I walked a lot
There are lots of ways to explore the Des Plaines River. By boat seems like a pretty good way. At home on the internet isn’t bad either.
I walked it — and I’m still walking it — with the apparent intent of seeing the river from everywhere it is publicly accessible by foot. And by that, I mean human foot — and, even more specifically, mine.
This has entailed many miles of amazing public trails, mainly in preserves and parks, but also included streets, sidewalks, bridges and train tracks, and a few places it turns out are not technically publicly accessible and/or not accessible by foot. But I went there anyway.
I’ve gone off trail quite a bit, especially when official trails veer away from the water. I don’t encourage or condone this, for reasons including safety, conservation, and neighborly respect. But it was obvious most of the time that others had done the same before me.
I didn’t walk the river in any particular order, but I did use modern technology during my nomadic wanderings, including Google Maps, Google Earth, a great app called AllTrails, and a step counter. Used together, they’ve helped me record where I’ve been (on trail and off), how much distance I’ve covered, and when.
Every hike I took, whether on-trail, off-trail, or no trail, was a solo out-and-back walk — which means the day I walked 3.5 miles of the Des Plaines River Trail in Northbrook, I actually walked at least 7 miles. I say “at least” because some of my excursions included ancillary trails that went nowhere near the river, and others included off-trail detours when the official trail didn’t get me as close to the river as I wanted to be. I also went back to several locations multiple times. For the sake of this exercise, I’m only counting miles where I was actually near the river, and I’m only counting them once. And by near, I mean close enough to the water that a turtle could get there from wherever I was.
Not that I’m bragging (ha!), but from the time I began this effort at the end of November, 2022, I’ve walked nearly 500 miles within the Des Plaines River Watershed, and much of it within sight of the river. I began this project at the age of 63, turned 64 in the process, and walked over 250 miles in just the first 90 days. And I only fell down three or four times.
It’s been a great exercise, for body and mind. I am thankful for the chance.
Click here to see my mile-by-mile breakdown Click here to see the Top 5 most significant points on the river
