The Great Western Trail Photo Tour

(click on any of the bike trail photos to enlarge)

The trail starts off going downhill on pavement. The first thought is that this is going to be a breeze, but quickly levels out.

The pack mule sits in front of a bridge which leads from one canopy of trees into another.

Bridge over Hidden Oak Drive.

This picture was taken at about the 3 mi mark from a bridge just outside Wasco. This is near the intersection of Rte 64 and Burlington Rd. There is a small shopping center on the the Southwest corner of this intersection in which there is a Dairy Queen. Nothing beats ice cream after a long ride on a hot day.

This picture was taken at about the 3 mi mark from a bridge just outside Wasco.

There are about 3 miles of paved path in this tree covered section of the trail.

This marshy area seems to have survived this drought year fairly well.

This part of Illinois has a lot of flat open fields.

At about mile 11.5, this bridge heads back into the brush.

Horse Farm.

More Horses.

There is something quaint about this old ramshackle garage.

Norm works on a Ford Probe as his customer patiently waits.

Acres and acres of corn just outside Sycamore.

The trailhead to the Great Western Trail in Sycamore, IL.

If you follow the bike route after the trail head, you'll cross Route 64 and lead you to the Sycamore Community Park Sports Complex. This a very large complex with many softball and soccer fields. It was eerie as it was almost completely deserted.

This trail passes over the 2nd bridge near some more baseball fields. That is where I turned around. The trail continued on and I assume it heads into town, but I was really looking forward to lunch by now.

This is where I took a break for lunch. I was hungry and thirsty at this point and the sandwich, ice water, and apple I had in my case tasted great.

After lunch, I began to make my journey home. I passed a happy go lucky fellow with a big 'ol farmdog. He waved and seemed to be very friendly. As I passed, I recognized the scent of a combustible herb and immediately realized why he seemed so happy. The rest of the trip back was fairly uneventful. When I finally hit the shade covered paved section about about 6 miles into it, it was welcome relief. I contemplated hitting the Dairy Queen in Wasco, but decided to continue on.

When I reached the trail head in St. Charles, I still had some gas in the tank, so to speak, so I decided to check out the Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve across the street. It was only a mile or so long, but passed through a nice little park and came out by the trail that runs along Randall Road.

Bridge in Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve.

Long pedestrian bridge along Randal Road.