Saturday, November 5, 2022 Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its 8th public hike of the 2022 hiking season on Nov. 5th on the Crest Trail from Glen O Jones Lake to Stone Face (Saline County).

This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike with hills of moderate difficulty, 4.5 miles length, 5 hours hiking time. Hikers will need to be shuttled for this hike and this will be a through hike. The leader of this hike will be Marcus Owens who can be reached at (618) 534-8139 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Tecumseh Statue located in the Northwest Corner of Glen O Jones Lake area on CR 625N.  This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. For a map to Glen O Jones Lake click this blue link Glen O Jones Lake and a map will open up, then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to Glen O Jones Lake. Driving directions from Harrisburg: drive East on Hwy 13 for 9.3 miles. Turn right on Hwy 142 and go 1.1 miles. Turn right onto South Walnut Street and go 4.8 miles. South Walnut Street name changes to Shawnee Forest Road. Turn right onto Eagle Creek Road. Turn right onto Glen Jones Road and go 0.1 mile. Take a slight right on Glen Jones Road 625N and drive 1 mile to Tecumseh statue.

Saturday & Sunday, October 22 & 23, 2022 Hike Summaries

Saturday

Sand Cave Group Picture

Sat. Oct. 22nd, Chris Drone led 18 other hikers from Sand Cave back to Hunting Branch. We had gathered at the Hunting Branch parking area, then carpooled over to Sand Cave. Sand Cave Is The Largest cave from sandstone in the midwest. Most caves are from limestone formations. We then ‘followed’ the wall and made our way to the powerline cut. This area has no official Forest Service trail. We visited the 1 grave and then back out to the powerline cut, and then made a ‘left’ at the sandstone glade. Most of the moss had gone into some sort of suspended ‘living’ state due to the extreme lack of moisture over the last 2 months. We then dropped down a bit, and followed a bluff line, with several hikers investigating various shelters. We ate lunch & took the group picture at 1 shelter, then descended down into the valley to cross a dry stream bed. About half the group had crossed, apparently missing a snake out sunning, and 1 hiker did notice the snake, alerting most everyone else. We climbed up the opposite side of the valley and again, followed the other bluff line, Several overhangs were observed, then we descended down to the 1 large pool of water we saw all day. We took the “White trail”, to the glade on Mill branch, which was completely dry, very unusual. One group did split off, but, with the use of two-way radios, we were able to keep track of each other, and all got back to the Hunting Branch parking area.  Until next time, “See Ya on the Trail”. 

Sunday

War Bluff Group Photo

On Sunday, October 23rd, hikers met at the Golconda Marina We had several who had never hiked with us prior to today. Gillum & Vicki Ferguson were todays’ leaders, accompanied by 9 other hikers.  We loaded 2 vehicles and moved out, to the small War Bluff parking area, on Bushwack Rd. We quickly worked our way  to the base of the  Bluff, and then on up to the top, observing the over 100 ft. long former stone wall. We walked our way around to find various ‘openings’ to take in the  picturesque views across the valleys. We then walked across a ‘ridge saddle’ to another sort of stone wall, and some depressions that were hypothesized to be rifle pits/graves/food storage areas, amongst several guesses. We then worked our way back down to the base area of the bluff, walked around it, with a few going into the slot cave, and then some finding a hole/crack that was guessed to be 20-30 ft. deep. We took the group picture at the base of the bluff, then headed back to the vehicles. The weather and scenery were almost perfect. The hikes of Sat. Oct. 29, meeting at Goreville City park, and Sun. Oct. 30th, meeting at the Vienna, IL. Forest Ranger station on U.S. Rt. 45, at the North edge of Vienna, will be led by Bill Gilmour. Until then, “See Ya on the Trail”. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Chris Drone

