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Featured National Recreation Trails
Every kind of trail activity is represented in the listing of designated NRTs. Besides hiking and bicycling, the system includes water trails, motorized routes, snow tracks, greenways, and equestrian paths. The NRT program showcases the diversity of trails across America, from our cities and suburbs to the deserts, waterways, and high mountains.
Moraine Hills Trail System, Illinois
Located in Moraine Hills State Park, the trails traverse Illinois marshland, kettle moraines, prairies, and wooded hills, for bicycling, hiking, jogging, and cross-country skiing.
Along the Moraine Hills Trail System
Moraine Hills State Park Trail, managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, is located in the northeast corner of Illinois, three miles south of the City of McHenry.
Total trail milage is 10.2, 8.5 crushed limestone loop with the following segments: The 2.0 Fox River, 3.2 Leatherleaf Bog, 3.7 mile Lake Defiance and 1.7 mile linear paved River Road.
Trail use consists of bicycling, hiking, jogging, and cross-country skiing. The connecting loops and one liner trail connector are all part of the trail system.
Moraine Hills State Parks broad trail swerve in and out marshland and up and down kettle moraines, near natural lakes, prairies, bogs, and wooded hills. More than 10 miles of trail make Moraine Hills popular for hikers, skiers, and cyclists.
Overlook at the 115-acre black crown Marsh
Four trail segments, three surfaced with crushed limestone and one with asphalt paving wing their way through the park. The three crushed limestone trail loops are designated as one-way routes for cyclists and skiers.
The trails offer exceptional views of the 48-acre glacial Lake Defiance, 115-acre Pike Marsh, home to many rare plants, and 120-acre area region known as Leatherleaf Bog, an example of kettle-moraine topography.
The trail also offers a close-up view and experience of the historic Fox River and McHenry Dam on the park’s western border.
The park’s 1.7 mile linear asphalt trail along River Road connects to the 450 mile Grand Illinois Trail connecting many communities from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.
A view along the fox river in Moraine Hills State Park
Connection with other significant trails
The Moraine Hills (State Parks) 1.7 mile asphalt paved river Road Trail is a designated segment of the 450 mile Grand Illinois Trail (from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.)
Access to outstanding natural, cultural and/or historic resources
The four trails of the Moraine Hills trail system passes through significant natural resources, such as the near-natural glacier lake, 115-acre pike marsh and 120-acre bog (an excellent example of kettle-moraine topography).
For more information:
Moraine Hills State Park
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
1510 So. River Road, McHenry, Illinois, 60051
Phone: (815) 385-1624 -
www.dnr.state.il.us
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