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Canal Connector Trail

The Missing Link

ABOUT
The Canal Trail Connector fills a 16-mile missing gap in the Grand Illinois Trail---the state’s 575-mile loop trail across Northern Illinois. The Canal Trail Connector also is vital to the creation of the national Great American Rail-Trail and the American Discovery Trail---two national cross-country trails that will use this missing link.

 

 

THE TRAIL

We envision an asphalt rail-with-trail chiefly running within the Rock Island railbed. This would run from the Illinois & Michigan Canal trail head in downtown La Salle, through Peru, Spring Valley, and DePue, connecting with the Hennepin Canal at Bureau, Illinois. Rails-with-trails have established a solid safety record in this context and the project is deemed feasible.

CIVIC LEADERSHIP

The planning effort involved numerous civic leaders drawn from across the Illinois Valley and the state including: Jim Nowlan, Todd Volker, Bob Eschbach, Jay McCracken, Sharon Schallhorn, Dustin Marquis, Ray LaHood, Dave Simmons, Inga Carus, Nancy Norton, Erin Maze, Kevin Lindeman, Dixie Zietlow, Ana Koval, and Ders Anderson.

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Additional professional help has been supplied by Matthew Klein and Jerry Adelmann. We recognize the help of Blouke Carus, Bill Brown, Tom Fitzgerald and Jack Bariger

ENDORSEMENT

The effort to link the two canals has been endorsed by the Heritage Corridor Convention & Visitors Bureau, Bicycle Illinois, the Friends of the Hennepin Canal, the Canal Corridor Association and local municipalities and elected state and local officials.

OUR VISION

Create an Illinois Trail Crossing

Our vision is to be able to easily tour Illinois from the shores of Lake Michigan to the banks of the Mississippi River. The Canal Trail Connector does this by completing the missing gap between the Hennepin and the Illinois & Michigan Canal State Trails. The route runs between La Salle and Bureau, Illinois, and closely follows the Illinois River in La Salle and Bureau Counties.

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