I rode this trail from the Visitor's center east to Tiskilway. Not a great trail by any means. I don't know where some of the posters get that the trail is entirely surfaced, IT IS NOT. On the day I rode It was extremely hot. There is absolutely no shade on the trail. If you don't bring supplies there are no towns along the trail unless you ride a couple of miles or more. One town is close but only the desparate would try to climb the hill to get to it. The only place I found the trail surfaced was for about 100 feet each side of the access points. I saw absolutely no wildlife except for Canada Geese. It rained the day before I rode and the trail was soft and had numereous washouts. I have ridden the I & M (Illinois)and C & O canal (Maryland) trails both are much better choices. The I & M is just east of the Hennepin trail. Save this trail for the cooler weather in the fall. Maybe the north/south section is better.

My title sums up this little article. It is a great trail, pretty and lightly traveled.
But by no means is the trail "flat". According to this...

http://oprt.org/maps/hennepin/pics/elevations-big.gif

you can see that the starts at the eastern end at about 450 feet above sea level.
It then rises about 200 feet to about 650 feet above sea level (going west) and
then decends to about 550 feet above sea level at the western end.

I have ridden the HCP twice in the last three years, which was a return to my late mother's homeland around Geneseo. Stayed with family that still lives in the area about the canal, and one of my uncles' grandmothers even cooked meals for the construction crews when the trail was initially dug!

I rode the trail in October and in May, in that order in two different years, 2007 and '08. The first time alone and the second with an old college days friend. The trail is crushed stone and a thinly bonded aggregate surface, but well maintained, in the main. Several of the old mechanical lift bridges have been restored and the locks still exist but they are no longer operative and have been converted into water falls, presumably to aereate the water for the aquatic life? Much in the way of wild life exists along the length of the trail.

In my second ride on the canal, I rode the entire main canal length of some 74 miles in two days. The primary complaint was the prevailing east wind that happened to be blowing (an anomaly with respect to usual west-to-east flow). I stopped along the way to photoshoot and hydrate. Many of the old iron bridges still exist over which, some 40 years ago, I would drive heavy farm machinery when staying for summers on my uncles farms. I shudder to think of doing that today on them!

The Visitor's Center is a jewel and has an education and information section second to none. The staff is helpful, warm and cheerful and provide willing service to all who visit. the VC is near Sheffield.

I have yet to ride the Feeder Canal, and that is a goal in the offing. It would be a good day's ride from Annawan, when my aunt and uncle live. A nice side trip, given sufficient energy, would be a visit to the Ronald Regan Presidential birthplace at Tampico, Illinois. However, that awaits another familial visit with my newest MTB. The first two bikes have traversed sections of the trail, the new one has yet to do it.

Provisions along the trail are wanting. The rider is well advised to have panniers and bike bags sufficient to carry along water, power bars, banannas and the like since there is very little in the way of ammenties along the way. The HCP misses most communities, and one has to leave it to obtain such services, but one can.

The ride is virtually flat, given that it is a canal way. It falls away from the center both ways to the Illinois River to the east and the Mississippi to the west. The main pool is near Mineral, Illinois, where the Feeder Canal intersects the Hennepin from Rock Falls. The eastern ride is the so called, "Historic Section," and has more locks on it. Unfortunately, one can not go all the way to the Illinois River and Lock #1 because it is blocked by private property (a gun club, so don't mess with it!), and the fact that Lock #1 is under the river anyway! The western end stops at the Rock River, but some segments, broken up by roads and development, are in place beyond it, but one "can't get there from here!"

This is a jewel in Illinois' crown. It's a great ride, but one that has little ammenities. Take your own and enjoy this long, long trail.