My daughter and I rode the trail from just north of Fulton to the end in Rock Island. The ride was very scenic along the river. We especially enjoyed riding through the small towns north of the Quad Cities. This was a planned century (100 miles) so after a while the scenery and aesthetics become much less interesting than completing the ride. We started in Cordova, the half way point, and road 25 miles in each direction. The city park was our staging area for our adventure. With never having ridden the trail I was relying on signage to keep us on track. As we left the park there were no signs pointing the way to the trail. We embarked on a frustrating tour of Cordova trying to find the trail. Once we understood that the trail through some towns is posted as a 'Bike Route' the navigation became much easier. But it doesn't end there. As we entered the Quad Cities, primarily Rock Island, loosing the trail at a street intersection was quite easy at times. Thank goodness for the map on our 'smart' phones. I understand that signs are vandalized or are victim to something else but the trails needs to be signed so navigation is much more simple. A coordinated effort needs to be made to standardize the signs along the whole route. If you do ride the trail take a detailed map and a fully charged 'smart' phone with a mapping app. A lot of money, planning and time has gone into bringing this trail to where it is today. This trail, and others like it, are a great asset to our state and those seeking recreation.

I rode from Savannahh to Thomson ( 20 miles round trip). The trail is complete now, so you don't have to go out on the highway. It was paved and when the trail turned into street it was very low traffic. Downtown Thomson has a combination bike shop/ embroidery shop.

I walked the Great River Trail this summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. I live in the Quad Cities so I started at Sunset Marina in Rock Island and would walk about 10 miles per session, 5 miles out then 5 back to my car. The stretch from Sunset Marina to just north of Cordova winds thru several small towns and stays pretty close to the Mississippi river, a pretty scenic and enjoyable stretch, being that it passes thru several towns there are plenty of rest areas / retaurants. The next stretch that was a challenge and not very enjoyable / scenic, fortunately it was only 5 miles long, it starts just north of Cordova at the nucular plant to just south of Albany, it runs right next to Il Route 84, which is traffic going 55 miles per hour. From there the stretch from Albany to Fulton strays from the river and takes you on a lot of back country roads, I was a little nervous at first to walk on these country roads, but they are not very heavily traveled and you are going thru the countryside seeing a lot of scenery and wildlife. The last stretch from Fulton to Savanna is mostly designated trails winding thru the woods, praries and also utilizing some country roads. My favorite stretch was the last 5 miles from a visitors center that sits on the Mississippi and onto Savanna, this section winds 100% thru woods and praries. After I walked the trail this summer I started biking it, but I got a late start so I haven't biked it all yet, but I plan on doing both next summer.

I rode this trail from Moline to East Moline and back. That part of the trail is very nice. It follows long the river and is scenic and has only a little industry along the way. North of Cordova to Fulton the trail is only a few feet away from the road with very fast traffic and trucks. Lots of noise,dirt etc. The part I rode was mainly through a town park and was paved well. There are restaurants etc. I would ride this trail again starting in Cordova and riding to Rock Island. In Moline it passes right next to a Radisson hotel it is a real nice hotel in the $140 per night range we stayed there.

We started the trail at Savanna, IL, and were very impressed for the first 2 miles. At that point a sign told us "Trail Ends Temporarily"--and nothing more. We moved out onto Hwy 84 for a few miles--lots of traffic and not much shoulder. No more signs to tell us where to go. We encountered another biker who had come up from Port Byron. We told him how to find the next leg of the trail north; he told us to follow the country (but paved) roads toward Port Byron. Roads were nice and paved with very little traffic. Lots of cornfields and houses for scenery--plenty of green. We turned around at the State Prison, because, again, there were no signs telling us which way to go and, being from out of state, were weren't sure what we might be getting in to and it was getting late.

All in all, this could have been a very enjoyable ride if we'd really had a good feeling that we knew where we were going or were on the 'trail'.

"A group of Wisconsin retirees came south in mid September to ride the Hennepin Canal Trail. On our way home we decided to ride a section of the Great River Trail. We rode from Sunset Park in Rock Island to beyond East Moline. We thought the river scenery was excellent and also enjoyed observing the “working sections” of the river towns of Rock Island and Moline. We took a detour over to the Rock Island Arsenal to see the Arsenal Museum, the Corp of Engineers Visitor Center, and the Confederate Cemetery. You must remember that the Arsenal is an active Military Base and you must check in and out. To enter you must have picture ID and if biking wear helmets. We also took another detour to the John Deere Pavilion. This was well worth the couple of blocks of city streets and was very informative. It was great fun to see all the old equipment and sit in the new equipment while learning a bit about the rich Deere heritage."

