Galena River Trail:
Illinois
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Description:
The Galena River Trail is built upon an old railroad spur of the Burlington Railroad main line, constructed in 1886. The spur linked Galena to Galena Junction, where the main railroad line—still active—follows the Mississippi River. Trains on the spur stopped running around 1960. You can still see some of the old signal foundations along the trail between the railroad bridge underpass and where the trail joins South Park Avenue.

The trail corridor is mostly wooded, providing cool shade on hot summer days. In winter, the trail makes for a peaceful cross-country skiing or snowshoeing venture.

Some of the trail highlights include wetlands, limestone bluffs and the original stone foundation of an old house. Wildflowers and wildlife abound. For more details about the location of these and other highlights, visit the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation.

The trail ends abruptly at the main line tracks near the Mississippi River; across the way is a national wildlife refuge that preserves the wetland and slough habitat. There are plans to continue the trail another 2+ miles south, following the river and tracks to Aiken. The trail includes picnic tables along the way, interpretive signs, an information kiosk and porta potty at the trailhead under US 20/Spring Street.

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Parking & Trail Access:
From US 20 (Spring/Decatur streets in Galena) turn north on Park Avenue; after a short distance, take the first left into the parking area. The trailhead is just under the US 20 bridge. There may be a fee to park, depending on the time of day. The city does issue permits for free parking here; call City Hall at 815-777-1050. You can also park at Galena Recreational Park on Field Street.

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Reviews: [2 trail ratings]
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Galena trail is a lovely little trip!
By dkhilman in July, 2011
We took this trail because my daughter was giving her 1 & 2 year old thier first bike experience, and we didn't want anything too tough. It was a VERY hot day, but the entire path is quite shaded and relatively level. There is a great little picnic stop to make about halfway through. There is also a natural spring that was interesting to take a peek at. The scenery itself is somewhat limited, as the whole path is almost enclosed with greenery. - but that helped to keep us cool.
When you stop though, if it is bug season, they are plentiful.
You can ride past the visitor center the other way along the river. I don't know how far it goes, as I said it was very hot and sunny so we didn't ride that direction with the babies -- but would have been a lovely evening ride.
A parking tip? - The head of the trail can be reached by turning into the Galena visitor center and then driving back through the parking lot under the route 20 bridge.
We rented a bike trailer for the boys, and it would have been MUCH easier to park there and walk across the bridge to the bike rental place than to try to park on Main Street and THEN get to the trail.
Happy biking! This is just under 8 miles round trip. It was lovely.
short but sweet
By timbee in June, 2010
I rode this short trail in late June encountering no other users. It looked like there had been some strong winds as the trail was littered with branches, twigs, leaves, etc. Hope they clean it up quickly. About half way into the trail there were hundreds of Monarch butterflies. The trail actually goes a little farther east than the map indicates where you can cross over the river at that end into the beautiful, historic downtown area. If you're in Galena sightseeing, this trail (plus riding around town) is a nice distraction to all the shops the ladies like to go to. (I took some photos & will post soon.)
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