Saturday & Sunday, October 29 & 30, 2022 Hike Announcements

Saturday

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its 6th public hike of the 2022 Fall hiking season on Oct. 29th at the Bobcat Loop trail in the Ferne Clyffe State Park (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, 4 to 6 miles in length, 4 hours minimum hiking time depending on water levels in the creek crossings. Hikers will need to be shuttled for this hike and it will be a loop hike once shuttled. The leader of the hike will be Bill Gilmour who can be reached at (270) 331-1533 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Goreville Village Park, in Goreville Il. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snack. No dogs please. For a map to the Goreville Village Park click this blue link Goreville Village Park and a map will open up, then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the Goreville Village Park. The Goreville Village Park is located at 600 West Main Street, Goreville IL. and is located 0.25 miles west of the intersection of Hwy 37 and West Main Street where the park will be located to the right. Or it is 3.1 miles east of the intersection of Goreville Road and Interstate I-57 and the park is located to the left.

Sunday

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its 7th public hike of the 2022 Fall hiking season on Oct. 30th at the Schwegman Hollow and Horse Cave (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, 3 miles in length off trail. The leader of the hike will be Bill Gilmour who can be reached at (270) 331-1533 for more information. Hikers should meet at 1:00 pm at the Forest Service Office (Hidden Springs Ranger Station) in the town of Vienna, IL. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. For a map to the Forest Service Office (Hidden Springs Ranger Station) click this blue link Hidden Springs Ranger Station and a map will open up, then click the Directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the Forest Service Office (Hidden Springs Ranger Station). The Forest Service Office (Hidden Springs Ranger Station) is located at 602 N 1st Street, Vienna, IL. It is located 0.40 miles north of the intersection of Hwy 45 and Hwy 146 where the office is located to the right.  Or it is located 1.85 miles south of the intersection of Hwy 45 and I-24 where the office is to the left.

October 15, 2022 – Herod Bluff Hike Summary

Sat. Oct. 15th, 2022, Sam Morales led 17 other hikers from the Benham Ridge Trailhead. We condensed down into 4 vehicles and moved about 2 ‘very dusty’ miles on into the forest. On the hike, we went by such areas as the fireplace at the old Rose cabin, ate lunch at the Herod overlook, which, with clear sunny skies, the trees were showing their muted, yet bountiful colors. We had several returning hikers and a few ‘newer’ to the River to River Trail Society hikers, including 1 from Brookport, who told me he had helped our President, at 1 time, many years ago, on a trail-building project.  We saw a small cemetery,  some bluffs, including a few small ‘windows’, and some ‘slots’ to explore. It was/IS Very dry out on the trails. We had a nice stop at the Promised Land, then onward to Rocky Top  At times we were on trails 120, 121, 169, & 170. We covered just over 5 miles. We also picked up less trash today, than last week, a big Plus!!. 

Next week, we have 2, yes, 2 hikes scheduled. The 1st will be on Saturday, meeting at the Hunting Branch trail head (near Bell Smith Springs). We will condense down, move over to Sand Cave, and then hike back to Hunting Branch. Sunday, Oct, 23rd, we will meet at the Golconda Marina, and move out to hike the War Bluff area. We will probably need to condense down  the number of vehicles there also. This will be a shorter hike 2-2.5 hrs. at most. 

Until then, “See ya on the Trail”

Respectfully submitted, 

Chris Drone

Saturday & Sunday, October 22 & 23, 2022 Hike Announcements

Saturday

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its fourth public hike of the Fall 2022 hiking season on Saturday Oct. 22nd from Sand Cave to Hunting Branch (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, 5 miles in length, 4 hours hiking time; this hike has creek crossings. Hikers will need to be shuttled for this hike and it will be a through hike once shuttled. The leader of the hike will be Chris Drone who can be reached at (618) 926-3250 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Hunting Branch (Mill Branch Trail Trailhead) parking area. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snack. No dogs please. Here is a Google Map link showing the trailhead parking area GPS 37.523330, -88.661000.

