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 runs a total length of 12.25 miles, most of it alongside the Des Plaines River in Cook, DuPage and Will Counties, before it ends at Romeo Rd. in Romeoville. 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. Named in 1989 for the 100-year anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), which “dedicated” about nine miles of land between the Des Plaines River and the Sanitary and Ship Canal for public access, the trail is described as a “cooperation project” between the MWRD and the Forest Preserve Districts of the three counties.
In the interests of full disclosure, 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 in “Some Girls,” I just don’t have that much jam. But I did combine sections with other walks – such as the day I walked a 1.5-mile out-and-back at Columbia Woods before tackling these 4 miles of Centennial Trail from Willow Springs Rd. to Rte. 83 (Kingery Hwy.), for a total of 9.5 miles. But I only counted that as 4 miles of actual riverfront walking, per the rules I set out for this exercise in my mile-by-mile travelogue.
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, as if it were emulating the two canals to its south – which, with much human intervention, it is. 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 Preserve land along the river. Such is the nature of commercial transportation routes, which date back to at least the 1600s in the case of the Des Plaines, and I was almost always in the company of trains everywhere from Wadsworth to Channahon. This land may in fact have been acquired from the railroad, but I couldn’t find much history about it. It hosts an annual historic reenactment event called A River Thru History: The Des Plaines Valley Rendezvous (Sept. 9-10, 2023), which is open to the public. And it’s the best place to park if you want to walk the Centennial Trail from its beginning.
It’s also 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. This is the southernmost Cook County Forest Preserve on the river, and I can’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. 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 I used my phone to record the intense bird chatter, which sounds like a rain forest whenever I replay it. In May I helped some baby turtles get across the trail near Centennial Hill, where they seemed certain to get run over by 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.