I haven't ridden this trail in several years so I decided to give it a try. I rode from the north end to the south. The north end is much improved since 2005 when I last rode it. The north end goes through some rough neighborhood areas. It used to be covered with gang signs. Hammond now seems to paint over them quickly as they pop up so the punks may have moved on. The maintenance on this part of the trail is much improved I actually saw two crews working on it in Hammond something I never saw before and I used to ride this trail weekly. When the trail reaches I-94 there is a nice tunnel under the road so getting pass the expressway is easy. The tunnel takes you to behind the Cabela's Sports. From the tunnel south it is pretty straight forward until you reach a pretty good incline. There is a rough gravel road there. Stay away from it it gets way rougher and dead ends. Go up the incline be careful it is rough loose gravel too. This is where the Erie Lackwanna connects to the Little Calumet Trail. The Little Calumet Trail runs west to Calumet Ave where it ends. There is another trail about six blocks further west. East from the incline will take you to the Wicker Park trail. It is suppose to loop the park but now because of road construction it doesn't. It is also suppose to take to to the underpass to get to the east side of US 41 but as of now that is all closed. If you don't go into Wicker Park the trail takes you to US 41. This has always been a dangerous place to cross US 41 but now because of the construction it has gone from dangerous to seriously suicidal. If you can get down US 41 about a block to the traffic light you can cross there. You have to ride through a small neighborhood . Cross US41 and then take the first right to get back to the trail. You can't really screw up here because there is only one way out of the neighborhood going east. Once you go over the railroad tracks you can turn north to get back to the Little Calumet Trail going east to Cline Avenue or south to where there are some high power lines running. A branch of the trail runs under the power lines until you reach a parking lot. If you go through the parking lot in the back you can get to the Little Calumet Trail there or turn north at the parking lot and catch the Little Calumet Trail in a couple of blocks. From that point the Little Calumet trail west takes you back to the Eire Lackawanna. From the power lines south the trail is pretty straight forward with just a couple of short branches so the locals can get to the trail. The construction has this trail totally screwed for the time being. But once it is done it will be a good solid ride. Riding as I have said gives you about a 29 mile ride. The trail is starting to show it age. Someone needs to tell the trail managers that driveway sealer is NOT asphalt patch. It does NOT fix a 1/2 inch wide crack. I would give the surface a B rating no big holes . Lack of signs and map postings is a big problem. Bring your own water or drinks as places to get some are few and far between. Hammond does not and Highland provides few drinking fountains. The Little Calumet part of the connection is scenic as I saw a deer and east of Kennedy Avenue there is a wet lands area with a lot of large wading bird, geese and raptors.

This trail now starts at Court and Summit Streets (behind Walgreens) in Crown Point. This adds nearly two miles, and was just opened in Nov of 2010. At the other end of the trail -check the map - there's a right split off the trail into Highland. A little furthur on there's a left turn which goes over a hill and some tracks and under the 41?Indpls? overpass and right into Wicker Park -another 2 miles around the park, but I'm not sure if, or how, it connects to Hammond. I hope to find the connection in 2011. While this is a great trail, we find ourselves going to Hobart most of the time to use the Prairie Duneland Trail. Its cooler on a hot summer day and really pretty.

This trail is great from Crown Point all the way through Highland! It is scenic and peaceful, wide and fun. People are generally courteous and move out of the way for passing pedestrians on bikes, blades, or runners. Once you get to Hammond the track is in horrible shape, there are several bumps and dips that could easily cause you to trip and fall - or face-plant if you're on a bike. Once you get to the welcome center on Kennedy and 80/94 it's a nice soft gravel path with a nature trail, but the path doesn't connect to Calumet City. It just seems to dead end at the expressway, I'm not sure how to continue onto the next part.... Overall it is good.