We met Dave and Patti at Half Day Preserve and biked 26 miles to Independence Grove and back, with lunch at the Independence Grove Cafe. You can see a bit of the 115 acre lake in the background. The beach and boat rentals are just down the hill from us, as is the elaborate Children's Grove playground. The Forest Preserve District bought this old quarry in 1979, and after about 18 years of collecting over 6.5 million dollars in royalties from the mining operation, they closed the quarry and invested $6 in earthwork to develop this facility.
"The Cafe" is located by the Overlook Trail -- a spur off the DRT encircling Independence Grove along the rim -- so several dozen bike racks are available and the area nicely landscaped with indigenous prairie plants as seen here (our bikes are in upper left.)
In this photo you see why the trail is billed as "multi-use." We always pull off to the side so we don't spook the horses.
We are now over 300 miles in July on fat tires, and well over 1500 miles for the year.
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