Join hundreds of trails and greenways experts and activists at the next National Trails Symposium in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 15-18, 2008, sponsored by American Trails.

September 13, 2008 - April 18, 2009 — Master Trail Steward Trails Training Course

• Murphysboro, IL
• The course will run through the fall and through the spring with an extended back country living and working trip to be held in March where participants will have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills learned while potentially working with local and regional volunteers on specified wilderness projects. The main focus of this course is to train and mentor volunteers in planning and implementation of volunteer trail projects. Included in this course will be a booklet of modules geared towards the history, sustainability of natural resources, trip/project planning, tool care, basic trail tread construction, and training in advanced trail feature construction. Presented by Shawnee National Forest, along with Shawnee Community College and the University of Illinois Extension.
• Info: (618) 687-1731 - E-mail: outdoorscout@gmail.com

Agencies

For information on Illinois State Parks: www.dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/PARKS/index.htm

The Mississippi River Project, US Army Corps of Engineers, includes trails, camping and recreational opportunities along the River: www.missriver.org

National Park Service units in Illlinois

The Great Outdoors Resources Page (GORP) has information on the Shawnee National Forest: www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/US_National_Forest/il_shawn.HTM - also see Shawnee Trail Conservancy: www.shawneetrailconservancy.com/

Bicycling and Mountain Biking

Illinois mountain bike trails with detailed maps and descriptions from mountain biking books at Trails.com:

• Mountain Biking Trails in Illinois

Bike rides on Illinois roads and paved pathways from road biking books at Trails.com:

• Road Bike Rides in Illinois

The Aurora Bicycle Club www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3073/ has a map of the 36-mile Fox River Trail west of Chicago: www.geocities.com/Colosseum/3073/frtrail.html

Chicago Area Mountain Bikers works to build and maintain local singletrack, work with local land managers, and promote mountain biking in Chicagoland: www.cambr.org

The Chicago Lakefront Bike Path has as map and points of interest: http://w4.ci.chi.il.us/trans/BikeInfo/parkmap.htm

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation works to improve the bicycling environment by promoting bicycle safety, education and facilities: www.biketraffic.org

The Trailmonkey site has Illinois Mountain Biking Maps & Trails: www.trailmonkey.com/USpages/ilbike1.htm

The League of Illinois Bicyclists has a newsletter, events, and club information: www.bikelib.org

The Mississippi River Trail is a 10-state cycling route in process of development from the headwaters of the Mississippi at Lake Itasca, Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico: www.mississippirivertrail.org/

The Peoria Area Mountain Bike Association has trail maps, events, and information: www.pambamtb.org/

Another Peoria area bike group is the Illinois Valley Wheelm'n with rides, events, and news: www.geocities.com/ivw.geo/

RIDE is a Chicago-based mountain bicycle advocacy group with news, trail maps, and events: www.mcs.com/~teflon1/

The University of Chicago Velo Club has recreational rides and info sources: http://ucvc.uchicago.edu/

Equestrian Trails

Fox Valley Saddle Association in Hampshire, IL: www11.brinkster.com/fvsa/default.asp

Illinois Trail Riders is an advocacy organization dedicated to helping horse people keep existing equestrian trails and camping facilities in Illinois: www.illinoistrailriders.com/

Trail Riders of DuPage County sponsors events and weekly rides as well as "campaigning positively for continuing equestrian trail access in our communities": www.trailridersofdupage.org

Greenways and Community Trails

Calumet Citizens for Connecting Communities promotes health, economics, and quality of life through the development of greenway and trail corridors: www.geocities.com/calumetcitizens/about.html

The Cook County Forest Preserve in Chicago includes information on recreation, including trails (click on the Recreation link): www.fpdcc.com/

The Fox River Trail is used for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and jogging and stretches from Algonquin to Aurora: www.co.kane.il.us/Forest/frtrail.htm

Gateway Trailnet, Inc. plans, promotes, and implements multi-use, greenways and bicycle transportation in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The organization also owns two rail-to-trail conversions: www.trailnet.org/trails.html

Skate Chicago has events and places to in-line skate: www.skaters.com/index.html

Quincy, Illinois, Dogwood Trail: www.friendsofthetrails.org

Hiking Trails

Hiking trail maps, hike descriptions, and Illinois topographic maps at Trails.com:

• Hiking Trails in Illinois

Illinois walking trail maps, descriptions, and topographic maps at Trails.com:

• Walking Trails in Illinois

Illinois Conquest Trails tracks the travels of Hernando de Soto: www.conquestchannel.com/illinois.html

American Volkssport Association year-round walking and Volkssport Event Calendar

Long-Distance Trails

For information on the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail in Illinois: www.discoverytrail.org/states/illinois/index.html

The Grand Illinois Trail loops 475 miles between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, linking existing and proposed trails, historic canals, and paralleling the Rock and Fox Rivers: http://dnr.state.il.us/orep/planning/git.htm

The Mississippi River Trail is a 10-state cycling route in the process of development; see maps and information for Illinois: http://www.mississippirivertrail.org/mrt-explore-il.php

The River to River Trail through Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois will cover 176 miles: www.rivertorivertrail.com

The Trail of Tears is a national historic trail with several routes from the Southeast states to Oklahoma: http://rosecity.net/tears/

Off-Highway Vehicle Trails

Shawnee Trail Conservancy is a grassroots nonprofit corporation which advocates multi-use of the Shawnee National Forest trails: www.shawneetrailconservancy.com/

Rail Trails and Canal Trails

For the 61-mile Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail see http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/i&m/main.htm or www.iit.edu/~travel/ghw.html

Heartland Pathways is a 33-mile ribbon of rail trails and wildlife habitat in the making in East Central Illinois: www.prairienet.org/rec/prairie/heartlnd.htm

Illinois Prairie Path a 55-mile-long biking, hiking, equestrian, and nature trail in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties west of Chicago, was one of the very first major rail-trails: www.ipp.org/index.htm

The Jane Addams Trail is part of the Grand Illinois Trail used for biking, hiking, snowmobiling and cross country skiing: www.janeaddamstrail.com/

Madison County Transit has converted over 75 miles of rail corridors into bikeways and walking trails in the St. Louis Metro area: www.mcttrails.org/

Snow Trails

Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs, Inc. has trail maps, news, and links to local clubs: www.ilsnowmobile.com/

Prairie Riders provide Safety Education Classes, and maintain 50 miles of trails in Boone County: www.prairieriders.com/

Waterway and Boating Trails

Illinois Paddling Council promotes safe enjoyment of canoeing and kayaking in Illinois and assuring access to the state's waters: www.illinoispaddling.org/

Northeastern Illinois Water Trails: a partnership so canoeists and kayakers can take advantage of 500 miles of paddling opportunities: www.openlands.org/watertrails.asp

Statewide Advocacy and Resources

Illinois Trails Conservancy provides news, events, and photos: www.illtrails.com