Long Prairie Trail

Today I biked the entire 29 miles (round trip) of the Long Prairie Trail in Boone County just east of Rockford, Illinois. The rail bed was built in the 1850s as a section of the Kenosha Division Rail Line and was bought by the Chicago and Northwestern in the late 1800s and operated until the 1960s.

The trail passes through woodlands, farmer fields, native prairie land, and the small agricultural communities of Capron, Poplar Grove and Caledonia. The trail runs just south of Illinois Route 173 in each town and parking in lots or along side streets near the trail is available in all three towns. Trailhead lots are located 1) at the eastern terminus, just north of 173 on County Line Road in Capron, and 2) in Caledonia, just south of 173 at the intersection of Main and Front Streets.



The paved trail runs for 14.5 miles and is relatively flat. The pavement is mostly in good repair, with a few short sections that are bumpy from roots, frost heaves, etc. The trail on the north joins the gravel Stone Bridge Trail which runs another 6 miles to the Roland Olson Forest Preserve. The trail has several rest stops with seating and also signs explaining the history, geology, and flora of the the region. Several sections are raised 30 feet above the valley floor and the steep sides lead to visions of human labor arduously constructing this high berm in the 1850s without the benefit of today's motorized machinery.



Occasional farm fields come into view as seen below, but a century and a half of use as railroad and trail have spared the trees along the trail from the plow and allowed them to mature and shroud much of the trail creating a green tunnel as seen in the two photos above, which provides lovely scenery -- and on hot days, respite from the heat.



Plans are in place to extend the Long Prairie Trail to Rock Cut State Park on the west and to the town of Harvard on the east.

Rails-to-Trails page for this trail

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