Wilma and I went out yesteday (Christmas Eve) for a nice walk.

We parked At Roland Olson FP and walked east to Brown Conservation Park where the trail crosses Caledonia Road.

Pictures and video at http://ilbob.blogspot.com/2011/12/long-prairie-trail-12-24-11.html

The section we walked included about a half a mile of the Stone Bridge Trail. Base Camp said it was 5.4 miles round trip. Sounds about right.

Brown Conservation park is fairly new and is not shown on the Boone County Conservation District map of the trail or even as a facility on the web site, although it is mentioned in one of their newsletters online.

The trail is blacktop, about 10 feet wide. It is the same old RR bed as the Stone Bridge Trail, constructed similarly. Much of the trail has steep drops offs along side it, some times 40 or 50 feet, and a few places it is level to the adjacent land. There are even a few places where it has been dug out and there are 5 to 10 foot high berms along side it. Like the SBT, there is a mostly wooded buffer of 30-50 feet on either side of the trail. The trail section we were on was well maintained.

The scenery is a lot different than the SBT though. It is mostly farm lands, so I did not feel like I was walking thru people's back yards so much. There are several stone culverts that go under the trail. I don't know if they are for drainage or once provided access to the farm fields, or both. The steep sides along the trail would make it difficult to explore them, except at one spot where it might have been possible. Probably would have been a nice picture but it was on our way back and I did not have the time to spend. There are a number of places where farmers cross the trail to get to their fields. Some are marked with signs and stripes on the trail, a couple are not marked at all. Some have pavement adjacent to the trail for the farmers, others don't.

We ran across some joggers, walkers, and bikers. Maybe a total of 8 to 10 people and 2 dogs. We even ran across an older couple with the two dogs. The man was pushing the woman in a wheel chair. They had two dogs with them. One dog was an older golden retriever who I ran across sleeping at the trail head at McMichael Road. They said he was too old to walk but wanted to come out with them so he slept there and waited for them to come back. I am not normally a fan of loose and/or unleashed dogs but both dogs were friendly and well behaved. They pointed to a house near the trail head where they live.

Parking, toilets, and water at both Roland Olson FP and Brown Conservation Park although Brown Conservation Park where we turned around seemed to be semi-closed. The parking area was blocked off, but the well worked, and the toilets were open. I am going to email the district and ask about it, as I kind of had in mind parking there next week one day and walking another section toward the east and back.

We recently got a hitch and bike rack for our van and this was our first outing as whole family all 5 of us - my wife and I and our 10, 7 and 4 year old boys. My wife pulled our youngest on his tag-a-long bike and I helped keep the pack in line and warned of oncoming riders. We only went 3 miles out and back starting in Poplar Grove and heading east toward Capron but it was an enjoyable ride. The boys were tired at the end this having been their first long ride.

The trail was fairly busy on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. When we got back to the car we stopped at The Trail Stop and got some yummy ice cream afterwards. I highly recommend stopping there for a treat if you don't mind stocking back up on those calories you just spent. It is right next to the trail where it crosses State St in Poplar Grove.

For some reason this trail officially ends half way between Caledonia and highway 251 but in fact you can ride all the way to 251 which as another reviewer pointed out makes for a total of about 20 miles one way. We didn't right that direction but I know it goes all the way..

All in all a great trail.

i decided to see how far i could get on this trail yesterday..i started out at the very begining of the Stone Bridge trail at Rockton Rd and 251 and rode til the very end of Long Prairie Trail.. it was just over 20 miles one way! pretty long ride..nice flat path but not much to see besides trees and fields! but 40 miles round trip was some great exercise!

Took the day off work on a couple weeks ago and decided to ride the Long Prairie trail. This trail was perfect. 28 miles round trip makes this a great day ride. The trail was flat, paved and scenic. There were some great stops along the trail too. Be sure to search off the trail where the derailment occured. There is a remnant of the old train car. Incredible at how the thick steel was "ribboned" . There are about 3 small towns that you pass through on this trail. One of which has a little store to get some cold drinks. If you don't know already, take a stop over at geocaching.com. There are numerous geocaches to find along the way too.

This is a nice trail. They have alot of rest areas. The trail is very flat and easy riding. This trail would be great for new riders.

"This is definitely a nice regional trail, which passes through scenic and flat farm country. In addition, there are a couple of attractive and congenial places to get a bite to eat and something to drink in Poplar Grove. Still, I wouldn't go too far out of my way to ride this trail."

"This is what a dream bike path is...level and paved and runs through the countryside with lil' country towns in between. It's a great family path. A good place to start is Caledonia, Illinois, on Hwy 173. Directly behind the grain elevators is a great parking lot.

Go east into Popular Grove and farther or take the trail northwest out of Caledonia to a forest preserve less than five miles away. This part of the path becomes crushed limestone, which even I, a 55+ granny on a bike with no speeds, handled pretty well. The scenery is worth it.

Enjoy........"