Saturday December 13, 2025 Hike Summary

On a cloudy Saturday, December 13th, 16 hikers gathered at the Lirley Trailhead. We took the picture at the Lirley Trailhead in case we had to disperse early from the hike. One hiker was late arriving and was not included in the picture. We had one new hiker attending this hike. We then did a 25 minute shuttle to Landreth Road and parked at the Landreth School parking area. Bob Mulcahy led the hike and we started hiking along Trail 348B which tied into the R2R Trail 001. Two of the hikers decided to head back to the Landreth School parking area after about 2 miles into the hike. The remaining hikers continued on the R2R Trail 001 all the way back to the Lirley Trailhead. Approximately 4.5 miles of the hike was along the new rerouted R2R Trail 001. All of the trail was in pretty good shape. We came across some fallen trees across the trail and some sinkholes which are forming in the new rerouted trail. The hike was approximately 7.3 miles long and 3 hours 30 minutes hiking time.

Saturday, December 13, 2025 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 8th public hike of the 2025 Fall hiking season on Dec. 13th.  Hiking: Cedar Lake Spillway (Jackson County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderately difficult thru-hike approximately 7 miles in length, approximately 4 plus hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 708-471-7500 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Lirley Trailhead. 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. This hike will require a 25 minute shuttle to Landreth Road. This hike has steep grades and some of the rock areas may be slick if it has rained. This hike may be tracked using the Avenza App. map R2R 22 & R2R 23 or SNF Makanda & Cobden maps. For a map to the meeting location Lirley Trailhead click this blue link Lirley Trailhead 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 https://rivertorivertrail.net/ and then sign off on this waiver prior to the beginning of the hike. A copy of the waiver will be at the Lirley Trailhead meeting area for your signature.

Saturday November 1, 2025 Hike Summary

On a cloudy but warm Saturday morning, 20 hikers gathered at the boat launch area at Duchman lake. Megan Henderson was our leader for the day. I think we had 1-2 new hikers with us. We proceeded back up the lane, and into the woods, following a new trail that is a re-route. We covered about 4 miles, and did see a few drops of water dribbling at a water fall. We ate lunch at the big shelter bluff/cave, where we also took the group picture. We headed back..’up top” of some of the areas we had been during the morning. Megan decided to get out to the road, and walk back in, to avoid any chances of us getting wet. We did pick up trash along the roadway, coming back to the vehicles. 

2025 Richard Hall Trail Story

A new trail story has been added to our website from Richard Hall. Richard interestingly enough weighed his entire pack and shared that content in this trail story to the gram. This may be useful to other trail users. Enjoy reading and thanks to Richard for sharing his story.

Trail_Story_Richard_Hall_2025Download

Shawneetown Library Book Talk/Signing

On Monday, November 3rd, Dr. Jim Schroeder will be giving a presentation/discussion starting at 5:30 PM at the Shawneetown Library.  He will be selling his books and doing a signing after the book talk.  The talk will focus on his newest book entitled On the Trail With My Kids:  From the Ohio River to the Mighty Mississippi.  The book details the 4-year journey of segment hiking the River to River trail with his four oldest kids, and other friends and family that joined along the way.  Part comedic travelogue, part historical commentary, part personal reflection on life’s uncertainties, and part backpacking guide with kids, On the Trail With My Kids is a book for those who would like to experience the richness and rewards that a long walk and a night in the woods can have for mind, body, and soul. 

Jim Schroeder is a pediatric psychologist and married father of 8 children ranging in ages from 19 to 5.  He is the Vice President and Training Director of the Department of Psychology & Wellness at Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in Evansville, Indiana, where he and his family live.  He is the author of seven books, hundreds of articles, and a yearlong podcast, all of which can be found on his website:  www.james-schroeder.com.  He regularly bikes and runs to work and is always thinking about his next backpacking trip.

The event is open and free to the public.  All of his books will be sold at reduced cost from the Amazon list price.  Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from all the book sales will go to the River to River Trail Society.  

April 17, 2025 Volunteer Opportunity

On April 17th at 9:00AM several members if the Trail Society are meeting at the River to River Trailhead for the Max Creek section of the trail in an effort to work on clearing any remaining damage to the trail from the recent tornado that hit the section. Looking for a few volunteers to assist with moving tree debris off the trail. Please email me if interested for more details. William.Gilmour@frontier.com

Saturday, March 29, 2025 Hike Announcement

The River to River Trail Society announces its 5th public hike of the 2025 spring hiking season on March 29th. Hiking: Hayes Creek Section (Pope County). This hike is free and open to the public. This will be a moderate thru-hike for experienced hikers approximately 6 miles in length, 4 hours hiking time. The leader of this hike can be reached at 618-926-3250 for more information. Hikers should meet at 10:00 am at the Shawnee Mart, Eddyville IL.. 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. We will have plans to shuttle for this hike. We will have two stream crossings and there will probably be flowing water. Hikers will have to walk rocks to cross streams and their boots and or shoes may become wet. There may be some slick rock areas. For a map to the meeting location at the Shawnee Mart Eddyville, IL. click this blue link Shawnee Mart Eddyville, IL 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 Shawnee Mart meeting area for your signature.

Saturday May 4, 2024 Hike Summary

For our last hike of the Spring 2024 season, we had something new…a new hike leader, Cody Evans,  from Carterville.  We met at the Goreville City park, and  had a few new hikers, a father & son pair, and a dad with his young daughter, who wanted to just see what one of our hikes was like. We vehicle-pooled out to the parking area, southwest of Goreville.  We started out with 17 hikers, but the father & daughter pair soon turned back. We headed to Borks Falls, crossing several streams, but, since recent rains had been on the ‘light side’ we had no real trouble making those crossings..  We headed out on an old roadbed/trail. We were ‘on trail’ a decent portion of the day, but, at times we also bushwhacked along the base of small bluff lines, and streams.  We made it to Borks’ Falls for our lunch stop and the regular group picture.  At the falls,  several  friends of the hike leader joined up with us, to go back to the starting spot, which meant, that for the 2nd time this season, we “gained” hikers as we came back to  the conclusion of the hike. We did take a “straight-line’, bushwhack, shortcut over the last mile getting back to the parking lot. It was a pretty warm & humid day for early May.  We ended up, depending on whose GPS tracking system that was checked, hiking a bit over 6 miles for the day. 

We are Glad to have all the hikers this Spring 2024 season.  I have not yet totaled up the numbers for this spring. We want to say “Thank You” to All the leaders who take the time to plan and “advance scout” each hike. We hope You enjoy your hike time with us enough to tell and bring others to hikes. 

We Do have 1 more “event’ this spring, which is the annual meeting that is held on National Trails Day at the Vienna City park, on Saturday June 1st.  We will have a business meeting, at least 1 guest speaker and then a potluck meal afterwards. You can look for announcements or updates on our Facebook page (River to River Trail Society) or on the website. Some will probably bring bikes to take a ride North or South along the Tunnel Hill bike trail after the meeting. Until then, “See ya’ll On the Trail” and have a safe, enjoyable summer. 

Carmen Williams 2024 Thru Hike Trail Story

Carmen submitted to us a Youtube video that he created for his 2024 R2R through hike at the age of 71.

Our review of this video found that a few video segments were out of sequence with the actual trail. Overall though, it still represents a through hike along the trail very well. The only exception is the section of the video where he shows his day hike through the Giant City State Park trails when he took a zero day from the R2R Trail.

Carmen Williams 2024 Thru Hike Trail Story

Enjoy.