Des Plaines River Trail Cook County -- the whole thing!

Today's errands were routed so that we could ride on the southernmost section of the Des Plaines River Trail through Cook County. We did 27 miles from Des Plaines at Algonquin Road to North Avenue in Melrose Park and back in a leisurely 3 hours biking time. Ellen has now completed the entire 60 or so mile trail round-trip from Wisconsin to Chicago -- much along the river and all through luscious forest preserves like below...



These Cook County Preserves are 50 or more years older than the Lake County preserves so dense forest predominates, making for shadier/cooler riding. This section is dirt trail and has a few underpasses to allow safe passage beneath a few of the busier roads - but not all of them. Of course, the underpasses are also older and not always in good repair or dry (notice the standing water, mud, and cracked concrete)...



... all of which more closely replicates mountain biking, so that's a good thing! And I know of an area where (I presume) kids have built mogul hills to play on, so we did, too! Again, more like mountain biking!



We saw many others enjoying the beautiful weather and utilizing the trails and the picnic areas, so we were surprised that even with all the activity, we saw 8 deer, including 2 very small spotted fawns. This particular deer was so used to people, she let Ellen get within 10 feet and never flinched (look in the grass to her left.)