Tunnel Hill State Trail (IL)

Illinois, US

Distance

47 mi

Vertical Gain

600 ft

At one time, the rumble of freight cars reverberated through the narrow tunnel. Wooden trestles, with their system of slanted supports and horizontal cross pieces, spanned numerous bluffs and creeks. Passengers in Pullman cars clocked the miles with these and other landmarks as they traveled one of southern Illinois' most scenic routes.

Tunnel Hill State Trail stretches for 45 miles from Harrisburg to Karnak. The trail continues on a trails spur for 2.5 miles from Karnak to Cache River State Natural Area - Henry Barkhausen Wetlands Center on the old Chicago and Eastern Illinois railroad bed.

(more here: https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/Parks/Pages/TunnelHill.aspx)

GPS Track

Tunnel-Hill.gpx9.18 MB

FKTs

Male

Supported
Jason Teitloff			6h 53m 30s	2021-05-29

Female

Supported
Lindsey Roberts			7h 22m 16s	2023-04-09

Self-supported
Lindsey Roberts			7h 56m 10s	2023-05-28

Mixed-gender team

Self-supported
Michael Eriks, Laura Eriks			9h 16m 45s	2021-04-02

Male

Unsupported
Kevin Lashley			17h 37m 2s	2020-09-04

Female

Supported
Laura Eriks			1d 0h 49m 5s	2021-04-26

Mixed-gender team

Unsupported
Joe Kallo, Allison Kallo			1d 10h 52m 15s	2020-03-01

Comments

I’m going after this FKT tomorrow using my suunto ambit3 run, I’ll be doing it solo without a crew

Hi Shannon! I am sorry I missed this. How did it go? are you going to try it again? It is a lovely trail. Water can be scarce when the faucets are turned off. I hope you are having fun adventures. Take care.

No worries it didn’t go as planned but yes I’m definitely going back possibly soon

Are you from the area?!? I’m heading back there on the 21st of August

Going to start Friday morning 9-4-2020 either at 4am or 5am. Harrisburg to Wetlands Center and back. I’ll have a couple Garmins with me as well as a suunto in case something goes wrong. I’ll also try and remember to take a short video at start, turnaround and the finish. The goal is unsupported but could turn into self supported.

I will be going after the one-way FKT on this Saturday 5/29/21. I will be starting in Harrisburg heading south to the Wetlands Center. I will be doing this supported by my wife. I will be using Coros Apex Pro as tracking.

Just seen this. Awesome run time!!!

I will be attempting the One Way Supported FKT this Sunday 2 APPR 23. I’ll be going Southbound.

Route: Tunnel Hill State Trail (IL)

FKTs

Comments