Find the top rated trails in East Peoria, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The El Paso Walking Trail runs along part of an old railroad right-of-way through the town of El Paso, beginning at the city park on the south side of town and ending at a creek north of town among...
The Hennepin Canal Parkway, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a state park, follows an old towpath along a canal opened in 1907 and quickly abandoned due to competition...
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Caution: As of Sept. 15, 2014: Due to severe storm washouts that occurred last summer, there are closed sections of the trail on its northern end between Toulon and Princeville. Check the state's DNR...
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Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
The Constitution Trail is so named because it was dedicated on the 200th birthday of the U.S. Constitution, September 17, 1987. The first and main north-south section of the trail was built along an...
Caution: As of Sept. 15, 2014: Due to severe storm washouts that occurred last summer, there are closed sections of the trail on its northern end between Toulon and Princeville. Check the state's DNR...
Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
The Hennepin Canal Parkway, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a state park, follows an old towpath along a canal opened in 1907 and quickly abandoned due to competition...
The Constitution Trail is so named because it was dedicated on the 200th birthday of the U.S. Constitution, September 17, 1987. The first and main north-south section of the trail was built along an...
The El Paso Walking Trail runs along part of an old railroad right-of-way through the town of El Paso, beginning at the city park on the south side of town and ending at a creek north of town among...
Running from East Peoria to Morton, The River Trail of Illinois was resurfaced in summer 2011. From East Peoria, the hiking and biking trail travels southeast along the old Illinois Terminal Railway...
The Pekin Park Bike Trail traverses more than 4 miles between Allentown Road and the Illinois River at Pekin bridge. The trail does a loop in Coal Miners' Park and passes through Mineral Springs Park,...
Caution: As of Sept. 15, 2014: Due to severe storm washouts that occurred last summer, there are closed sections of the trail on its northern end between Toulon and Princeville. Check the state's DNR...
The Hennepin Canal Parkway, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a state park, follows an old towpath along a canal opened in 1907 and quickly abandoned due to competition...
The El Paso Walking Trail runs along part of an old railroad right-of-way through the town of El Paso, beginning at the city park on the south side of town and ending at a creek north of town among...
The Constitution Trail is so named because it was dedicated on the 200th birthday of the U.S. Constitution, September 17, 1987. The first and main north-south section of the trail was built along an...
We just rode the trail from Princeville to Alta. Beware of the hog manure smell the first mile. My wife was overwhelmed by the smell. We would suggest that you find the trail the next road south of Princeville. We ended up parking in the park the 1st right after Casey's on route 90. The trail head can be accessed after the railroad tracks on the left.
I'm from Morris and have frequented the I&M for a few years now. Yesterday I went to the Hennepin for the first time ever. I started in Bureau Junction and took the canal to Tiskilwa, then transferred over to the road that follows that little river back to Bureau.
The canal was great. I have a cross bike and it handled well. I wouldn't recommend a road bike with anything less that 28c tires (and this is pushing it, better bring tubes!) There were a few holes I hit. Debris was at a minimum but there was some overgrowth on the path. Nothing I would complain about. No major trees over the path. After knowing how parts of the I&M canal are I would say the conditions in this small 10 mile section of the Hennepin are a good. Especially considering how remote it is. Large hills in the background, and there are more larger oak and sycamore trees around than the I&M.
The road surface conditions on the way back to Bureau were fair-good, but the places that the road takes you through are great. Not too sure if locals care for bike-riders, there were only 3 that passed me going the way I was going but I wasn't given much room any time.
In either case, if you want to do a quick 20 miles this was a fun easy loop. It was a hot day and 35 ounces of water worked fine as the canal is pretty cool in the shaded areas.
Recommended!
Started this one at what is called the end, in Morton, Illinois. Nice place to park and get on. Fair amount of this part is flat and next to corn fields, then as you get out of town you get into some rolling hills. Nice areas that one would not normally see. You ride allow some of the Illinois river run offs near East Peoria. Following the trail once you get to East Peoria is at times confusing as you are turning and crossing roads and there are signs but at time hard to follow. I ended at a Steak N Shake on the river front and ate and then headed back. Great ride.
This is a very well-maintained trail (saw two separate work crews during my ride today) through some nice scenery. There is a relentless 2-3 mile hill about 1.5 miles from EP. I recommend parking near Bass Pro and heading towards Morton. There is a nice little riverfront park to park at. Unfortunately, the bathroom facilities were locked up (3:30 PM). The EP end is somewhat confusing, with many twists, turns, and road crossings. The markings are sparse, but now that I have ridden it once, it will be much easier. Trying to connect to the Rock Island trail in Peoria is a bit of an adventure, as you cross a huge bridge with a ton of truck traffic. Definitely not for the faint of heart! Overall nice trail once you figure it out.
What a great find. Yes there is construction in the Colona area that could be marked a bit better, but if you are a small rule breaker....well just walk under the underpass knowing you might get a little mud on your shoes.
Fish jumping, pretty good old black top, some gravel. Lots of places that are not marked legal to camp but a tent could be popped up readily.
if you want a quiet hike, or ride, this is a very cool fit, rarely the sound of a car.....perfection. We were on it for four or five hours and came across two people both walking.
