across the trail towards the river. This trail is very popular with cyclists, and I’ve seen plenty of amphibian casualties on my summer walks there, which must explain why I first stopped and waited to alert oncoming bike traffic, and then actively began giving the turtles an assist, by picking them up and transporting them safely to the other side. There I go interfering with nature again. But they’re babies, and they’re already threatened by almost everything that lives on the river, from hawks to foxes to Northern Pike, so I wanted to give them an advantage against the bikes.
And how about the frogs? They’re everywhere along the river, not that you’re likely to see them. But you’ll definitely hear them, especially in the mornings and evenings. Their presence is an encouraging sign of the improved water quality, and there is no more surprising and welcome sign of spring than their very vocal emergence in early March, when there is still an icy crust on their ponds. I had no idea they came out of hibernation so early.
I’ve recorded the sounds of those frogs on my phone, first because they’re unbelievable, and then because I can’t properly describe just how loud they are. I’ve in fact recorded some of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard in nature along the Centennial Trail, such as the thick flocks of songbirds whose high decibel chatter competes with the frogs and turns the woods into a jungle soundtrack in March. And the cicadas. When they hatched by the jillions in June of 2024, I read warnings about the damage their collective buzzing could cause to unprotected eardrums, so I just had to record that too. I make people listen to these recordings. I mean, what are they going to do, say no?
For all the animals I’ve seen, heard or heard about, there are of course plenty that have vanished from the Des Plaines River altogether. There was a time when mastodons drank from the river, but hardly anybody sees them anymore. I’ve never seen any during my hikes. Passenger pigeons once filled the sky above the Des Plaines River, but that was before colonizers hunted them to extinction in the 19th century. That almost happened to the bison that used to be here as well. More recently there were bears (of the non-football variety) and moose, which are allegedly known to still make an occasional foray into Cook County. I’ll believe that when I see it. Wolves used to be here too. And while bobcat sightings have become more common along the river, larger wild cats that used to be here are all gone.
The enormous swans on the river in Channahon amazed and fascinated me, and they still do. What amazes me most may be that they’re always there. I saw them chase a pelican once. I’ve heard coyotes howling in the daytime in Schiller Woods in Chicago. I helped a crayfish get across the trail who was poised for battle against a barking dog in River Grove. I flushed a surprised owl when I was stupidly groping my way through the marsh in the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve while trying to see the Lockport Powerhouse. I saw an otter or a mink swimming on the river near Black Partridge Woods, under I-355, where I also once saw a bass go skipping across the surface in pursuit of a bug. I’ve encountered fawns almost everywhere I’ve hiked, and mothers who flash their white tails if they think I’m a threat. One summer day in Gurnee I walked into an immense cloud of dragonflies that politely parted to allow me through. They could have been the rare and endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly, as they’ve lately been seen near the river too, but I wouldn’t have known how to identify them.
These days I lead monthly hikes for the Friends of the Forest Preserves, and while the turtles, blue herons and deer always bring a halt to our summertime proceedings for photo ops, there’s a different level of excitement when we encounter trees freshly gnawed by beavers. And that’s not even seeing the beavers themselves.
I’ve appreciated all these wildlife encounters along the river, and many others too numerous to list here. I haven’t yet seen any salamanders or bobcats, which I would love to see, but shortly after I started walking the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) in the fall of 2023, I encountered a young buck with an impressive rack of antlers near Fullerton Ave. in River Grove. I stopped to take a picture of him and then just stood there staring in some trancelike state of disbelief. I sent the picture to a friend who thanked me for sharing “this moment of majesty and grace”. Exactly! And here I’d thought I was just admiring a deer.