Had a nice time yesterday (9/28/20) on the stretch from Morris west toward Seneca. Note however that the part just west of downtown Morris that goes over Nettle Creek is closed in both directions; you can't proceed west if you start in downtown Morris and need to detour on city streets for awhile.

If you're starting from Morris and want to go west, a better bet is to park at Gebhard State Woods (but note that you cannot head east from there, just west).

In our pandemic times, I stay off the overused trails in & close to Chicago.
Because of limited access points, this trail fits the bill as sparsely used.
Closer to Rockdale, the trail is a bit overgrown, and there are a few spots with loose gravel. I wanted to ride to Gebhard Woods, but did not find the trail. (People in Morris want you to see their downtown.) But that was fine - I did ride around Morris before I returned to Rockdale. This was the flattest ride I have ever done!

Overall, this was a great trip. It's a towpath so as you expect, almost no change in elevation. Most of the trail is hardpacked gravel, with some pavement. I wouldn't recommend any portion of the trail after much rain, the trail would be too muddy (particularly between Utica and Ottawa). We were really impressed with the staff who seemed to be keeping the trail working. On Utica to LaSalle, there was a downed limb blocking the trail, but it was gone by the time we returned an hour later. Everywhere else, the trail was mostly free of litter except in some of the towns.

The western third from LaSalle to Ottawa is very scenic, with a few of canal, river, caves, flora, fauna, and sandstone cliffs. Someone created a small bridge at the washout between Utica and Ottawa. The middle third from Ottawa to Morris is not as nice, although the stops in Marseilles, Seneca, and Morris are nice. The trail in Seneca stops right next to a well kept Casey's with a clean bathroom, friendly staff, cold gatorade, and a free air compressor. Most of this segment the canal is gone and the trail is down to a small single file track, but still heavily wooded at least. Morris itself is really scenic, but you have to detour around another washed out bridge, I think the route was Ottawa to Fremont/Jefferson to Nettle. Morris to Channahon was our favorite segment, particularly around McKinley Woods and Channahon State Park. The woods and river views were beautiful and the canal waterway was in the best shape here. The section from I-55 to Rockdale was again not-so-nice, reasonably well wooded, but few amenities and not the greatest scenery.

There are few places to stop close to the trail east of Morris. Near Channahon State Park where the trail crosses US Route 6, there's a subway and gas station nearby.

The part through the downtown of Lemont is very nice but going west is in bad shape and east bound is gravel, not well maintained. In parts, if you had an accident they might find you for a few days. Short trail in both directions - goes no where. Skip this trail and ride the Cenntenial Trail on the other side of the river. It is a 5 star trail - Lemont is a 1 star

I rode this on August 18, 2020 a few days after a bad storm. The crews were still out cleaning up after all the damage. They really had a lot done and they were very efficient.

Nice paved trail. 1st time riding this. Rode from East Peoria to Morton. It's uphill most of the way but no real taxing hills. Long inclines. It looks like trail maintenance is complete. The ride back from Morton was the reward! Downhill 75% of the way. Will be riding this trail again.

The only bad thing was the small bugs which kept hitting me. Make sure you have eye protection and keep your mouth closed so you don't suck a bug down your throat!

We rode the Channahon to Morris section after the storms in early August. There were a couple of trees down but overall the path was clear and very scenic. Lots of birds, lots of shade and mostly flat. It is mostly limestone and can be slippery at times for touring bikes. There is a toilet at Channahon, it is a latrine (no flush toilet) and no place to wash your hands. We had planned to stop in Morris but didn't see the connection to the next part.

Contrast that to the Ottawa towards LaSalle portion that a few days later had major trees down every 1/2 mile or so, some of them really big and hard to get over or under. Surely this is temporary but may be an issue for a few weeks to come as there were a lot. We decided to ride on the street on the way back to Ottawa (we only went 6 miles because of a branch that lodged between my brake and wheel and flipped me off my bike) once we got to Buffalo Rock State Park. What little we saw of the trail wasn't as scenic as the Channahon to Morris section

My daughter uses a wheelchair and we all really felt like we could enjoy the park on this path. The whole area is extremely accessible!

I round-trip biked between Joliet and Symerton, so about 2/3rds of the trail. The words in the title sum up this path Perfectly. Once you get outside of the Joliet area (doesn't take long) you're in the country. The trail (limestone, small gravel) is flat as a pancake (no hills) and mostly straight (meaning you aren't making turns). The biggest factor out here is easily the sun. A good deal of the trail has direct sun exposure, especially once you get south of Manhattan. I'd highly recommend sunscreen and ample fluids.
The trail itself is in decent condition. There is a dangerous area that's parallel to the Chicago Speedway (if you look over) there's an area with courser gravel, adjoined by a small area of sand-like limestone. The sandy area is very dangerous, you'll swerve in this. Be sure to proceed through this area with caution. Near Midewin and south of it the trail features a good deal of gravel portions of the path. These can be detoured using the grass path on either side, but just make sure you're paying attention to these..as they're dangerous, especially for your tires.
I spotted a few rest areas at Sugar Creek, north Manhattan and Midewin. I believe all three have restrooms, benches, path signage and a couple of them may have water fountains.
I enjoyed my ride this morning but the sun can be a major factor for this path, especially if you ride in the sectors that feature no tree coverage, or if youre going for a longer ride. Would I ride it again?...probably not.