I just did my first ride of the season on the Algonquin Road / Paul Douglas Bike Trail today! It was an excellent day for a ride and I’ll be updating my Bike Trail condition reports for this year, as usual.
There is no construction on the trail but there are a few wet areas (where you’ll need to slow down to avoid a mud streak on your back (unless you have fenders or something) and unfortunately, there is a little flooding again this year just north of Lakewood (on the west side of Paul Douglas woods).
The flooding is not nearly as bad as it was last year and it is completely possible to ride through it though. I’d say that the deepest part is only 3 inches and that is only for a few feet in distance. It’s not much worse than riding through a deep puddle but you will need to slow down to get through it.
Flooding along the Paul Douglas Trail
I took a few photos with my phone. My phone is old and the photos are not very good but I think that they are good enough for you to get the idea.
Another thing that I noticed is that the house that was at the top of the hill, just east of the Grassy Ridge Meadow park is now gone! I guess they just leveled it. I don’t know who owned the property and house or if that was Forest Preserve land, but the hose is no longer there.
And one final note. I did see a couple of my deer buddies along the trail again so I guess they made it through the winter OK!
4/2/2010
I just wanted to add a quick comment that there is no more flooding on the trail at this time. It’s actually been dry for a while now (maybe a few weeks) but I haven’t had a chance to post the update until now.
I rode the entire trail yesterday (The Paul Douglas section, down the path alongside Algonquin Road and into the Crabtree section). There was no flooding, construction or problems anywhere on the trail.
5/14/2010
The waters are really high here in Illinois right now and Once again there is some flooding in the usual place on the Paul Douglas bike trail.
It is possible to ride through but if you pedal your shoes will probably get wet (mine did). It’s about 4 inches deep in the deepest part (but only for a few feet).
I’ll post another update as soon as I notice that it is dry again.
Pingback: Illinois Bike Trail Flooding. | About-Bicycles Bike Blog
Yesterday (5/19) there was still a little flooding (1/2 to 1 inch along Huntington/Freeman), today the trail is completely clear.
Just a quick comment and some observations. I was out on the Paul Douglas part of the trail today and I noticed that there are a lot of downed trees and branches on the west side of the trail (along Central between the parking area and Ela Road).
It looks like the place was bombed or something! There’s a tree just before the big hill, just east of the parking area, that has almost all of it’s branches blown off and another that has been broken off at the trunk. A little further east down the trail there is a branch hanging over the trail. It is passable but a little narrow.
The whole trail is still passable but it’s interesting what the latest storms have done and you may need to slow down a little to get by the downed trees or to avoid branches/sticks on the path.