Saturday, May 2, 2026 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 9th public hike of the 2026 Spring hiking season on May 2nd.  Hiking: Bulge Hole/Schwegman Ecological Area (Johnson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderately difficult hike off trail including several stream crossings, approximately 4.5 miles in length, 3-4 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 618-967-0019 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at Bowman Bottoms Rd. This hike is intended for people in very 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. Check the post on the River to River Trail Society website www.rivertorivertrail.net for this current week’s hike information including driving directions. For a map to the meeting location on Bowman Bottoms Road click this blue link. A map will open up, 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 https://rivertorivertrail.net/ under the Society Information tab. The waiver will be at the beginning of the hike.

Saturday April 18, 2026 Hike Summary

It was a rainy Saturday morning, but, 11 hardy hikers braved the showers to meet at a shelter at Dixon Springs State Park.  We had all looked at the radar maps on our phones, and felt like the rain would soon pass. We took the group picture first, and then Fred Scott, our leader for the day, led us out east along some wide pine-needle covered trails. We soon turned North and crossed a few streams. The rain showers  quit and the temps dropped slightly. We had just enough rain to make a few waterfalls trickle. We did have 2 new hikers with us, 1 of which was a journalism student at SIU-C that worked for the Daily Egyptian. We saw a bit of everything on todays’ hike…a few stream crossings, some rock formations with a dribbling waterfall or 2,  a “walk in the woods’ and several large areas of sandstone glades…exposed areas of rock. Fred did an interesting “mix” of areas and trails. We stopped to eat lunch at 1 glade area, then headed back towards the parking area. This was a good, longer “loop” hike. We ended up covering about 5.5 miles. 

  The hike this coming week will be in the Lusk Creek area, led by Carl Brannan. 

Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail”