A Beautiful Walk

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So…what to do after eating a cheeseburger and fries for lunch? Go for a walk to burn off the calories, of course! On the way out of Illinois I stopped at the Kickapoo Rail Trail near Danville, Illinois. This is one of nearly 2,500 former railroad passages that have been converted to walking, hiking, and biking paths in the U.S. While I have a romantic sentimentality for railroads, I greatly appreciate the old tracks being converted to something useful! The Kickapoo Rail Trail is named after Kickapoo State Recreation Area, as it cuts through that area. It also has a portion that allows you to walk or bike over the middle fork of the Vermilion River. According to the web site, the photo you see above was taken from 88 feet above the river. I will take their word for it. With the lush greenery of the summer, it was a gorgeous walk through the woods and onto the bridge that was once a railroad trestle. The state has plans to expand the trail even further to a total of 25 miles from Urbana to Danville. That’s much further than I wanted to walk! The short trek over the trestle high above the Vermilion River (which is Illinois’ only designated “wild and scenic river”) was perfect for me. The photo is looking east from the center of the trestle/path.