This was awesome. Definitely start at Bass Pro and do the uphill when you first start. The ride back was amazing. Little confusing; turn left near Huck's to get on main trail just passed the chicken joint.
This trail is closed at the Colona access; this is not indicated at the parking lot off 5th street, but rather about 1/4 mile up the trail at 3rd St. If there was a posting at the trailhead, we missed it. Had to turn around, re-load the bikes & gear. Drove to Geneseo and found access to the trail via the Geneseo Campground off State Hwy 82. This was not clearly marked. Biked from Geneseo Campground to Atkinson. If you are accustomed to paved, well manicured, suburban bike trails, this is NOT the trail for you. What appears to be old asphalt pavement is (as of this review) 90-100% covered with weeds and debris. Debris as in dead mice, a large muskrat carcass, two dead carp, a huge pile of horse manure and a fallen tree that completely blocked the path. Trail was flooded at one point under a bridge; had to hoist the bikes over a guardrail to get to/cross the road to continue on the trail. This was near Atkinson. On the positive: wildflowers and Baltimore Orioles abound.
We rode this trail on a warm sunny Sunday, starting in Alta on the outskirts of Peoria, where the trail surface turns from asphalt to stone. There were quite a few people on the trail, but their numbers quickly thinned out as we headed north. Winds were from the west mainly across our path, and there were many stretches with tree cover that would block a wind in most any direction.
The surface is extremely smooth, packed stone with only a few rutted or washed-out spots and several animal holes to dodge or bounce over. I could have left the skinniest slick tires on my road bike rather than switch to the treaded 28's and still done fine.
In two towns along the way the trail leaves the railroad bed and proceeds on paved streets. In Dunlap we didn't see the trail access point a short way down a stone driveway, and rode a few blocks further and s short distance on the highway to rejoin the trail. In the larger town of Princeville some signage was missing entirely and we had to circle back to the railroad tracks and consult the trail map in order to find our way through. On the return trip the signs were a bit clearer.
At Wyoming, IL the trail again stops through town. The visitor center was closed on this Sunday (is it ever open?), but the bathrooms and water were available. On the other side of town where the trail restarts, a sign warned that the trail to Toulon was still closed from several years before. We did not proceed past here so I cannot say whether the bridge is out or if it's just that they never restored the trail from the old storm damage.
The return trip was uneventful with a few people sprinkled through the northern part of the trail, and much heavier use in the last couple miles to Alta. Overall a very good ride, and I would do it again.
We biked the Hennepin Canal trail mid May of this year. Our plan was to ride from the feeder canal trailhead in Rock Falls, to Wyanet on the main trail. Due to an issue with transportation, we decided to reverse our route, beginning at the bike rental shop and riding west/north.
We saw a lock immediately after entering the trail. The locks are impressively built and still relatively intact except for the gates that have been permanently closed, creating a waterfall at each one. We continued on making a short stop at the visitors center near Sheffield. Just past the center, the trail crosses over the canal via an old iron bridge (very neat photo op). After passing under I-80, the trail really opens up until you reach the feeder basin. There are a few more trees once you begin on the feeder trail, and therefore we had to dodge several sticks & small limbs on the path, but nothing too bad. The next feature we came to was the canal bridge over the Green River; this is an impressive feature to see... water flowing over water. The trail has sections of asphalt and switched to crushed stone periodically, both of which made for easy riding. The path is fairly well maintained on the south end of the feeder trail. There are also many tunnels along the path that are easy to ride through.
We made another quick stop at the rest area on Highway 92. After that, the trail started to be come overgrown with weeds. The first section we travelled wasn't too bad, and we thought it would clear up within a mile or two. However, after 4 miles of overgrown trail, and having to lift our bikes over two large trees that had fallen across the path, we stopped at Hahnaman Road to re-evaluate. We decided to cut our losses and ride back towards our vehicle in Wyanet, via county roads. Though not as scenic as the canal trail, we did see some beautiful farms and countryside along the county highways.
Overall, it was a good trail to ride, and I would recommend it to others. There could be more attention paid to maintaining the northern half of the feeder canal trail. We are occasional bike riders and do these rides once every couple of years. During our day on the trail, we met a total of 4 other bikers and 2 walkers. The trail was lightly used for a Saturday (there were, however, many boaters / fishermen). We had also planned to ride the Wyanet to Bureau Junction the following day, but decided instead to hike a 4 mile portion that we really wanted to see. I would like to come back and ride this trail again.
Once you leave Mineral Springs Park, the trail is not marked. I had to ride along Broadway for a few blocks before finding it again. Then I lost it again down by where the old West Campus used to be. Once you get west of Eighth Street, you have to stop every block to watch for cars before crossing the street.
The trail is really better for walkers than for riders.
I've ridden the Hennepin Canal numerous times, most of my trips taking place between Bureau Junction and Sheffield. In some of the more remote parts, the scenery is quite beautiful and it's nearly deserted. Unfortunately, the state has not done such a wonderful job of upkeep, and significant portions of the trail are often washed out or in disrepair. It's my understanding that this is currently being addressed, and the Army Corps of Engineers recently began (finished?) a project to preserve the most damaged parts of this trail. I'm looking forward to checking it out.
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