Saturday, October 7, 2023 Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its 2nd public hike of the 2023 fall hiking season on Oct. 7th. Hiking: Millstone Lake Trail #32 & the R2R Trail (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a hike of moderate difficulty, 5.2 miles or less in length, 4 hours hiking time. This will be a loop hike. The leader of this hike can be reached at 270-331-1553 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the intersection of Hwy 147 and Cedar Grove Church Road. 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. Hikers will need to Carpool to trailhead due to limited parking at the trailhead location. There are 3 streams to be crossed and hikers may need to walk rocks when crossing streams if it has rained. For a map to the meeting location of Hwy 147 and Cedar Grove Church Road click this blue link Hwy 147 & Cedar Grove Church Road and a map will open up, and then click the directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River-to-River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River-to-River website at the following link River-to-River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the Hwy 147 & Cedar Grove Church Road meeting area for your signature.

Ameren Work on Map 15 Completed

The Ameren power utility work that used a portion of the R2R Trail for access on Map 15 has been completed in the past few weeks so trail hikers should no longer be affected by this work. The following map shows the location of the work.

A few current trail conditions photos. This one shows the new gate installed across the road/trail at the property line between the FS and private land owner with an access gate for trail users. The property owner requested this in an effort to stop unauthorized UTV use on his property.

2023 National Public Lands Day, Garden of the Gods Trash Blast

The Trail Society would like to give a Big Shout Out and Thank You to the 33 folks that showed up on Saturday September 23 morning and helped us clean up the Garden of the Gods Recreation Area of the Shawnee National Forest. The team picked up 151 pounds of trash from the Observation Trail; the area below the bluffs and observation trail; Indian Point trail, sections of trails 108K & 108I; sections of the R2R Trail and around the parking lots.

The group photo above shows everyone that showed up except 3. If you recognize anyone please give them a big Thank You.

The Trail Society would also like to give a Big Shout Out and Thank You to the Friends of the Shawnee National Forest and the Shawnee National Forest Service for working with us on this effort.

In addition to all of the trash clean up efforts, 4 of the team worked for several hours trying to remove the graffiti from the cracks and crevices in the bluffs along the Indian Point trail. This work involved a lot of scrubbing in addition to carrying all tools, chemicals and water into the work area on their backs. The hike in was approximately 1/2 mile.

Interested in becoming a volunteer? The River to River Trail Society and The Friends of the Shawnee can use your help. If interested in helping in the future, please visit our websites for more details at  http://www.rivertorivertrail.net/ and shawneefriends.org.

Click here to download a copy of the sign in sheet.

Saturday, September 30, 2023 Bike/Hike Announcement

The River-to-River Trail Society announces its 1st public hike of the 2023 fall hiking season on Sept. 30th. This is a bike & hike excursion, biking and hiking Tunnel hill Trail (Johnson County). This bike and hike are free and open to the public. This will be a bike ride of 14.5 or 19 miles, 2 hours’ time, and a hike of 2 miles, 2 hours’ time, bushwhacking. The leader of this bike and hike can be reached at 270-331-1553 for more information. Bikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Vienna City Park. This bike and hike are intended for people in good health who have done some biking and hiking. Hiking sticks and sturdy shoes are recommended. Bring a bike lock to lock bikes together or to a tree. Hikers should bring their own water and snacks, No dogs please. The bike ride is along the Tunnel Hill Trail. The hike is along a bluff line to a spring. For a map to Vienna City Park click this blue link Vienna City Park and a map will open up, and then click the directions button and a driving map will be created which will allow you to plan your driving directions to the meeting area. Prior to participating in any hikes, the River-to-River Trail Society requests that all hikers read the 2023 Trail Society Waiver which can be found on the River-to-River web site at the following link River-to-River Trail Society Information and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the Vienna City Park meeting area for your signature.

River-to-River Trail Society Announces Fall, 2023 Hiking Schedule

The River-to River Trail Society announces its schedule of free guided hikes in and about the Shawnee National Forest for Fall, 2023. All hikes are open to the public free of charge. No reservations are required except where noted on schedule. These hikes are of at least moderate difficulty, and are intended for people in good health who have done some hiking. Boots or sturdy shoes and a walking stick are recommended for all hikes. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. No dogs, please.

2023-Fall-Hiking-ScheduleDownload

The River-to-River Trail Society is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation founded
in 1993 by John O’Dell to promote completion of the River-to-River Trail, which now
runs 157 miles through the Shawnee National Forest between Elizabethtown on the Ohio
River and Grand Tower on the Mississippi River. The Society engages in trail
maintenance and advocacy, and it offers free guided hikes to members and the public
during the spring and fall hiking seasons. In addition, the Society has a Trail Guide to the
entire River-to-River Trail, which can be downloaded for free from the Society’s website:
http://www.rivertorivertrail.net/.

Glenn Lawrentz Jr. R2R Adventure

Hi All: Glenn has authored a complete novel on his and Joe Ulmer’s River to River Trail adventure in April 2023. The novel also chronicles some of Glenn’s life journey that lead him to his River to River Trail hike. The novel is a well written and describes in great detail some of the joys, troubles and challenges associated with through hiking the River to River trail or any other long distance trail. I was surprised to learn that Glenn hiked from I-57 along Goreville Road to the Goreville Subway for dinner and back.

This novel is being posted to the Trail Societies website with Glenn’s full permission. Any use of this novel beyond your personal reading enjoyment is prohibited without Glenn’s approval.

Thanks for allowing the Society to host your novel.

The River to River Trail Society.

2023_Glenn_Lawrentz_from-west-to-east-STANDARDDownload