Route: Great Western Trail, Western Segment (IL)

The Great Western Trail occupies three non-contiguous sections of an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway corridor in suburban Chicago and a section in Iowa that have been converted into biking and hiking trails.  The western-most, and older, section of the Great Western Trail is located between western St. Charles in Kane County and eastern Sycamore in DeKalb County. This section was right-of-way that was abandoned in 1977. The 18-mile (29 km) path of fine crushed stone traverses unincorporated rural townships, natural wetlands, some restored prairies, and farmland. The trail also passes through Virgil and Lily Lake and parallels Illinois Route 64.

The western end of the trail has been extended into the town of Sycamore since this route was originally published. Our hope is for new FKTs to complete the full new distance and improve on the previous time. Document your effort well, and we can work with a variety of scenarios.