Sunday

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its fifth public hike of the Fall 2022 hiking season on Sunday Oct. 23rd in the War Bluff area (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty approx. 2.5 hours of hiking time. The leaders of this hike will be Gillum and Vicki Ferguson who can be reached at (630) 470-7692 for more information. Hikers should meet at 2:00 pm at the Golconda Marina, north parking lot, Golconda, IL. This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks. No dogs please. Here is a Google Map link showing the trailhead parking area GPS 37.372469, -88.480789.

October 8, 2022 – Gorilla Rock Hike Summary

On. Sat. Oct. 8th, hikers met at the Knights of the Golden Circle parking lot. Sam Morales, the leader, took 15 other hikers with him We only had 1 new hiker, who was from Marion, IL. We went to various formations, including Buzzard rock, Rhombus rock, a small window, Whiskey cave, ate lunch at Gorilla rock, then into a “Narrows”/slot canyon, Mushroom rock and a slot cave, the Buzzard Rock Arch, and last, the Knights of the Golden circle.  The trails were Very dusty, due to the extreme lack of rain. We met several horse riding groups. The weather & temps were Perfect for hiking. About the only moisture we saw, was in the rocks of the stream of the slot canyon/Narrows. We also did a “Mini Trash Blast”, and 1 hiker, David Files pulled out a trash bag and carried it all thru the hike, with just about everyone finding something during the day to “contribute”. He later took the full bag, approximately 25 lbs. to the dumpster at Garden of Gods. 

     One of the things, over the years, that I have recognized, is that by hiking, people who otherwise would probably not have ‘gotten together’, people end up meeting & making new & diverse acquaintances, who end up discussing & talking about a variety of subjects. Just today, I heard 2 hikers discuss wine & spirits making. I just don’t get to learn about these types of things in everyday life. Our next hike, Sat. Oct. 15th, meets at the Benham Trail head parking lot. We will be condensing down into 4-5 vehicles from there to move about 1 mile. Sam Morales will be the leader on this hike.

Until then, “See ya on the Trail”, 

Respectfully submitted ,

Chris Drone 

Saturday, October 15, 2022 Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its third public hike of the Fall 2022 hiking season on Saturday Oct. 15th in the Promise Land area (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, 5 miles in length, 4 hours of hiking time; this hike has creek crossings. Hikers will need to shuttle for this hike, and it will be a loop hike once shuttled. The leader of the hike will be Sam Morales who can be reached at (618)384-1321 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Benham Ridge Trailhead parking area. GPS 37.509486, -88.473628 This hike is intended for people in good health who have done some walking. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Hikers should bring their own water and snack. No dogs please. Check the post on our website www.rivertorivertrail.net for more information including a Google Map link to the trailhead parking area.

Trail Society members support Friends of the Shawnee Trash Blast

Today, Fri. Oct. 7th, 3 River to River Trail Society members (Jim Todd, Sam Morales & Chris Drone) along with 3 people, including Pat Jones,  from Friends of the Shawnee, worked a Trash Blast just North of the Grantsburg swamp. This area is on the East side of Flatt Woods rd, North of IL. 146. and West of IL. 145. We were led by Alyssa Macuiba, out of the Vienna, IL. U.S. Forest service office. A lot of the trash was ‘old’…in other words it had been there a long time. Much of the weight was 5-6 old tires found in a ravine, dug out and hauled up the road bank.. Ms. Macuiba had a hand-held weighing device, and we picked up just under 600 lbs of various materials that she hauled in a trailer behind a pickup back to the Vienna office.

There is another Forest Service/Friends of the Shawnee sponsored Trash Blast scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4th, from 1-3 pm, in.the McClure area.  

Respectfully submitted, 

Chris Drone

R2R Trail Detour Near Lee Mine

Any potential trail hikers please note the following detour the FS shared with us today.

A section of the River To River Trail in our Lee Mine Project area, Hardin County, is being temporarily detoured while road construction and tree removal is taking place October 9-21, 2022.  We ask that visitors will avoid the section of trail and use the detour shown on the map to avoid the project area.

2443-R2RTrlDetour2022Download