"I rode this ""trail"" from Savanna to Sunset Park in Rock Island.
It's a hodge podge of paved multi-use, rail and built crushed gravel trails, plus roads (some not really suitable for biking).
The state of Illinois has a published map showing the trail which is wrong in several instances.

Starting in Savanna, the trail starts across the tracks from the chamber of commerce railroad car on the south end of main street. It's a nice rail trail at this point which goes a couple of miles until it abruptly ends. The state map has the trail continuing at this point, but it actually doesn't. At this point there is no directional signs telling you what to do. You must proceed on Ill. 84. A high traffic highway with no shoulders. After a couple of miles on 84 I headed west on a county road to the big slough recreational area. From there I headed south still on county roads until I hit the trail head. If you ride a bit west the trail takes you to an Army corp of Engineers built camp ground and a very nice view of the Mississippi. The trail in this area is on the park's road.

Heading on south the trail becomes a crushed gravel trail through an unusual area of sand and very tall grass. This trail ends and again you find yourself on a county road. This road ends at a T and there the rail-trail starts again for several miles until you come to Fulton. There seems to be two ways to go through Fulton, at least that's what the directional sign indicated. In Fulton you are directed down a couple of streets to the trail again which ends and you ride a couple of city streets until you come to a dike which you ride on for a while until you come to a narrow gravel road, which you ride for a mile or so which becomes paved. You are directed across 84 and down a paved county road and onto a gravel road. This gravel road has pretty loose gravel and was difficult to ride. You ride through Albany side streets and then on a paved trail past some Hopewell Indian mounds. At which point you wind up on a paved county road before crossing back over 84 again onto a multi use trail right next to the highway for several miles before reaching Cordova.

Going through Cordova is on city streets, but there's a nice rest area in the middle of town on the Mississippi. From there on your on a multi use trail usually next to scenic (NOT) 84. In Port Byron you get the first of many chances to be right next to the Mississippi, at least for brief periods of time.
Once you get to East Moline you're on top of a dike or just on a regular multi-use trail right until the end. You are almost always right next to the Mississippi and occasionally on some rail-trail sections.

Because of the lack of signage in the northern part of my trip I added a few extra miles on when I became lost. But my total miles were almost 67, but the ""trail"" is advertised as 62.
If you ride rail-trails, be warned that not very much of this ""trail"" is rail-trail.

Be sure to get a map and brochure (for places to eat and rest). The map has a few mistakes on it, but it's better than nothing.
I considered the first few miles south of Savanna and the section through East Moline and Moline the most scenic."

"With the Mississippi River on one side and skid row warehouses on the other, this is a great trail as far as scenery goes as long as you keep your head turned. There are also all the John Deere factories, etc., that anyone would care to see.

But other than that, I liked this trail. It is asphalt, not very populated, and has some nice winding curves and hills. What I didn't like was the fact that you had to negotiate through all of these little towns via roadway. The stretch around the town of Cordova is particularly annoying, as you are on city streets for a couple miles or so. And the street north of the watertower is fairly busy.

All in all, it's a nice trail that pretty much parallels the highway (84) all of the way to Savannah, Illinois, which is kind of annoying since big rigs frequent that highway. We roadtripped to this trail, and it was a good experience, kids and all.

Grades:
*trail surface: A
*scenery: B (the river outweighs the factories)"

"The section from Savanna south has been paved and is scheduled for grand opening sometime in June. Though not officially open, I have used it. It is 8-feet-wide at the south end and 10-feet-wide from the Big Slough Recreation Area. It is paved and smooth. The total length is around 3.5 miles.

It passes under trees and passes ponds. It has two bridges, one of which crosses the Plum River. The other crosses the railroad tracks at Savanna. The north end of the trail exits near the police station on Main Street in Savanna. The south end of the trail does not go all the way to Riverview Road, which is how you get to the rest of the trail.

There is still a mile that you must travel on busy IL Route 84. On this stretch there are soft, gravel shoulders and not much pavement to share with cars and trucks."

"The path is not complete from The lock and dam 13 (4 miles north of Fulton) From that point north you must take a paved road north sharing with occasional traffic until you get past Michlesons landing after which point you should be alone for a mile or so of good pavement. at that point you switch to a crushed lime stone path that is smooth enough for road bikes. this path takes you to the west end of main street in Thomson. from there you must take River View Road north past the new prison. Riverview road is paved, but must be shared with moderate traffic. not much of a problem. Riverview road ends at Illinois Rt. 84 about 4 miles south of Savanna near Savanna's airport. Rt. 84 is fairly heavily traveled and there is not much room if you want to stay on the road. there is a wide loose gravel shoulder which is fairly friendly for fat tire bikes, but the last few miles to Savanna will be tense for skinny tire guys if it is a high traffic time."