“Made a trip to visit some family and got some quality miles on the Des Plaines River Trail.  The  nearest trail head is just a short 4 miles  from my  in-laws in Northbrook Il.   You would never guess that there are that many miles of dirt and crushed gravel  meandering in and out of the local forest preserves along interstate 294 to get a metric.

A good place to start the ride is at the Half Day Brewery.  The tail is less than 10 feet from the side parking lot.

From there you can go North or South and when you get back the food is just as good as the beer.   There are a lot of short side loops off the trail which makes this a great place for all skill and fitness levels to ride.

This particular day I opted to head south for the majority of the ride.  My intent was to ride the southern most tip however early spring flooding still had parts of the trail closed.

I went as far as I could and then headed back.  On the way back I came across the path of several deer.

Unlike the deer in central IL, these deer almost seem tamed as they “posed” for their picture.”

-Pete L.