The River-to-River Trail Society announces its schedule of guided hikes for the Fall, 2019 hiking season. All hikes are free and open to the public. The hikes vary in level of difficulty, but all are intended for people in good health who have done some hiking in the past. Hikers should bring their own water and a snack. Hiking sticks and boots or sturdy shoes are strongly recommended. No dogs, please.

For those that are interested, you can download a PDF version of the schedule to print out by clicking on this link: https://wp.me/a9iEpB-pC

October:
05:
Hike: Jackson Falls (Pope County)
Leader: Brian DeNeal
Meeting Place: Climber’s Parking Lot, Jackson Hollow, 2.5 miles southwest of McCormick and 4 miles east of Ozark, Illinois
Time: 10:00 a.m.

12:
Hike: Panther Den (Union County)
Leader: Bob Mulcahy
Meeting Place: Goreville City Park, 313 West Main Street (Goreville Road), Goreville, Illinois
Time: 10:00 a.m.

19:
Hike: Trigg Trailhead to Jackson Hollow (Pope County)
Leader: Bill Gilmour
Meeting Place: East Trigg Trailhead, Trigg Tower Road [Forest Road 424], 1.5 miles northwest of Trigg Tower, and 3.0 miles northeast of Simpson, Illinois
Time: 10:00 a.m.

26:
Hike: Cedar Bluff to Bork’s Falls (Johnson County)
Leaders: Jim Todd and Ken Gerdes
Meeting Place: Goreville City Park, 313 West Main Street (Goreville Road), Goreville, Illinois
Time: 10:00 a.m.

November:
02:
Hike: Cove Hollow Trail (Jackson County)
Leaders: Don Monty and Anne Gaylord
Meeting Place: Parking lot at east end of Boat Dock Road, off Route 127, ten miles south of Murphysboro and twelve miles north of Jonesboro.
Time: 10:30 a.m.

09:
Hike: Sand Cave to Hunting Branch (Pope County)
Leader: Mart Watson
Meeting Place: Hunting Branch Picnic Area, Forest Road 849, off Forest Road 848, Bell Smith Springs creation Area
Time: 10:00 a.m.

16:
Hike: Wildcat Bluff to Heron Pond (Johnson County)
Leader: Shawn Gossman
Meeting Place: Heron Pond parking lot, two miles west of intersection of Belknap Road and Route 45, south of Vienna, Illinois.
Time: 10:00 a.m.

30:
Hike: Burden Falls Wilderness (Pope County)
Leader: Kelly Pearson, U.S. Forest Service
Meeting Place: Parking lot at Burden Falls, on Burden Falls Road, about four miles west of Delwood, Illinois.
Time: 10:00 a.m.

The River-to-River Trail is a hiking and equestrian trail which stretches 157 miles through Southern Illinois between Elizabethtown on the Ohio River and Grand Tower on the Mississippi. The River-to-River Trail Society is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, founded by John O’Dell in 1993. All its work is done by unpaid volunteers. Besides the program of free public hikes, the Society engages in trail maintenance and advocacy, and publishes an online guidebook to the entire River-to-River Trail, which can be downloaded free of charge at the Society’s website rivertorivertrail.net. Patches for the Society can be purchased for $5.00 during the Society’s public hikes.