Lying in the midst of picturesque Frankfort, Illinois is the historic Old Plank Road Trail. Built along the old Joliet and Northern Indiana Railroad that was operational until as late as 1972, the trail is approximately 20 miles in length. Connecting Chicago Heights and Joliet, it travels past some rare prairie tallgrass; land that has not been plowed since the land was bought in 1850. This has allowed rare plant communities of prairie lily, snowy campion, and savanna blazing star, to name a few, to grow freely.
Since it runs parallel to and south of US Rte. 30, it is easy to find a place to hop on the trail. The asphalt surface makes for easy biking and hiking. You will see plenty of road bikes on this smooth trail. As a matter of fact, we had one pedestrian complain about the speed with which these bikers race down the path. On heavy traffic days (weekends and holidays) and evenings you will have people out walking their dogs on the trail, so it’s polite to be cautious.
Since we like Frankfort (and it may just be about in the middle of the trail), we parked in the downtown area right by a fine bike shop. I met the manager of the bike shop while I was perusing the trail information board. He had just come off of the trail and was inquiring where I had bought my bike. I have a nice, light green Suede and my husband has a Sedona, both by Giant that we bought at Grand Schwinn Cyclery in Morris, IL. I’ve loved that bike from the minute I first rode around the parking lot. It is the most comfortable bike I have ever owned.
After chatting a bit we headed east from Frankfort and indeed rode past the wetlands with its Great Blue herons and American Coots, which you mostly see in early spring. In the summer the beautiful wildflowers put on quite a show with their colorful heads popping out all along the trail. As we pedaled along you could hear the Neeker-breekers up in the trees that lined the path. The heavy canopy of foliage over the path made a fitting stage for their thrumming. A little chipmunk stood bravely on the side of the path until the last minute before we passed, presumably hoping for a handout. We also had a muskrat slip across the path in front of us. The egrets stole the day in numbers and by staying still long enough for us to try and get a good picture of them.
This part of the trail runs through urban and rural communities. The tree-lined path kept most of the noise out and made us feel like we were in the country. A long section has fencing up on either side due to deep ravines lying parallel with the path. We crossed several very busy streets in the process of heading east to Matteson. There are several community parks and forest preserves along this route. The one near Frankfort is quite beautiful with a pond and prairie plants. Many of these parks offer play equipment for children. Some of the area we passed by I-57 was bland country with not much to see in the spring, but full of wildflowers in the summer. There was minimal shade in this area.
After crossing under I-57, we realized that we were very close to one of our favorite hamburger joints, Fuddruckers. We decided to eat lunch there, but found out we were too early. Deciding to check out the rest of the trail heading east, we hopped back on the trail. We passed behind the Lincoln Mall and another marsh area. It was there that we saw the biggest egret I have ever seen. This section ran behind subdivisions and through the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve.
It had been threatening to rain for the past hour so we headed back to reach the restaurant right before it down-poured. We were thankful to be able to relax there for the next hour. On the way back to Frankfort it spit rain on us off and on, but nothing that really got us wet. I kept stopping to photograph the flowers. Funny, it is usually me that has to wait for my husband to take pictures, but since his camera is in the shop getting fixed, I was the one holding him up by taking pics.
On our next foray on this trail we plan to head west towards Joliet and check out what the trail is like on that end. There are always new highlights on trails to explore and the Chicagoland area certainly has enough bike trails to keep a cyclist busy for a long time. At least one season.
Look for the next in the Rails-to-Trails series: Wauponsee Glacial Trail- http://www.examiner.com/bicycle-travel-in-chicago/another-rail-trail-wauponsee-glacial-trail
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