I&M Canal Bike Trail Fall Photos
East of Utica

Fall Photo Page 10
(click on any photo to enlarge)
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The photo above shows one of the bridges along the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail as we continued our ride west past Lock #12 and before passing through Buffalo Rock State Park and eventually through the town of Utica. This is a very nice wooded part of the trial.

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Here is another view of the high canopy of trees above the I&M Trail in their late fall color. Although this is the I&M Canal Trail, there are places, like here, where there is sign of the canal anymore and you just feel like you are in the woods. I don't know if this part of the trail veered away from the original canal tow path at this point or it it has just been abandoned for so long that there is just no trace of it here any longer.

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Rear view bike mirrors are handy to keep track of what is behind you but they can also make for interesting trail photos. I am actually in this photo (in the mirror and way back).

The leaf covered I&M Trail and small tree tunnel (on the upper left) as you pass through the high trees here.

This is what I think of as the Ghost Bridge. The bridge surface on top is gone and only the base remains out in the woods to remind you of what used to be. This structure is easily seen from the I&M Trail just before Buffalo Rock State Park.

The photo above shows a very colorful part of the I&M Canal bike trail with its tall trees and Dale on his recumbent.

This part of the I&M Trail goes along the Illinois River at this point and I believe that the photo above is part of the river or one of its tributaries. I am not sure what the exact boundaries for Buffalo Rock State Park are but this part of the trail goes right next to or through the park and there are a number of camp sites along this part of the trail.