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.

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: www.mississippirivertrail.org/Illinois/illinois.html

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