The Des Plaines River Trail
Des Plaines Riverwalk Area

This is the pavilion at Northwestern Woods Forest Preserve where we stopped for a late lunch.

The pavilion was clean and really big although there were no picnic tables inside. The shade was also really nice on this hot summer day.

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Just north of Northwestern Woods FP the path crosses under the Metra train tracks and busy roads in downtown Des Plaines. Looking at the signs here would make anyone wonder which way to go! :-) OK, the bike path and riverwalk is to the right and along the steel rail straight ahead.

This is the view as you pass under the Metra train tracks just before the second tunnel under the roads.

This is still the Des Plaines River Trail (DPRT) as it runs right next to the Des Plains River and passes through Des Plaines. I have also seen this part of the trail referred to as the Des Plaines Riverwalk.

As you can see the Des Plaines River is just to the left (through the steel railings) and there is a decorative brick wall on the right.

The colorful reflections of the Des Plaines River as seen from the DPRT and looking straight down the steel railing.

The DPRT riverwalk section goes on for a while and curves to the left here as we get closer to the end of this section.

And here's the final section of the riverwalk part of the trail just before the DPRT curves to the right and away from the Des Plaines River for a short stretch.

This is the lighted section of the Des Plaines River Trail as you leave the riverwalk area and just before crossing Rand Road at Ballard Road.

I found this part of the DPRT a little confusing as we headed south. I was following the signs for the Yellow Trail up ahead but the Yellow Trail split into two sections here. One section went straight across Ballard Road and the other turned and went next to Ballard Road (more info below).

The Yellow Trail (and Purple Trail) intersection sign. If take the section that crosses Ballard Road here (as you go south), it ends at busy Rand Road. You can go down the hill, cross Rand Road and take the sidewalk back to the riverwalk section of the DPRT but it is much easier to go on the trail alongside Ballard Road to the traffic signal. It's not as confusing heading north (as we are here).