By asinca on June 01, 2010
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.
By PAhikerbiker on August 08, 2009
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'.
By R Colvert on October 17, 2006
"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."